DEVOPSdigest

Over the years, the industry has created a growing list of "Ops" disciplines — DevOps, DataOps, MLOps, and more. But let's be honest: these titles exist because of the gaps left by tools that failed to evolve alongside developers' needs. They don't reflect distinct practices; they're a response to fragmentation created by the tools.

The reality is simple: today, every developer and engineer is an Ops. Whether they're deploying code, managing infrastructure, or scaling machine learning pipelines, they're responsible for operations in some form. The problem is that tools still silo these roles, introducing unnecessary complexity where there should be alignment.

Why Tools Are the Root of the Problem

Developers have been forced into fragmented workflows because most tools are built with a narrow focus. Some cater exclusively to infrastructure, while others are designed for data specialists or ML practitioners. The tools don't talk to each other, and developers are left to bridge the gaps manually, which creates inefficiencies at every stage.

Take orchestration, for example. Too often, tools are overly simplistic or so complex that they alienate anyone outside their target audience. Visual interfaces might make workflows easier to set up but fail to provide the transparency or flexibility needed to scale. On the other hand, code-heavy platforms can leave non-technical team members behind, creating silos instead of collaboration.

The Case for Unified Best Practices

The principles of DevOps — transparency, reproducibility, flexibility — aren't exclusive to infrastructure. They're universal best practices that should apply across every engineering discipline. Whether you're managing CI/CD pipelines, orchestrating data workflows, or deploying machine learning models, the same core ideas hold:

■ Actions should be transparent and auditable.

■ Processes should be version-controlled and reproducible.

■ Tools should adapt to workflows, not the other way around.

These aren't radical ideas. They've been around for over a decade, but they haven't been universally adopted because the tools haven't caught up. Most still assume that workflows are isolated, with distinct teams handling separate stages of the process.

Dropping the Labels, Keeping the Rigor

There's no such thing as DevOps, DataOps, or MLOps. They're just engineering done well

Here's the truth: there's no such thing as DevOps, DataOps, or MLOps. They're just engineering done well. The best practices that have made DevOps successful shouldn't stop at infrastructure. They should extend to everything developers touch.

Developers shouldn't be limited by the tools they use. They should be able to deploy code, manage data, and scale operations all from a single platform. They don't have to switch tools when their responsibilities shift because the platform is flexible enough to handle it all. They don't have to worry about vendor lock-in because the platform integrates with whatever stack they use.

Ops Everything

It's time to stop thinking in silos. The next big thing is not new "Ops" titles. It's creating tools that enable every developer to do their job better. Tools that unify workflows instead of fragmenting them. Tools that embrace best practices across disciplines, giving developers the power to collaborate, iterate, and scale without limits.

The labels were useful for a while. They helped define the gaps. But now, it's time to move beyond them. It's time to build tools that reflect the reality of modern engineering: that every developer is an Ops.