According to the results of a new global study, commissioned by CA Technologies, only 20% of organisations that have attempted to implement DevOps have fully deployed it.

The research also found that these "advanced" DevOps adopters were more likely to report that their digital initiatives contributed to competitiveness, customer retention and top- and bottom-line results.

In the study titled Assembling the DevOps Jigsaw, more than 80% of senior IT and business executives confirm nine components that are key to maximise DevOps effectiveness. Vital areas of focus include business stakeholder education; security and compliance measures; and cross functional IT processes.

"To leverage the full potential of DevOps, organisations need to ensure IT is properly skilled and working collaboratively, as well as put in place the necessary enablers and controls," says Michael Madden, general manager, DevOps, CA Technologies.

Even though DevOps is seen as a key component to driving business agility and keeping up with customer demands, only a little over half (55%) of respondents stated that they have a well-defined DevOps strategy and objectives.

Furthermore, while 86% considered business stakeholder education and the alignment of IT and business priorities to be important, only 33% and 37% respectively had completed these steps.

Although both development and operations teams may have individually implemented modern methods and automation techniques, the majority (63%) of the DevOps adopters say there's still work to be done in relation to infrastructure and tooling.

Also, with 46% of respondents still working on security and compliance, it's clear that most DevOps activity is not well supported from an enabling platform and risk management perspective.

According to CA Technologies, assembling all of the pieces of the DevOps jigsaw puzzle may require time, effort and careful planning, but the results are worth it.

The company cites improvements in customer retention, acquisition, progress on market share and revenue growth as among the benefits.