Cube reduces toolchain complexity and speeds up software delivery with Gitlab.

Moving to DevSecOps.

Operations Manager Mans Booijink and Lead Developer Remi Buijvoets sat down with GitLab to talk about how the move to an all-in-one DevSecOps platform has made a significant and positive difference at Cube - internally and with clients - and why they are happy with the move.

Before we dive into their migration story, here is a snapshot of the improvements Cube has achieved with GitLab:

• Improved delivery speed of CI/CD

• Improved service level response time (SLA).

• 80% of Cube customers are actively working in GitLab

• Single source of truth collaboration

Bron (geschreven door Gitlab.com): https://about.gitlab.com/blog/2023/02/07/how-cube-uses-gitlab-to-increase-efficiency-and-productivity/

Why did Cube make the switch to GitLab?

Before we made the switch, we used a combination of Bitbucket, Trello and Jira. The combination caused a fragmented, isolated toolchain. There were many opportunities to improve efficiency. So we started using GitLab because we wanted a DevOps system that included ticket management, security and collaboration with clients. Not only does GitLab work efficiently, but adoption is quick and easy. In fact, we have tripled our GitLab user base from 20 to almost 70 over the past three years, and now almost the entire Cube organisation uses GitLab. Our clients and colleagues (designers, developers and project managers) can communicate easily by working in the same GitLab environment.

Did Cube try anything else before GitLab?

We tried other tools before moving to GitLab. But GitLab offered everything we needed: ticket management, CI/CD, DevOps, version control, file management and security. It wasn't long before we realised GitLab was perfect, because we wanted to have one tool where we all collaborate with our clients and our team.

Now that Cube is using GitLab, how has your toolchain changed?

GitLab has simplified everything into a single source of shared truth. We run the software on a private cloud in the Netherlands and have integrated Sentry for error monitoring. The entire toolchain now runs in Gitlab.

How has GitLab CI/CD Cube helped?

GitLab CI helps us automate the software development process by using GitLab pipelines and runners to deploy our code. Within the pipelines, we run linters to check the quality of the code. Unit and functional tests are also performed to ensure the application works. If an error occurs or a test fails, the pipeline will fail. GitLab CI improves the lifecycle of our software and helps us monitor the quality of our software, which is essential.

GitLab CI certainly helps with speed of delivery, but also a lot in facilitating rollbacks when a release accidentally contains a bug. We use a release schedule and GitLab helps us automate most of the work so that we can deliver exactly on time.

GitLab CD improves the speed of our code deployments. When pipelines succeed, developers can make sure everything works as it should. This allows developers to focus more on the development itself and not lose focus by thinking along with the implementation. We have also introduced a local machine that builds releases. The machine is hosted on-premises and has many resources. Multiple GitLab Runners use this machine to build releases. Using GitLab Runners with an on-premises server was easy for us to configure.

How have GitLab's Agile capabilities helped your business become more efficient?

Before GitLab, we used different communication channels with our clients. Now GitLab gives us a central, accessible place for all communication. We also use GitLab for Agile development. We have our epics to manage larger development projects, and we also use milestones. We do four to six releases a week and we manage them all by creating milestones that are visible to all involved. We provide all tickets with requirements, impact, stakeholders, etc. We use GitLab for 90% of our project management, Agile management and working functionalities, which proves to be very effective.

How do you measure the success of your GitLab migration?

We measure the lead time of delivery. The results of each individual stage in delivery are accurately logged. This allows us to demonstrate that we honour the agreements made to our clients. We also track how efficient the various phases are during the development process, and whether they are improving compared to the past.

Because we use GitLab integrally throughout the process, it is a very valuable and useful source of information.