CI/CD consulting provides expert guidance to streamline and automate your software development and release processes. Consultants help you adopt Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) practices to build, test, and deploy applications faster and more reliably. The primary goal is to improve the quality of the final product and make deployments a regular and predictable process.

A company should consider implementing CI/CD when they want to accelerate their software delivery and improve team productivity. If you are experiencing slow release cycles, frequent errors in production, and a desire for more rapid feedback on new features, CI/CD can be highly beneficial. Ultimately, it helps you respond more quickly to market changes and user feedback.

A typical CI/CD consulting engagement with Entrans involves an initial assessment of your current development practices and infrastructure. Their process then moves to designing and implementing a tailored CI/CD pipeline using tools like Jenkins, Azure DevOps, and Terraform. Entrans emphasizes a collaborative approach, ensuring your team is trained and empowered to manage the new automated workflows effectively.

CI/CD consultants can typically work with your existing pipeline or build one from scratch, depending on your needs. They will often start by assessing your current tools and processes to identify areas for improvement and integration. Based on this assessment, they will recommend whether to enhance your existing setup or to design and implement a new, more efficient pipeline.

The most common tools used in CI/CD implementations include Jenkins, GitLab CI, CircleCI, Azure DevOps, and Octopus Deploy. For version control, Git is the standard, and for containerization, Docker and Kubernetes are widely used. The specific tools chosen often depend on the client's existing technology stack and specific requirements.

The time it takes to implement a CI/CD pipeline can vary significantly based on the complexity of the application and the existing infrastructure. A basic pipeline for a simple application might be set up in a few weeks. However, for large-scale enterprise systems with complex dependencies, the implementation could take several months to fully integrate and optimize.

Yes, CI/CD can be adapted for legacy applications and monolithic architectures, although it may present some challenges. The process often involves modernizing parts of the system and implementing robust automated testing to ensure stability. While a full transformation to microservices can be beneficial, CI/CD can still bring significant improvements in build and deployment automation to monolithic systems.

Security is ensured in CI/CD pipelines by integrating security practices throughout the development lifecycle, a practice known as DevSecOps. This includes using automated tools to scan for vulnerabilities in code and dependencies, as well as implementing security checks at each stage of the pipeline. Regular security audits and proactive measures like threat modeling help to maintain a secure and compliant environment.

Most CI/CD consulting firms offer Day-2 operations and ongoing support for the pipelines they implement. This includes monitoring the pipeline's performance, managing updates, and responding to any issues that arise after the initial setup. The goal is to ensure the long-term health and efficiency of your automated software delivery process.

CI/CD is a core component of a successful DevOps and cloud strategy, acting as the engine for automated software delivery. It enables the collaboration and speed that DevOps principles promote by providing a reliable and efficient way to move code from development to production. When integrated with a cloud strategy, CI/CD leverages the scalability and flexibility of cloud infrastructure to build, test, and deploy applications more effectively.