Imagine what Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the most famous and prolific composers in history, would say if you asked him about the power of meticulous orchestration. He might tell you that each note performed a “job,” which had to occur at a specific time without fail. Mozart’s works brought together violins, horns, flutes, trumpets, and more to enhance the magical flow of his compositions. Good timing with just the right mix of sounds is also what makes different styles of music appealing – whether it’s from U2, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Garth Brooks, Miles Davis, Coldplay, the Beatles, or Mozart.
Just thinking about the process of orchestrating and integrating instruments made me consider how this process relates to digital technology, DevOps, and the cloud. Okay, I must confess that I was also inspired by listening to soothing music while drinking a few cups of coffee when this idea occurred to me. This connection isn’t really a stretch, either. I’ll explain why.
Collaboration cuts through chaos
Without the right level of orchestration and integration, as well as automation, your enterprise can’t keep up with business demands and your DevOps teams struggle to collaborate. (Note that I added automation to mix, which wasn’t much of a priority in the 1700s. So, Mozart is off the hook for not automating his compositions).
The right processes and tools help organizations collaborate better so they can grow and meet the demands of a complex, chaotic digital environment. To succeed, DevOps teams must efficiently coordinate their efforts to deliver high-quality, new applications and services quickly. Just as musicians have practice sessions to eliminate mistakes before performing in front of an audience, developers need to take a Jobs-as-Code approach to develop, test, and address issues before applications move into production.
Managing workloads across disparate platforms and teams needs to be done with agility and speed. As I mentioned earlier, DevOps teams can take application integration and orchestration to the next level with automation. That’s where managing and monitoring application workflows with cross-platform job scheduling and the ability to integrate all aspects from a single point of control comes in. A platform that can deliver these capabilities and leverage an intuitive API creates a harmonic convergence of technology and teams to drive revenue and keep developers and operations in synch.
Go from the data center to the cloud
Let’s look at how this all plays out in multi-cloud environments. It involves moving legacy applications to the cloud and developing new applications that use cloud services. That presents some challenges for scheduling workflows:
- Migrating legacy applications can require rework of thousands of workflows for scheduling in the cloud.
- Many workflows may not be managed with the same tools and processes.
- IT must manage workflows in the legacy and new multi-cloud environment before and frequently after transitioning to the cloud.
Let the Concert Begin with Control-M
Control-M integrates, automates and orchestrates digital business application services and enables DevOps teams to overcome these and other pressing challenges. So, when services are moved between on premises and any cloud they’re working in concert to ensure that the data and workflows move correctly.
- IT can move workflows from traditional environments to the cloud without rework.
- Developers and DevOps engineers can create, test, debug, and manage service workflows using the same, intuitive Control-M API.
- Cloud-based applications that include workflows can be developed faster and more efficiently to help companies gain a competitive edge.
One large global leader in travel services, you may have heard of them – Amadeus – developed a new operating model that leverages Control-M. The company is able to support migration to a new cloud architecture solution, meet the demands of explosive growth, and accelerate the delivery of new services. And in the process, Amadeus saved $37 million in the conversion effort alone based on 250,000 existing jobs, as well as additional savings in other areas to date. (Source: //dev.blogs.bmc.com/jobs-as-code-the-power-of-shifting-left/) Now, that’s music to anyone’s ears.
