| | April 20158CIOReviewopinionin myIf you hang around IT people long enough--especially those in software development--there's a good chance you've heard the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) described as a supply chain. It's an easy analogy to make, especially when you consider how well the different phases of manufacturing (e.g., design, assembly, transportation, and retail) match up with the stages of the SDLC (e.g., design, development, testing, and production). The analogy fits so perfectly, in fact, it got me thinking about supply chain optimization and whether the lessons learned there could be applied to the SDLC. What I discovered was that if the supply chain is a good analogy for the SDLC, supply chain optimization is an even better one for DevOps.Two Concepts Born of a Similar NecessityI can remember a time in the business world when the term "supply chain" didn't even exist. In the late 80s and early 90s, the manufacturing process was seen more as a collection of discrete steps happening in silos, rather than the well-oiled and interconnected production machines running today. In fact, the idea of a supply chain was born out of necessity, as businesses were looking for new ways to keep up with customer demand for their products.Before the advent of the supply chain, companies had a myopic view of manufacturing efficiency. For example, from a pure parts-and-labor perspective it might make sense for an organization to manufacture 1,000 of a particular product at a time, even if the market demand for it barely cracks 100 in a given cycle. Yes, the manufacturing step was efficient in and of itself, but it created unnecessary lead time and inventory costs that negatively impacted other steps down the line.Companies had all of this excess inventory but still couldn't react quickly to changing customer demands. That's when they realized a more holistic Three Lessons DevOps Teams Can Learn From Supply Chain OptimizationBy Andi Mann, VP-Strategic Solutions, CA TechnologiesAndi Mann
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