The hardest part of DevOps transformation isn't the technology - it's getting teams to work differently. Here's what I learned from leading cultural changes.
It's Not About Tools
Buying Jenkins won't make you DevOps. Installing Kubernetes won't make you agile. Tools help, but culture matters more.
Start Small
Don't try to change everything at once. Pick one team, one project. Show it works. Then expand. Success breeds adoption.
Break Down Silos
Dev and Ops need to work together. Not sequentially. Not separately. Together. Same goals, same metrics, same responsibility.
Measure What Matters
Measure deployment frequency, change lead time, mean time to recovery, change failure rate. These metrics show if DevOps is working.
Celebrate Small Wins
Reduced deployment time by 50%? Celebrate it. Reduced incidents by 30%? Celebrate it. Small wins build momentum.
Cultural change is hard. It takes time. But it's worth it. Start with one team. Show it works. Then expand.