DevOps sounds like something only large tech companies can afford. In reality, a few simple practices bring most of the benefits to small teams too.
1. Everything in version control
Code, configuration and infrastructure definitions belong in Git. It provides history, collaboration and the basis for automation.
2. Automated builds and tests
A simple CI pipeline that runs tests on every change prevents many bugs from reaching users.
3. Separate environments
At minimum: a staging environment that mirrors production for testing, and production. Never test directly on the live system.
4. One-click deployments
Deployments should be automated and repeatable – no manual copying of files to servers.
5. Configuration and secrets management
Keep configuration separate from code and store passwords and API keys in a secure secrets manager, not in the repository.
6. Monitoring and alerts
Basic uptime and error monitoring with alerts to the team.
7. Backups and recovery tests
Automated backups and occasional restore tests.
8. Documentation
Short runbooks: how to deploy, how to roll back, what to do when an alert fires.
9. Small, frequent changes
Smaller releases are easier to test and easier to undo than big quarterly releases.
10. Blameless culture
When something goes wrong, focus on improving the system, not blaming people.
Affordable tools
GitHub or GitLab with built-in CI, Docker, managed hosting or PaaS, Sentry for errors and simple uptime monitoring cover most needs at low cost.
We set up lean DevOps foundations for our clients' projects, sized for small teams.