The Problem

Your team deploys by copying files to a server. Or someone runs a script that only they understand. Builds happen on a developer's laptop and nobody is quite sure which version of the code is in production. Testing is manual, inconsistent, and usually gets skipped when deadlines are tight. Deployments happen on Fridays at 5pm because that's when things are quietest, and everyone holds their breath.

This isn't just inefficient — it's risky. Manual deployments introduce human error. Inconsistent testing means bugs reach production. Lack of automation means your team spends hours on work that should take minutes. And when something goes wrong, there's no easy way to roll back.

What You Get

End-to-end CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions. Automated builds triggered on every commit, test suites that catch bugs before they reach production, and deployment pipelines that push to staging and production with a single click or automatically. Agree the checks, approval gates and recovery steps around the needs of your project.

Beyond the pipelines themselves, you get infrastructure-as-code so your environments are reproducible, documented runbooks so anyone on your team can manage the process, and monitoring with agreed alert thresholds, recipients and response arrangements.

Common Setups

The most common configurations I build include build pipelines for .NET, Node.js, and Python projects with automated test execution, release pipelines deploying to Azure App Service, Azure Functions, Azure Kubernetes Service, or on-premise IIS servers, infrastructure-as-code with Terraform or Bicep that provisions and configures environments automatically, automated database migrations that run as part of the deployment process, and notifications to Slack or Microsoft Teams so the whole team knows when deployments succeed or fail.

For more mature teams, I also set up branch policies that enforce code review before merging, automated code quality checks with SonarQube, container image scanning for security vulnerabilities, and environment-specific configuration management using Azure Key Vault or App Configuration.

How I Set It Up

I start by understanding your current workflow — how code gets from a developer's machine to production today, what the pain points are, and what your team is comfortable with. There's no point building a complex Kubernetes deployment pipeline if your team is used to deploying to IIS and doesn't have container experience.

From there, I design a pipeline that fits your team's skills and your project's needs. I build it incrementally — starting with automated builds and tests, then adding deployment to a staging environment, then production deployment with approval gates. Each step is tested and documented before moving to the next.

The entire pipeline is defined in code (YAML for Azure DevOps, workflow files for GitHub Actions) and stored in your repository. This means it's version-controlled, reviewable, and reproducible. No configuration locked inside a GUI that only one person understands.

Why It Matters

Repeatable builds, automated checks and documented release steps can reduce manual work and make failures easier to investigate. They still need maintenance, representative tests and an agreed response when a release fails.

Start by measuring deployment frequency, manual effort and recovery time. Compare those observations after the changes to assess the benefit for your team; the return depends on the project and its operating costs.

Discuss Relevant Work

Ask about work relevant to your project. I can explain my role and share supporting material where I have permission. Get in touch →

Technologies

Azure DevOps Pipelines, GitHub Actions, YAML pipelines, Terraform, Bicep, Docker, Azure Container Registry, SonarQube, NuGet, npm, Azure Key Vault, Azure App Configuration, Azure Monitor, Application Insights, and Grafana for dashboards.

Pricing

Basic CI/CD setup for a single project — build pipeline, test execution, deployment to staging and production — starts from £2,000 and typically takes one to two weeks. Full DevOps transformation covering multiple projects, infrastructure-as-code, monitoring dashboards, and team training ranges from £5,000 to £15,000 depending on the number of projects and environments involved.

All work is quoted at a fixed price after an initial review of your current setup. I'll always tell you the minimum viable setup that solves your immediate pain, and what a more comprehensive solution would look like, so you can decide how far to go.

🔄 DevOps & CI/CD Setup