Stop Churning, Start Shipping: How Automated CI/CD Can Transform Your Engineering Team

 How big of an impact can a fully automated CI/CD process have for your engineering team? What are the benefits, and what does it take to get it going?

Years ago, I worked on a cloud platform with numerous microservices and the teams supporting them. Quarterly, usually during an engineering all-hands meeting, someone would inevitably ask why we didn't automate our release process. Our engineering leader, facing a mountain of legacy code with minimal automated tests (Unit, Integration, you name it), would say it was too risky. "We'd just be releasing more bad code faster," they'd argue. The solution, they felt, was for every team to build automated tests for all that legacy code. That usually ended the conversation.

Since then, I've implemented automated CI/CD on several SaaS platforms, and I can tell you there's a way to do it without rewriting your entire codebase.

Why Automate? The Benefits Are Real.

Automated tooling like CI/CD ensures consistency and predictability. It guarantees that critical processes like approvals, security static analysis, and automated tests are always run. But the biggest win, in my opinion, is how it improves developer focus. Engineers can code a feature, have it tested, and release it to production in a much shorter timeframe, maintaining context and flow. No more task switching between releases and backlog items. This leads to increased efficiency and higher quality code.

And let's be honest, it makes engineers happier. They want to focus on one thing, nail it, ship it, and move on. A well-oiled CI/CD pipeline enables this.

What Does a Robust CI/CD Process Look Like?

It's all about minimizing the cycle time between feature completion and production release. Typically, the process starts with a code check-in to the main branch. This triggers a series of steps:

1. Code Review: Two approvals are required. This ensures code quality, security, and adherence to team standards. Ideally, one approval should come from the code owner.
2. Automated Tests: All tests must pass. Set a high bar here – failing tests mean the build stops. While some might consider notification-only tests, a "all tests must pass" policy is simpler and more effective.
3. Code Coverage & Security Checks: These are performed to further validate the code's quality and security.
4. Build and Deploy: Upon successful completion of all the above steps, the code is automatically built and deployed to development, test, and finally, production environments.

The entire process, from code review approvals to production deployment, should ideally take 10-20 minutes. Developers hate long build times.

How to Implement CI/CD Without Chaos

The key is mandated code coverage. Treat it like a "build it, and they will come" scenario. Require 80% code coverage for all new code check-ins (this includes changes to existing code). I've found 80% to be the sweet spot – high quality with minimal escalations. This approach is also less disruptive. You don't have to worry about existing, released code (your customers have already been testing that for you!).

Addressing the Pushback

Some engineers and teams might resist, fearing a slowdown. Initially, there might be a slight dip in velocity as teams adjust to writing tests. However, this forced testing also catches bugs earlier—bugs that would otherwise be found by customers. The net result is higher quality releases and a more robust product.

For resistant team members, explain the "why" and share your past experiences with the positive impact of CI/CD. Offer a trial period (e.g., 90 days) with a retrospective to discuss the results. I've seen skeptics become converts after experiencing the benefits firsthand, often acknowledging how code coverage has saved them from releasing bugs.

Don't Wait, Automate!

You don't need the "perfect" setup to start. The benefits are immense: consistency, predictability, standardized approvals, enhanced security, and, most importantly, a happier, more productive team. Give it a try and see the transformation for yourself.