Key takeaways
Early integration: Hire a DevOps engineer during the initial project stages to prevent technical debt and ensure security from the start.
The 3:1 rule: The ideal time to hire is when your team reaches at least three independent developers.
Optimal ratios: Aim for a Developer-to-DevOps ratio between 3:1 and 5:1 for maximum efficiency.
Team structure: Choose between centralized, embedded, or distributed models based on your company’s scaling needs.
Engagement models: Use full-time hires for complex, long-term projects and part-time experts for specific process refreshes or tight budgets.
Many aspects play a role in determining the right timing for this action. You must consider all aspects to get the best out of your investments in the business and the overall work dynamic in the long run.
You may wonder whether to do it at the start of a project or to do it randomly as the project stages progress. Is there any other helpful info to help you decide on the DevOps team size or roles when you decide to hire?
When do you need to hire for a DevOps developer role?
A company needs DevOps engineers for many good reasons. If you look at the checklist below, you’ll know whether you need to hire a DevOps independent developer, i.e., how soon or urgently you should do it.
Does your company need the following:
Developing infrastructure?
Improving and upgrading configurations?
Automating processes?
Better monitoring of UI and KPIs?
Reaching larger markets in other regions?
Implementing various new tools?
Performing risk management and improving cybersecurity?
Deploying CI/CD tools?
Improvement in CI/CD pipeline?
Future-goal-driven thinking for improvements?
More implementation of Cloud/Infrastructure security?
Cost saving – DevOps makes sure that the company doesn’t spend too much on cloud infrastructure.
According to Stack Overflow Survey 2024: implementing DevOps, automated testing, and CI/CD in business is the norm for most organizations. The dilemma is not whether to hire DevOps but when and how to hire for this fundamental methodology role.
When do you need the dedicated DevOps engineer(s)?
Here’s what you need to consider regarding the exact role and conditions for your future DevOps engineer.
Consider the project’s start date
Ideally, to ensure the whole workflow goes smoothly, you should hire a DevOps engineer at the initial project stages, early on, and preferably full-time, unless you decide on other availability models. The sooner you hire them, the better. A DevOps engineer should be included from start to finish of a task, especially if it’s a big, complex, and long-term one.
The sooner they start, the better they conduct testing, security checks, OS functionality checks, and regular maintenance, among other things. Let’s not forget that starting with DevOps sooner means fewer potential challenges down the road or repairing how things are done much later on, thus saving money by investing in hiring sooner.
Consider the development team’s size
A good rule to remember is that the perfect time to hire for a DevOps role is when your team already consists of at least three independent developers. The developer-to-DevOps ratio plays a huge role in successful working because the larger the developer teams, the more you need DevOps professionals.
Organization type | Developer-to-DevOps ratio | Status |
|---|---|---|
Standard Optimal | 3:1 to 5:1 | Recommended |
Large Tech (e.g., Google) | 6:1 | Efficient |
Understaffed Startups | 15:1 | High Risk |
Depending on how large your teams are, you can decide when it’s high time to hire for DevOps and how many positions you’d need to fill for this role. So if you start hiring for more developers as time passes, rely on a ratio formula to see how soon or urgently you’d need to look for (additional) DevOps engineer(s).
When do you need a structured and dedicated DevOps team?
You could be unsure what you need exactly, but through staffing providers, you’ll get a clear idea of which DevOps roles you need to hire, how many, and for which engagement stage, too.
Consider the company size
Depending on the size of your startup or company, the need for DevOps varies and changes, and some may need just one or a few DevOps engineers, while others may need a whole team.
New startup – As mentioned above, depending on the number of developers in a new startup, you can define the right time to hire for DevOps. If a startup is relatively small with just a few developers, it might be time to look for a DevOps engineer. Remember the ratios above? More than three developers is already a good sign that you need to hire for this methodology.
Scaling startup – As mentioned, you need a DevOps engineer when the developer teams grow. At this point, tasks become complex, the dynamic is busier, and several teams are working on different things.
Big tech companies – At this point, many developers are working toward one goal. Having more DevOps engineers is a must.
Consider the DevOps team layout types
Depending on the company's needs and the project, you can consider various DevOps team types.
Business need | Recommended team type |
|---|---|
All stages of development, testing, and operations | Centralized |
Dedicated support for a specific developer team | Embedded |
Scaling strategy across multiple developer teams | Distributed |
Focus on specific stages (e.g., infrastructure or testing) | Specialized |
Consider the DevOps engineer roles
There are several DevOps engineer roles, each of which makes a valuable contribution to the whole team. When combined, they make an unbeatable grouping for any tech company.
Let’s break the roles down regarding the business need for that particular project stage.
When do you need to hire specific DevOps roles?
For creating a DevOps-oriented, flexible architecture, you need System Architects.
For Release and deployment, you need Release Engineers.
For successful collaboration and participation of teams in security practices, you need Security engineers.
You need a DevOps evangelist to strengthen the DevOps culture and mission and simplify the transfer from non-DevOps to DevOps-oriented work.
When you want 24-7 monitoring, you need DevOps + NOC team.
When you want to explore new tools without affecting the current work, you need an R&D engineer.
When to hire full-time DevOps?
We can conclude that hiring a full-time DevOps engineer is usually the best choice. If you want impeccable automation and smooth working on all processes in the project, you’d need this engineer (or a team of them) at all times, or at least until the project ends. But, even when the project ends, the work around it doesn’t stop, so the need for DevOps doesn’t necessarily end when the task does.
Hiring a full-time DevOps engineer is best and most common when:
You have enough budget allocated for a full-time team member arrangement
The task is long, complex, and very challenging
You have a lot of developers already, or the existing smaller developer teams grow fast
You need to reorganize your way of working from scratch, or at least make significant improvements to it
When a task is about to start, and you need to ensure it’s running perfectly at all times
These are the main, core points of the best times to hire a full-time DevOps engineer, and according to your capabilities and needs, you might refer to some points accordingly.
When to hire part-time DevOps?
As mentioned throughout the article above, going for more working hours with a DevOps engineer is preferable because this role encompasses many other sub-roles. It is a whole methodology and requires communication and collaboration with others.
Still, depending on your capabilities and needs, you can go for various contract solutions or hiring models that best suit your needs, time-wise and cost-wise.
Hiring a part-time DevOps engineer is best and most common when:
You are on a tight budget, and you want to save money
You have a simpler, shorter task
You want to refresh just a few processes in your work, not every single one
You believe that a task-based DevOps engineer would be suitable for some engagement stages
You want to test out what the DevOps engineer does before committing to full-time or long-term
Or, even perhaps, you already have full-time DevOps engineers, but they could use an extra hand for smaller tasks
Conclusion
By now, it's obvious how needed a DevOps engineer is, regardless of what you choose as a hiring arrangement. Depending on your needs and goals, you likely need one or more such engineers to accelerate development and other processes.
To have your development and operations working smoothly as one and to nurture much better collaborations between teams included in the engagement, and the company, you should decide when it’s the best time to hire a DevOps engineer.
There are many affordable options for incorporating DevOps into your business, making improvements to your current work all too possible and recommended.
