> DevOps /is/ operations. It is just that simple. It is design and automation of support systems. Nothing more, nothing less.
Design and automation of any systems is "development". It is just that simple. Nothing more, nothing less.
So, from your description "DevOps" is really development whose application domain is operations.
(Though I'm not sure I agree with your description -- I think that's part of DevOps but that DevOps is somewhat broader; in the same way that many approaches that fall under the general agile/lean umbrella have pushed erasing role-based team boundaries and, even within the lower level teams, role distinctions within the broader development realm -- e.g., between programmers, analysts, testers, etc. -- DevOps is about erasing, or at least blurring somewhat, the team and role boundaries between development and operations; this doesn't mean that people don't have distinct competencies, but it means that people with those competencies work together at lower organizational levels and in a more tightly integrated way focused on overall mission, rather than throwing things over the wall at each other.)
Design and automation of any systems is "development". It is just that simple. Nothing more, nothing less.
So, from your description "DevOps" is really development whose application domain is operations.
(Though I'm not sure I agree with your description -- I think that's part of DevOps but that DevOps is somewhat broader; in the same way that many approaches that fall under the general agile/lean umbrella have pushed erasing role-based team boundaries and, even within the lower level teams, role distinctions within the broader development realm -- e.g., between programmers, analysts, testers, etc. -- DevOps is about erasing, or at least blurring somewhat, the team and role boundaries between development and operations; this doesn't mean that people don't have distinct competencies, but it means that people with those competencies work together at lower organizational levels and in a more tightly integrated way focused on overall mission, rather than throwing things over the wall at each other.)