Hire DevOps Engineers

Do you have a project that requires DevOps? We will get them to you! Polygant’s hand-picked pool of specialists has all of your server configuration and maintenance needs covered. Moreover, each specialist is highly skilled in the coordination of developers and system administrators.

Our engineers are experts in analytical and automation tools, as well as strategies of software development, testing, deployment, operation, and upgrade. They can set up a collaborative environment, organise communication between development team members, research project infrastructure, and deal with errors. Our engineers will help you cut expenses on services of an HR agency and reduce the time required for the development, maintenance, and update of your software products and services.

What is DevOps

DevOps is a methodology aimed at integrating the work of development and operations specialists into a single synchronised process. The main goal is to create an interdependent cycle of development, testing, and use of the software. With the help of DevOps engineers, companies are able to speed up the creation, upgrade, and maintenance of their products or services.

Imagine a factory where workers had to personally deliver manufactured products to the stores every week. The production would constantly be stopping and starting. In reality, it is not the workers delivering the products themselves but a separate team of logistics staff. Ideally, the factory-to-store distribution process would be an entirely automated conveyor.

At the ‘factory’ that produces software, DevOps is a methodology for building such conveyors. It includes recommendations and tools not just for setting up the conveyor but for maintaining them in good operating conditions as well.

When the methodology is applied

Let’s compare what an online bank, a food delivery service, and an application for paying traffic fines have in common. They:

1. Are a growing medium or large business with hundreds of thousands of customers.
2. Are fully digital: if a server goes down, the entire business will stop functioning. A fault-tolerant system with a high accessibility level is essential.
3. Depend on cloud solutions.
4. Require frequent updates to stay ahead of competitors, not just for the sake of appearance but to ensure stable operation.
5. Perform many routine technical tasks that businesses cannot do without, even though clients don’t notice them.
6. Delegate to various project roles. Knowledge is not centred but distributed amongst developers, testers, administrators, information security specialists, etc. It’s not good if each of them works separately. They should collaborate so that processes are holistic.
7. Have a budget for DevOps (it’s rather expensive).

Do most or all of these points apply to you? If so, it is worth looking into a DevOps model. If not, your usual developers should be enough.

What DevOps engineers do

The word ‘DevOps’ is composed of the words ‘development’ and ‘operations.’ As such, a DevOps engineer is an advanced system administrator with development skills. They can also be considered an intermediary between developers and sysadmins.

A DevOps engineer takes on routine tasks so that developers focus on the code that is essential to clients. They also provide continuity throughout all software development stages, meaning a complex high-load system works like clockwork and updates are released on time.

An environment where developers work and applications function is the product of hardware and various technical software. Each component needs configuration, support, and monitoring; it’s also necessary to make backup copies, detect and fix all possible issues. Simply writing a code isn’t enough: in order for clients to receive an update, the code must be tested and deployed (delivered to users). All of these routine tasks are encompassed by DevOps.

What skills DevOps experts have

Here are some things to look for in a DevOps expert’s CV:

• Experience in Linux, Docker, Git, Kubernetes (aka K8s) — this is essential
• Fluency in automation tools — systems for configuration management (Ansible, Chef, Fabric, Puppet, Terraform)
• At least 5 years of experience as an ordinary sysadmin — this gives them the ability to perform basic tasks with their eyes shut
• Skills in administration and optimization of DBMS (MSSQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle Database)
• Configuring caching systems (Memcached, Redis)
• Experience in virtualization (ESXi, Hyper-V, KVM, VMware, Xen)
• Deploying applications in cloud services (AWS, Azure, DigitalOcean, Google, IBM Cloud)
• Writing scripts (Bash, JavaScript, Powershell, Python, Ruby)
• Skills in object-oriented programming (.NET, Java, PHP)
• Experience in CI/CD (Jenkins, TeamCity, TravisCI, GitLab CI/CD) — for building and testing
• Configuring distributed message queues (Kafka, RabbitMQ)
• Building and visualization of metrics (Elasticsearch, Grafana, Kibana, Logstash, Prometheus)

There are options in-between parenthesis, so a candidate doesn’t have to be proficient in all of the above. Take, for example, a caching system. Your project is probably using either Memcached or Redis. If you already know which one, then you can search for a specialist that is skilled in it specifically. However, if the candidate has specified a different system, then they are generally experienced in this type of software, which means they will master a similar one.

It’s also important to consider soft skills: emotional intelligence, the ability to explain their point of view, equanimity, and the desire to share ideas with a team. In addition, knowledge of English is essential for reading documentation.

What to do if you need a DevOps engineer

Discuss the technical feasibility and potential benefits with your developers. Calculate how many engineers you need, what level of expertise they should have, and on what kind of contract to hire them: as full-time staff members, freelancers, or via outsourcing. For a medium-sized business with an IT team of up to 20 people, one engineer is likely enough. A large business with a team of over 20 people will need several DevOps engineers.

Finally, calculate the costs. The software development process is becoming more complex and the demand for DevOps is growing. From 2016 to 2020, it grew by 72%. Requirements and salaries are rising accordingly.

Searching for a freelancer

Freelance marketplaces and job boards are great places to find talented specialists that offer their DevOps services at a lower price while they accumulate experience. Moreover, freelancers are paid according to their results rather than the hours they spend in a workplace. This motivates them to do the job quickly (to receive their payment) and efficiently (so that they will be contacted again).

However, there are some disadvantages to working with freelancers, including less leverage, fewer possibilities for control, lower availability. A full-time staff member who is in your office from morning until evening can be called for an emergency meeting in 5 minutes; this isn’t possible with a freelancer.

Hiring a staff member

Hiring a staff member means having full transparency on the job: you always know where they are and what they do. It is also easier to trust someone with whom you have a long-term professional relationship than a relative stranger from the outside.

However, what you see isn’t always what you get even with full-time candidates: a polished CV does not guarantee high-quality or efficient work. At the same time, the costs are higher than for a freelance or outsourcing employee: in a year, salary and taxes will total to a larger sum than paying bills of third-party companies.

Outsourcing of a DevOps team

Outsourcing provides the opportunity to hire an already-formed IT team. This team should be all-inclusive, consisting of DevOps, developers, testers, and operators. There are several advantages to choosing this option: you get a well-coordinated team and the opportunity to review previous clients’ feedback. Additionally, the level of control you have over the team is higher than that over a freelancer, but still lower than that over your own staff members.

Note that there’s a risk of conflicting opinions on certain matters. A customer and a contractor can have different views on what DevOps includes. So, discuss these things with the remote DevOps specialists you’re hiring right from the start.

Philip E. , Middle DevOps Engineer

• Ansible
• Chef
• Docker
• Jenkins
• Puppet
• Vagrant

DevOps with experience of 6 years. Understands the interoperability principles of automation means with applications. Excellently knows OOP, quickly learns new technology and uses it in code. Can deploy and maintain Linux servers and automate the recovery of DB backups.

Hire Developer

George U. , Senior DevOps Engineer

• Ansible
• Chef
• Docker
• Jenkins
• Kubernetes
• Nagios
• Puppet
• Selenium
• Vagrant

DevOps with experience of 8 years. Thoroughly versed in project infrastructure of any complexity and can work with monitoring and environment configuration tools. Familiar with many containerization and virtualization systems. Specialises in quality code that will be understandable to other team members.

Hire Developer

DevOps engineer labour market

Common queries include where to find DevOps engineers, how to distinguish professionals from amateurs, and how much to pay them.

The skill level of IT specialists is conventionally defined as follows: junior-level is a novice with less than 2 years of experience, mid-level is an advanced specialist with 2 to 6 years of experience, senior-level is a top-tier engineer with over 6 years of experience.

When hiring foreign employees, keep in mind that salaries in some countries are indicated monthly, rather than yearly.

How much DevOps specialists are paid in the UK

In the scheme of most highly paid specialists, DevOps engineers are in second place after Android developers. The average annual salary for a junior DevOps specialist is 35,000 pounds (GBP). A middle specialist is paid 54,000 GBP annually, while a senior specialist is paid 72,000 GBP annually.

The average hourly rates of freelancers and outsourced employees for DevOps services are as follows: junior — 12 GBP, middle — 40 GBP, and senior — 80 GBP per hour.

How much DevOps specialists are paid in Russia

International companies may require foreign specialists, especially if customers or some part of a team are located abroad. Otherwise, if you are on a budget, DevOps specialists from Eastern Europe and CIS typically have lower rates and salary expectations than their western counterparts.

In Russia, the average monthly salary for a junior specialist is 54,000 Russian rubles (RUB), and for a middle specialist — 120,000 RUB. Senior specialists will be much more costly: an engineer from Moscow with over 6 years of experience will expect a monthly salary of 220,000 RUB.

The market average hourly rates for remote DevOps with reviews are as follows: junior — 700 RUB, middle — 1900 RUB, and senior — 4800 RUB per hour. In euros, it is about 8 / 21 / 52 EUR, respectively.

Price list for DevOps services by Polygant