DevOps & Sre: Understand the models that are transforming IT operations

Introduction

The promise is attractive: more agile teams, faster deliveries and highly reliable systems. But as the complexity of IT operations increases, the confusion on the ways to get there is growing. Devops or SRE? Culture or engineering? Agility or reliability?

This doubt is not just a technical: it is strategic. According to Gartner's study , until 2027, 80% of organizations will have incorporated Devop platforms into their development tools, compared to 25% by 2023 .

It is a leap that shows the urgency, but it also opens a gap: if DevOps is so present, why do many teams still face flaws, rework and bottlenecks in the operation? This is where the SRE comes in, and the need to really understand what different these two models differentiates.

In this article, we go beyond the definition. Let's explore how DevOps and SRE came up, where they are, where they separate, and why this choice (or combination) can be decisive in turning you into competitive advantage .

Let's go?

What is DevOps?

Before being a practice, DevOps is a concept that represents a paradigm break in the way technology areas work. The acronym comes from the junction of “ Development ” (dev) and “ Operations ” (OPS), two disciplines historically separated within IT.

Traditionally, who developed the software It was not the same team that put him in the air or kept his stability. This separation generated conflicts, bottlenecks and very inefficiency. The DevOps model was born precisely to eliminate these barriers, creating a continuous flow between development, testing, delivery and operation.

More than a methodology or set of tools, DevOps is an organizational culture focused on agility with responsibility . Its focus is on accelerating customer value delivery without giving up systems reliability and stability.

But how does this translate into practice? Let's go to the fundamentals!

Principles and objectives

DevOps is supported by some essential principles, and they all have a common goal: to increase delivery speed with security and predictability . The practice encourages shorter development cycles, with deploy and automated tests, allowing companies to quickly respond to market changes and demands.

Among the main pillars are Continuous Integration (CI - Continuous Integration ) and Continuous Delivery (CD - Continuous Delivery ), which automate and integrate all steps of software . Another central principle is active collaboration between areas , reducing friction and promoting a shared view of responsibility for the product.

DevOps also challenges a traditional idea of ​​IT : the separation between "who builds" and "who keeps". By aligning teams with common goals, it creates a virtuous cycle where agility, quality and reliability walk together.

Common practices and tools

In practice, DevOps materializes in routines and tools that support automation, integration and continuous monitoring . They are practices such as automated code versioning, execution of automated pipelines , infrastructure provisioning such as code (IAC), proactive monitoring and frequent, often daily or even continuous

deploys Tools such as Jenkins pipelines orchestration ), docker (for application containing), kubernetes (for scale clusters management), Gitlab CI/CD and Terraform (for infrastructure as code) are often adopted to support this ecosystem .

But one point deserves to be highlighted: DevOps is not about tool, but about real integration between teams, processes and deliveries. There is no point in a robust stack if the team's culture remains fragmented. It is the combination of mindset, processes and technology that enables true DevOps.

Benefits and Challenges in the operation

Adopting DevOps brings real and tangible gains : shorter delivery cycles, higher quality products, lower production errors and more aligned teams around common goals. The famous “ Deploys da Dawn” begin to disappear, replaced by frequent and secure deliveries (such as daily updates in apps e-commerce systems ), with less tension and more predictability .

On the other hand, the transition to DevOps is not trivial. It requires profound cultural changes, revision of legacy processes and often redefinition of papers within IT. There is also a risk of adopting tools before aligning strategies - which can lead to automation of inefficiencies.

Therefore, DevOps is a powerful starting point, but not necessarily the end point . In environments where reliability becomes as critical as speed, the need arises to complement this model. That's where RliabILITY Engineering , or simply SRE. And it is about him that we talk next.

What is SRE ( Reliability Engineering ) website?

If the Devops model proposes agility with integration, the SRE emerges as the necessary answer to deal with scale reliability . Created within Google in the early 2000s, the SRE ( Rliability Engineering ) site is, in practice, the application of software to the universe of infrastructure and operations.

But what does this mean in real life? That systems reliability cannot depend on manual processes or emergency actions . Thus, the SRE transforms the operation into a structured, automated and data -guided process where failures are planned, managed and learned, not just corrected.

While DevOps seeks fluidity between areas, the SRE focuses on ensuring that systems remain available, performic and resilient , even in the face of constant changes. These are models that dialogue, but that act with different logics and objectives.

Check out more details below.

Principles and objectives

SRE's starting point is straightforward and realistic: flaws will happen. The difference is how we prepare for them. The proposal of the model is to transform these inevitabilities into opportunities for learning and evolution, with less urgency, more structure and, especially, less impact on the business.

For this, the SRE is anchored in three fundamental pillars :

• SLOS ( Service Level Objectives ) : Internal reliability goals, such as 99.9% monthly availability, which define acceptable service level;
  
• SLIS ( Service Level Indicators ) : Technical metrics that measure whether these objectives are being met, such as latency, throughput or error rate;
  
• Slas ( Service Level Agrees ) : Formal agreements with customers or users who translate SLOS into contractual delivery expectations.

But perhaps the most provocative concept of SRE is that of Error Budget . Instead of pursuing perfection (which in complex systems is illusory), the model proposes an acceptable limit of failures . This “error budget” allows you to take calculated risks, release new versions with confidence and maintain a healthy balance between innovation and stability .

And thought doesn't stop there. To ensure the operation is really prepared for the unexpected, SRE also incorporates a bold practice: Chaos Engineering . This approach is to induce intentionally controlled failures to observe how the system behaves . This is because, by simulating extreme scenarios, it is possible to strengthen resilience and prevent real failures from becoming crises.

In the end, we can say that the SRE does not seek to eliminate the risk, but make it manageable , with data, automation and the mindset of learning continuously from the unpredictable.

Common practices and tools

In routine, a SRE engineer acts as a hybrid between developer and operator . Thus, its mission is to automate as much as possible, reduce manual interventions and maintain predictable operation, even in high complexity scenarios.

Among the most common practices are:

• Automation of repetitive tasks such as deploy , rollbacks and scaling;

• Implementation of resilience tests, simulating controlled failures to strengthen system robustness;

• Deep observability, with real -time metrics, intelligent alerts and tip to tip traceability;

Post-Endriste Analysis ( Postmortem ), treating failures as valuable sources of learning.

On a daily basis, tools such as Prometheus (metric collection), graphana (visual panels), kubernetes containers orchestration ), Terraform (IAC) and Sentry (application monitoring) are part of the essential kit of a modern SRE team.

However, more important than stack , it is the engineering mentality applied to reliability . The true differential of SRE is in the way it anticipates risks, automates answers and builds a resilient operation, always based on data and continuous learning.

If you want to deepen this theme with a Brazilian perspective , it is worth knowing the book “SRE Journey in Brazil” , written by Alessandro Silva, Ana Genari and Antonio Muniz, professionals who live the model in the daily life of major operations in the country. No doubt it will be a rich reading of content that connects theory and practice with the reality of our market.

Benefits and Challenges in the operation

Adopting the SRE model transforms the company's relationship with its own operation. Systems become more reliable rarer incidents faster and more organized recovery processes . As a result, the confidence of the team and the customer increase, and the ability to climb without scares becomes real.

However, the challenges are proportional to gains . Implementing SRE requires technical maturity, governance on metrics and a culture of continuous learning. It also requires professionals with a multidisciplinary profile, who master both code and infrastructure; Both strategy and operation.

Therefore, SRE does not replace DevOps, but complements it . While one looks at the fluidity of delivery, the other ensures the solidity of support. And it is in this complementarity that many companies find the ideal balance between agility and reliability.

But after all, how do these two models differ in practice? This is what we will see below.

What are the main differences between Devops and SRE?

As we have seen, Devops and SRE models share common goals (such as delivering software With more agility and reliability), but follow different paths to reach them . Therefore, although they often appear as synonyms in market conversations, they start from different premises and operate with complementary focuses.

While Devops was born as a cultural movement that brings development and operations closer, the SRE emerged as a technical and structured model, focusing on reliability, metrics and incident automation. Understanding these differences is essential to strategically apply each approach according to the context of the organization.

Next, we organized a practical comparison between the two models, highlighting what changes, in theory and in practice.

This picture shows that DevOps and SRE are not opposite, but models that are in different parts of the modern IT journey. Together they offer a balanced path to safely innovate and climb without losing control.

Convergence between IA, DevOps and SRE: The future of IT operation

Convergence is the word that defines the current moment of technology. What were once different approaches today intertwines with artificial intelligence (AI), automation, real -time data and operations that need to be resilient, predictive and evolutionary.

The numbers help to draw this scenario. According to a study published by Markets and Markets , the Global Devops market is expected to grow from $ 10.4 billion by 2023 to $ 25.5 billion by 2028 , with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.7%. Also, according to SRE Report 2025, published by CatchPoint , 53% of SRE teams consider performance problems as critical as complete failures, and 30% are prioritizing AI use to increase efficiency and operational predictability .

These data reveal a clear tendency : DevOps and SRE are being enhanced by AI , which adds predictive intelligence to operation and accelerates response capacity. This convergence is not theoretical: it is happening now, behind the scenes of companies that are redefining how to operate IT with intelligence, safety and speed .

What does this change in practice?

• Observability evolves with models that predict failures before they happen;
• Pipelines become smarter when identifying error patterns and suggesting corrections automatically ;
• teams use it to simulate scenarios and automate answers , reducing reaction time and keeping the operation stable.

We can say that now the great question is how to draw operations that learn, adapt, and follow evolving. This is the convergence that is already shaping the future of IT, as well as the foundation for intelligent, resilient and ready to climb .

How Skyone supports DevOps and SRE operations

Speaking of DevOps and SRE is, in practice, talking about what sustains the business when everything needs to work all the time. And for that, it is not enough to have good tools or follow market trends. It is necessary to fully understand the challenges of the operation, the reality of legacy systems, the rhythm of innovation, and especially what is at stake when something fails.

At Skyone , we support companies that live this scenario every day. Organizations that need to grow without locking, innovate without compromising stability and operate clearly , even in complex environments.

Our performance goes far beyond technical consultancy . We work at the intersection between strategy, culture and technology. We help implement pipelines with long -term structure, governance and vision. We apply the SRE model with pragmatism, building real layers of reliability in critical systems, such as ERPs, sectoral applications and complex cloud integrations.

We know that each company has its starting point . Some are taking the first steps in automation; Others already run operations distributed with high volume of data and uptime requirement. And that is why our support is always contextualized : no ready formulas; All based on the reality and ambitions of your business.

If you are in this crossroads, rethinking processes, seeking more control, or trying to climb safely, we are ready to talk! Talk to a Skyone expert . And let's understand your scenario, explore paths and draw together an operation that works today, and keep working tomorrow.

Conclusion

Devops or SRE? This question, which seems technical, actually hides a strategic decision : how to structure a IT operation that can track business speed without compromising reliability.

Throughout this article, we explored how these two models emerged, how they differentiate themselves, and especially how they can complement themselves. The most important thing is not to choose a side, but to understand what your operation needs now, and what you will need from now on .

If you have gotten here, you are already doing what many still postpone: seeking clarity before seeking solutions . And this clarity is the first movement to transform IT operation into competitive advantage.

However, the journey does not end here! In our Skyone Blog Explore other content available, and evolve to those who understand real operation.

FAQ: Frequently asked questions about Devops and SRE models

“Devops” and “Sre” are increasingly heard, but not always well explained. And when it comes to structuring an efficient and reliable IT operation, understanding what is behind these models can make all the difference.

Next, we gather direct and essential answers to those who want to start understanding, compare or apply these concepts in their daily lives.

What is Devops and Sre?

DevOps is an approach that unites development and operations (OPS) to make software more agile, integrated and continuous. It promotes collaboration between teams and process automation to shorten the time between writing a code and putting it in production.

Already SRE ( Rliability Engineering ), in turn, is a model created by Google that applies software Systems operation, focusing on reliability, performance and resilience. Its goal is to ensure that the systems work stable, even in high complexity scenarios.

How to know which model to adopt?

With increasing integration between artificial intelligence (AI), data and operations, the choice between DevOps and SRE is no longer an isolated decision. Today, the most relevant is to understand how these models complement each other to create smart, resilient and scalable operations.

If the goal is to accelerate deliveries and improve collaboration between areas, Devops is the ideal base. If the priority is to ensure stability in critical environments, the SRE comes focused on automation, reliability and response to incidents.

And with the AI ​​boosting both models, the combination of the two becomes even more powerful: Devops structure the continuous delivery flow, while SRE applies operational intelligence to maintain stability, even under pressure.