Many developers think that DevOps and ERP just don’t mix. Are you one of them?
It’s not only the Java developers doing departmental-type applications who think that way, but also the developers on ERP teams. You know; the people who have built a whole career on products like PeopleSoft and Oracle E-Business Suite.
“Bad idea,” they say. “ERP is our organization’s financial system of record. There’s too much risk in trying to speed things up with DevOps methods like continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD).”
Want to be like bullfighters and brain surgeons
Sure, they’d be happy to be agile and roll out changes as quickly as the business asks for them. That’s what a culture of innovation and risk taking is all about.
“Risk and innovation?” say the ERP developers. “Take those down the hall to the cool kids in application development. All they have to do is back their changes out if something goes wrong. It’s much harder to do that with ERP, especially when our company's finances depend on it.”
Risk and innovation are indeed a stretch for most ERP teams, who are usually too preoccupied with user requests, trouble tickets and keeping the financial system of record running. Besides, they’re paid to help avoid risk, not look for it.
“We’d be glad to deploy application changes faster,” they say. “Just like brain surgeons, bullfighters and opera singers, we want to get more done and go home on time. But there’s too much riding on ERP, and if our company falls out of compliance, the little bits of time we save here and there won’t be worth it.”
Are some ERP teams doing DevOps without even knowing it?
They’re right that ERP and DevOps don’t appear to go together at first glance. For one thing, the CI/CD that are part of DevOps are certainly different. Unlike in application development, there is no continuous build renewing the ERP system every time a commit happens.
The trick is for ERP teams to use tools that help them get onto the path to DevOps without running the risk of high-priority audit findings.
We’ve put together a DevOps Cookbook for ERP Teams to show you how tools like Stat® support preventative controls as well as the objectives of DevOps. Not only that, but many developers on ERP teams have been using the tools for years. The time is right for them to automate IT change management to both support DevOps and achieve compliance — all while staying within the organization’s appetite for risk.
If you’ve been trying to get DevOps and ERP development to mix and keep ending up with oil and vinegar, have a look at our eBook. You may be surprised at how close your ERP team has come to doing DevOps all this time without even knowing it.
photo credit: 정연 김 from Pixabay
