Myths Around DevOps: Existing Pipelines vs No Pipelines
By Srinivasa Raju Tangella
In today’s DevOps-driven world, a silent assumption floats around engineering circles:
“If we already have DevOps pipelines, we must be ahead of the game.”
This belief is not only incomplete—it can be dangerously misleading.
Let’s bust this myth.
The Myth: Existing Pipelines = DevOps Maturity
Many teams proudly say they have CI/CD pipelines. That’s good—but here’s the catch: having a pipeline doesn’t always mean you’re doing DevOps right. It could mean you’re repeating outdated patterns in a modern toolchain.
In fact, inheriting pipelines often limits how deeply a DevOps team can understand or innovate.
Case 1: Teams With Existing Pipelines
Pros:
Quick onboarding
Familiar structure
“It just works” comfort zone
Cons:
Shallow understanding of why things work
Fear of touching legacy scripts
Over-engineered or bloated flows
Knowledge silos from previous maintainers
Less experimentation with new tools or patterns
“The curve of understanding remains narrow because implementation is inherited, not invented.”
Case 2: Teams Starting From Scratch (No Pipelines)
Pros:
Deep hands-on learning
Technical decisions are thought through
Opportunity to architect clean, modern, minimal pipelines
Full understanding of each stage: build, test, package, deploy, monitor
Ownership and culture develop organically
Cons:
Initial setup takes time
Higher chance of failure in early stages
Learning curve may frustrate some stakeholders
“When you put your toe in the DevOps river from scratch, the water feels deeper, but you come out stronger and smarter.”
So What's the Ideal Path?
DevOps maturity isn’t about what tools you use—it’s about how and why you use them.
Inherited pipelines can be refactored.
Fresh pipelines can be designed right, from scratch.
But true DevOps happens only when teams:
Understand their pipeline logic end-to-end
Can confidently change or optimize without fear
Align pipeline goals with business goals
Don’t treat pipelines as static infrastructure, but as evolving workflows
Final Thoughts from Me:
As someone who works with DevOps transformations, I’ve seen both kinds of teams. And here’s my personal take:
“DevOps is not about having a pipeline. It's about understanding the flow, owning the logic, and evolving continuously. Whether you're handed a Ferrari or building a bike from parts—only your depth of knowledge and passion for the craft will decide how far you'll go.”
Top comments (1)
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