DevOps engineers in Singapore are in higher demand than ever before, with FinTech organizations ramping up on their agile development efforts to keep ahead of the competition. DevOps engineering is more than just a technology solution, it’s a critical and multifaceted skillset paramount to the success of all leading-edge FinTechs. Below, we’ll cover the key skills needed to succeed as a DevOps engineer in Singapore.
What Is DevOps?
DevOps has been common practice in the software development industry for some time, but it can mean different things to different people. But for FinTech organizations, DevOps is about bringing together development and operations, and enabling people to collaborate across roles to deliver software quickly, safely and reliably.
DevOps engineers are essential in FinTech, but the barrier to its adoption lies in the appetite of FinTech organizations to harness this practice to become more competitive, says Adrian Smolski, Manager for Customer Experience and Solutions Architecture at GitLab Asia-Pacific and Japan:
“It requires a broader change and, from our interactions with customers in the region, we have seen more progress, large organizations embarking on long journeys to tailor and build DevOps practices to meet specific development needs.”
The Rising Demand For DevOps Engineers In Singapore
DevOps engineers are in very high demand and very short supply in Singapore, and because of this, DevOps salary levels are increasing in the country:
“Singapore is in relatively short supply of DevOps engineers, so salaries are going up.”
Adam Davies, Lead IT Recruiter, iKas International
Recently, many of Singapore’s largest banks have started prioritising hiring DevOps engineers, such as UOB and DBS, who recently placed a heavy focus on DevOps engineers when running their annual recruitment hackathon. With this rising demand, banks are beginning to offer salary rises of up to 50% to poach the top-performing DevOps engineers, according to a Singapore technology salary table.
The Skills You Need To Succeed As A DevOps Engineer
Strong Understanding Of The DevOps Tool Chain
A successful DevOps engineer must know how to use a variety of complex tools which work together to support software delivery objectives, with the following being the top tools to have a strong grasp of:
- Version control
- Configuration management
- Continuous integration servers
- Deployment automation
- Infrastructure orchestration
- Monitoring and analytics
- Testing and cloud quality tools
- Network protocols
It’s the DevOps engineers responsibility to make sure everything works well together during both pre and post-production stages. With every tool serving a valuable purpose in the pipeline, knowing how and when each of them contributes, as well as what dependencies you need to consider, is paramount to a faultless delivery chain.
Programming And Scripting Languages
Whether its Python, Javascript, PHP, Perl, or Ruby, a successful DevOps engineer must be able to write code. DevOps practices vary between organizations, but ultimately, they involve getting code through the development phase and into production quickly. A DevOps engineer can also benefit from skills in continuous integration management tools, such as Jenkins, Apache Maven or Apache Ant.
Automation Skills
Having an excellent automation skillset is closely related to having in-depth knowledge of the DevOps toolset, coding and scripting. A successful DevOps engineer needs to have an outstanding command over automation – the heart of the DevOps process. They should be efficient in automating the entire DevOps pipeline, including app performance monitoring, CI/CD cycles, configurations, infrastructure and so on. With FinTech companies looking to grow quickly, enabling seamless scalability in the development and deployment process and understanding what you can automate in the process is an unmatched ability.
Communication And Collaboration Skills
Communication skills for a DevOps engineer is critical, but so is the ability to collaborate. The DevOps role brings a collaborative approach to development, testing and deployment, putting teams with varying objectives together to work towards more effective and high-quality code releases. DevOps engineers have to speak regularly with internal management teams involved in the DevOps process, keeping up to date with objectives, blocking issues, roadmaps, and so on; meaning there can’t be any barriers between the different teams.
Security
DevOps engineers are playing an increasingly important role in enterprise security, both in operations and development. In development, they must be able to create and secure code, perform vulnerability testing in the CI/CD pipeline, and be diligent with open source software. On the operations side, DevOps engineers must have the skills to implement security practices, such as data encryption to protect applications from attack, as well as defending against common cybersecurity exposures.
Soft Skills
A DevOps engineers role is about culture and people just as much as it’s about tools and practices. You need to be analytical in your thinking; consumer-focused; agile when making decisions to keep harmony with the ever-changing coding development practices; and passionate about solving problems. One of the number one traits a successful DevOps engineer has is the desire to learn new technology, development processes and practices, meaning a DevOps engineer in FinTech must be enthusiastic about constantly reskilling themselves.
For more on FinTech in Singapore, take a look at our article: why Singapore is an emerging FinTech powerhouse. If you’re a FinTech looking to scale and grow, get in touch with our team of consultants based in the Central Business District.
