The road to Sustainable DevOps

Abstract

This manuscript focuses on the environmental, social, and individual sustainability dimensions within the modern software development lifecycle, aiming to establish a holistic approach termed Sustainable DevOps (SusDevOps). Moving beyond the already well-researched economic and technical aspects, our approach to SusDevOps emphasizes the importance of minimizing environmental impacts, fostering social inclusion, and supporting individual well-being in software engineering practices. We highlight some key challenges in incorporating these dimensions, such as reducing ecological footprints, promoting workforce inclusion, and addressing the individual well-being of developers. We plan to adopt a structured approach incorporating systematic literature reviews, surveys, and interviews to deepen our understanding, identify gaps, and evolve actionable, sustainable practices within the DevOps community. Collectively, these initiatives can contribute to a more sustainable software engineering ecosystem.