As advanced software development practices become a norm in the modern world, software development methodologies’ evolution has become mandatory. Initially, the waterfall method focused on delivering software products based on a pre-defined timeline. Here the approach was to focus more on product delivery.
However, as the software products became more complex, there was a need for a methodology to optimize the software development life-cycle or SDLC. This gave rise to the agile software development methodology. But today, another methodology that unites the development and operations in a single team is the DevOps software development methodology.
Both Agile and DevOps are paving the way for modern software development. To determine which methodology best suits your software development requirements, it is essential to understand the differences between Agile and DevOps. This article explains the critical differences between these two software development methodologies. DevOps and Agile have their strengths and are reliable in their ways. Let’s understand both methodologies in detail.
Key Summary
- Agile governs how a team plans and builds software; DevOps extends that iterative mindset into how software ships and runs.
- Most DevOps teams run on top of an Agile process rather than replacing it — DevOps picks up where a sprint ends and carries the change to production.
- This guide keeps the original comparison article fully intact and adds new sections addressing how the two methodologies interrelate, where one stops and the other begins, and whether either can exist without the other.
What is DevOps?
DevOps software development methodology focuses on enhancing the communication, integration, and collaboration between developers and other IT professionals to accelerate the development of products.
The terminology derives its name from development and operations. The primary objective is to create a culture that promotes collaboration between development teams and operations management. The DevOps methods have proven to automate code deployment by making production faster. Organizations use this methodology to speed up the delivery of applications and services. At its core, DevOps culture creates an environment that leads to the alignment of the development and IT operations.
What is Agile?
Agile methodology is based on the continuous iteration of development and testing within the software development life-cycle process. This culture emphasizes iterative, incremental, and evolutionary improvement of the software development process. Instead of focusing on collaboration between development and operation, the goal is to break the product development into smaller pieces. Then during the development of these smaller tasks, test cases are integrated into the process to make final testing much more efficient.
There are several ways to implement Agile methodologies, such as Scrum, Kanban, and XP.
How do Agile and DevOps interrelate?
Agile shapes how a team plans and builds software, while DevOps extends that iterative mindset into how software gets released and operated. Both reject slow, rigid, big-batch delivery in favor of small, frequent, feedback-driven cycles. Most DevOps teams run on top of an Agile process rather than replacing it; DevOps picks up where Agile’s sprint ends and carries the change through to production.
Main differences between the DevOps and Agile software development methodologies
| DevOps | Agile Methodology | |
| Guiding Principle | The DevOps culture is based on the collaboration between development and operations teams working as a single unit. The aim is to cultivate productivity and establish collaboration. | Agile culture is more focused on managing and continuously delivering smaller, incremental project changes. Iterative development and ongoing testing are an integral part of Agile software development. |
| Primary Goal | DevOps methodology emphasizes rapid deliveries and continuous testing. Here the deliveries are made every few hours or daily as the primary goal is to manage end-to-end engineering and business solutions and enable faster delivery of products. | Here the primary focus is on constant changes and incremental developments made to the software product after each sprint. Agile methodology is usually used for complicated projects that require frequent mid-project changes. |
| Delivery & Documentation | DevOps methodology is usually used for prebuilt software that is ready to release. It looks after deploying the software securely and faster. Documentation is another essential requirement of DevOps. Emphasis on documenting processes, communications, and product updates is much higher here. | Unlike DevOps, Agile methodology is used to build and create software and plays no role in the deployment of the software. In Agile methodology, more importance is put on well-working software over comprehensive documentation. This is why documentation in this culture is not as comprehensive as DevOps. |
| Team Size & Skills | As DevOps methodology functions on integrating different teams, here, the number of people involved is much larger. DevOps culture requires people with different specialization and functional skill sets to achieve better goals and product delivery success. | Agile works with a smaller team for faster execution of the end goals. When fewer people are involved in software development, they perform at different levels and become highly skilled all-rounder developers. This methodology creates highly experienced developers for an organization. |
| Feedback Structure | DevOps continuously works on bridging the gap between the developer and IT operations team. In DevOps culture, internal communication channels are established to address concerns and improve the speed and quality of product development. | Agile culture bridges the communication gap between a customer, and the development and testing teams. Here no operations team is involved. Feedback is directly received from customers, and adjustments to the product are made accordingly. |
| Communication Methodology | Design and specification documents are used for communication between teams. | Agile uses the Scrum framework for communication. Daily scrum meetings are scheduled to discuss briefs and the status of various tasks. |
Using DevOps & Agile together
Most software development teams already use Agile methods like Scrum to guide product development. However, some proponents believe that DevOps is an extension of Agile. Typically, an Agile culture relies on cross-functional teams, including a developer, a tester, and a designer.
DevOps takes Agile a step further by adding an operations member. This eases the transition from software development to deployment. You can automate processes and enhance transparency across all teams with DevOps.
Where does Agile stop and DevOps begin in the software delivery process?
Agile governs the build phase: planning sprints, writing code, and testing features in short cycles. DevOps takes over once code is ready to ship — automating build, test, and deployment, then monitoring the app in production. The handoff point is typically the end of a sprint: Agile produces a working increment, and DevOps practices (CI/CD, automation, observability) carry it safely into users’ hands.
Using DevOps & Agile together
Most software development teams already use Agile methods like Scrum to guide product development. However, some proponents believe that DevOps is an extension of Agile. Typically, an Agile culture relies on cross-functional teams, including a developer, a tester, and a designer.
DevOps takes Agile a step further by adding an operations member. This eases the transition from software development to deployment. You can automate processes and enhance transparency across all teams with DevOps.
Is DevOps an extension of Agile, or a separate methodology?
Most practitioners treat DevOps as a natural extension of Agile rather than a competing methodology. Agile established cross-functional teams and iterative delivery; DevOps adds the operations discipline and automation needed to release those iterations safely and often. DevOps can also be adopted independently of formal Agile ceremonies — a team on a traditional planning process can still build strong CI/CD practices, though most organizations find the two reinforce each other.
Can a team practise DevOps without following Agile, or the other way round?
Yes to both, though it’s uncommon. A team can automate deployment pipelines and adopt DevOps culture without running formal Scrum ceremonies — the automation doesn’t require a specific planning framework. Likewise, a team can run Agile sprints without any DevOps automation, manually deploying at sprint end. In practice, Agile’s frequent delivery cadence creates natural pressure toward automation, since manual releases turn painful once a team ships every one or two weeks.
How do Scrum sprints fit with continuous integration and continuous delivery?
Scrum sprints define what gets built and when; CI/CD defines how it gets shipped. In a well-integrated setup, every commit during a sprint triggers an automated build and test cycle (continuous integration), and tested work can deploy at any point rather than batching for a sprint-end release (continuous delivery). A team isn’t forced to wait for the sprint review to ship — features reach production incrementally, with the sprint boundary marking a planning checkpoint, not a release event.
Takeaway
DevOps and Agile methodologies have well-defined differences, but their overall goal is to speed up the delivery of quality software. Fortunately, both can co-exist and significantly improve the product quality and SDLC when implemented.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How do Agile and DevOps interrelate, in one sentence?
Agile governs how software is planned and built in iterations; DevOps extends that same iterative philosophy into how software is released, deployed, and operated.
2. Is DevOps a replacement for Agile?
No. DevOps is generally treated as complementary to Agile, not a replacement — most teams keep their Agile planning process and add DevOps automation for the release and operations side.
3. Do you need Scrum specifically to practice DevOps?
No. DevOps automation works with Scrum, Kanban, or other Agile frameworks — and even without a formal Agile framework, though the two typically reinforce each other.
4. What role does CI/CD play in connecting Agile and DevOps?
CI/CD is the technical bridge: it automatically builds and tests code produced during Agile sprints, then enables that tested code to be deployed continuously rather than only at sprint end.
5. Which comes first, adopting Agile or adopting DevOps?
Most organizations adopt Agile first to fix planning and build practices, then add DevOps once they need faster, safer releases — though teams can approach them in either order or together.
