DevOps: Assessing the Factors Influencing the Adoption of Infrastructure as Code, and the Selection of Infrastructure as Code Tools : A Case Study with Atlas Copco

Abstract: This research initiative, which takes the shape of an interpretive qualitative case study, intends to investigate the key considerations for organizations that are to adopt IaC and select an IaC tool. Interviews with operations specialists with varying experience with Infrastructure as Code were conducted for data collection, which was then followed by thematic data analysis. The gathered data included insights based on the experiences of various professionals at Atlas Copco. The thematic analysis approach was applied in order to detect repeating patterns and themes in the gathered data, which paved the way to extract significant conclusions. The case study’s findings highlight five critical elements in two different domains for successful IaC integration and tool selection. The first identified domain was that of adoption and integration. To begin with, technical expertise such as programming skills, version control skills, and cloud computing was identified to be a critical consideration belonging to this domain. Secondly, resources such as time, learning materials, courses, and tools were identified as important factors for the integration, and perhaps especially so for the individuals with less prior experience with DevOps and IaC. Thirdly, organizational change was identified as a critical component for successful integration. The two remaining themes belonged to a domain that was named tool selection. These themes were ease of use and security. In summary, this paper provides insights into the key consideration of IaC adoption and IaC tool selection. Its findings underscore organizational change, resources, expertise for successful adoption, ease of use, and security for successful tool selection. It aims to be valuable to any individual or organization who is to adopt IaC or conduct research on the topic of software engineering and IaC. Due to the small sample sizes and the absence of software developers in the data collection, there is clear need for future research to enhance the academic understanding of IaC tool selection and IaC adoption.