Officially coined in 2009, the term “DevOps” has become a business buzzword in recent years. But what is it exactly? DevOps describes a cultural movement in IT focused on collaboration and innovation through systems thinking. The term is often incorrectly used to describe a development methodology or a new type of team. Luckily, there are many excellent resources on DevOps that can help to clear some of the “cloudiness” around the movement and its ideals. We recommend these five DevOps books to anyone looking to deepen their understanding of DevOps.
Our Top 5 DevOps Books
The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford
Great for: Anyone working in or with IT organizations.
The Phoenix Project is a novel about Bill, an IT manager at Parts Unlimited, who is asked by his CEO to turn a failing IT initiative around in just 90 days. Through his story, readers learn how one company transformed its IT organization to enable the business to win.
This quick read is a great introduction to the power of DevOps, written by three of its prominent influencers.
The DevOps Handbook — Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick DuBois, John Willis
Great for: Leaders of IT organizations looking to elevate work culture and exceed productivity goals.
The DevOps Handbook shows leaders how to replicate the agility, reliability, and security outcomes achieved by high-performing organizations like Google, Netflix, and Amazon. Four DevOps luminaries share how to use DevOps practices to set and achieve ambitious organizational goals through effective IT management.
Continuous Delivery — Jez Humble and David Farley
Great for: Developers, systems administrators, testers, and managers in IT organizations.
Without a disciplined process and sustainable practices, the software development process can be painful, risky, and costly. Continuous Delivery thoroughly explains the principles and practices that enable the continuous delivery of high-quality, valuable features to users.
This practical deep dive into understanding sustainable development is an excellent guide for all members of the IT organization looking to achieve better performance.
Starting and Scaling DevOps in the Enterprise — Gary Gruver
Great for: Leaders of IT organizations looking to introduce and scale DevOps practices across their organization.
DevOps is changing the speed of business. Large enterprises need to catch up to keep up with the innovation of more agile organizations, but their tightly coupled legacy architectures make it an incredibly complex challenge for leaders to know where to even start a DevOps transformation. Starting and Scaling DevOps in the Enterprise explains how to do just that: structure improvements and gain alignment around DevOps practices across the organization, to enable continuous delivery.
Effective DevOps: Building a Culture of Collaboration, Affinity, and Tooling at Scale — Jennifer Davis and Katherine Daniels
Great for: Leaders looking to scale DevOps principles across their organizations.
In Effective DevOps, influencers Jennifer Davis and Katherine Daniels make the case for why DevOps should come from within your organization. Learn how improving collaboration within and between teams and promoting efficient tool usage in your company can help you make positive, sustainable changes to your organizational culture. Learn how cultural improvements can impact business agility and speed.
![A Global Collaborative Work Management Blueprint [Video]](https://blog.planview.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/A-Global-Collaborative-Work-management-blueprint.png)
