Toptal announced it is launching a new on-demand talent specialisation for skilled DevOps engineers.

The global network of top engineers, designers, and finance experts have seen a 109% annual growth rate in demand from its clients for DevOps positions, growing consistently by more than 25% for each of the last four quarters since 2016.

Similarly, data from the Linux Foundation’s 2017 Open Source Jobs Report found 60% of open source professionals and hiring managers are currently looking to fill vacant DevOps engineering positions.

Scott Weiss, general partner at Andreessen Horowtiz, said: “DevOps is more than just a methodology. It’s a must-have skill set for the modern programmer — and is increasingly becoming its own department.

Enabling shorter development cycles

“The rise of the hyper-scale cloud data center has made this job much harder.”

Alvaro Oliveira, vice president of talent operations at Toptal, added: “As organisations undergo DevOps transformations to more quickly deliver applications and services and compete more effectively in the market, most still don’t have access to the right talent who can make this happen.

“Our new DevOps practice provides a reliable pipeline of qualified IT professionals who can enable shorter development cycles, increased deployment frequency, and more dependable releases, among other agile software development goals.”

The 2017 State of DevOps Report revealed high performing organisations spend 21% less time on unplanned work and rework, and 44% more time on new work.

Reducing friction between ideas, delivery, and consumers

Andrea Villa, DevOps expert at Toptal, added: “To be effective, today’s DevOps engineer needs to have a developer background and possess a wide knowledge of system administration and network knowledge.

“It’s important that they be able to bridge the gap between the raw code and the challenges that the business has to face every day – such as reducing friction between ideas, delivery, and consumers.”

“As software development and operations become more closely intertwined, and as companies become increasingly reliant on cloud infrastructure, executives and project managers must develop fluency in DevOps to remain competitive and ensure their teams are performing up to their full potential.”

Toptal also works with clients like Arduino and Motorola Solutions to build new DevOps practices.

Written from press release by Leah Alger