DevOps is not a title, it’s a mindset

In the world of Software Engineering, the development and the operations teams work diligently to achieve their goals, but being so deeply embedded in their respective processes can make these two teams not see eye to eye at times. That is where the value of a DevOps-oriented team really shows and where the role of the DevOps engineer comes into play – to ensure smooth sailing for both teams.

Jovica Zoric, our DevOps engineer, shared his favorite parts of working on interesting projects in a DevOps environment at ProductDock.

How would you describe our company culture?

I’d say that the first thing I appreciate about our culture is open communication and the chance to ask any colleague for assistance. Everyone is always ready and willing to help, regardless of their position in the company.
Giving and receiving feedback openly is another great thing since it enables you to help others by giving them your opinion and vice versa.
The culture of trust, which exists not only among team members but also with the unit leads, gives you the freedom to organize your day as you see fit; with trust, you’ll do your part. Finally, we nurture flexibility within the company, and here, everyone is always welcome to share and present their ideas.

What are some of the responsibilities you’ve had in this role that differ from the same role in another company?

Here at ProductDock, DevOps engineer is not just a title but a mindset. It’s a complex role that, apart from development, includes a lot of communication with the teams and the clients. As a DevOps-oriented engineer, you work together with others towards the goal, minimizing the gap between developers and operations.

Why would you recommend this position and the project to a future colleague?

You’d get a chance to work on the biggest e-commerce platform in the world.
Scalability and a huge number of users are also another reason why this project may be appealing to someone. Nothing is set in stone, and the team is always open to hear new ideas and opinions, so you’ll have total freedom to speak up.
It’s a dynamic project, and you’ll have the opportunity to work with the newest technologies and on a public platform. Each team member is seen as an individual and is appreciated, and there is no micromanagement.

Can you share with us something you learned since switching from being a developer to a DevOps engineer?

This role enabled me to get into the mindset that is characteristic of a DevOps position. Apart from the business logic I learned while I was a developer, I realized that it’s crucial to pay attention to the metrics and do proper constant monitoring. Another thing I did here is write tools that help developers, as well as my team, to minimize repeated tasks and to move forward faster. And finally, something I found both challenging and fun is looking after stateful applications on Kubernetes, like Elasticsearch, Kafka, or MongoDB.

What do you find interesting about this project and your role?

The best thing is that each day is different from the other. You can always learn something new and advance your knowledge. Working with people who are experts in their fields and the chance to give your opinion and present your ideas is another great thing about this project. What’s also interesting is that the project is done on a public cloud which makes our lives easier and it gives us freedom and flexibility. And the other one is that we use Kubernetes as an orchestration tool.

As Jovica likes to say, DevOps is a mindset of the team and of the individual. Here at ProductDock, we are constantly working on nurturing this environment of mutual understanding between the production and operation teams. We are focused on the same goal and on reaching it more easily by keeping the communication lines open.

If this sounds interesting to you, we currently have an opening in our DevOps team, and if you’d like to set sail with us, feel free to check out the job posting – DevOps Engineer.