Yes — many other “Ops” paradigms exist today, each targeting a different intersection of disciplines — extending from DevOps (Dev + Ops) into security, finance, AI, ML, data, networking, compliance, and even business process management.
Below is a comprehensive taxonomy of *-Ops variations grouped by domain, with low-level explanation of scope, key automation/tooling areas, and source-level origins (where the concept evolved from in the DevOps ecosystem).
🧩 1. Core Evolution of DevOps
| Term |
Expansion |
Description |
Typical Tools/Stack |
Origin |
| DevOps |
Development + Operations |
Automates build, test, deploy, and operations lifecycle. Uses CI/CD pipelines, IaC, observability, and feedback loops. |
Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Terraform, Kubernetes |
Coined by Patrick Debois (2009, Velocity Conference). Rooted in Agile & Lean manufacturing (Toyota’s Just-in-Time). |
| DevSecOps |
Dev + Sec + Ops |
Security integrated into DevOps lifecycle (Shift-Left Security). Focus on static/dynamic scanning, IaC scanning, and runtime protection. |
SonarQube, Trivy, Snyk, HashiCorp Vault, Falco |
Originated from Rugged DevOps (2012, Josh Corman) emphasizing “security as code.” |
| FinOps |
Finance + Ops |
Cloud cost optimization as a shared responsibility. Metrics-driven budgeting for compute, storage, and network consumption. |
CloudHealth, Kubecost, Finout, CloudZero |
Coined by J.R. Storment (2018). FinOps Foundation under Linux Foundation. |
🧠 2. Data, AI, and ML Variations
| Term |
Expansion |
Description |
Tools / Key Systems |
Origin |
| DataOps |
Data + Ops |
Automates data pipeline testing, deployment, and quality checks. Inspired by DevOps, but for ETL/ELT and analytics. |
Airflow, dbt, Great Expectations, Prefect |
Coined by Andy Palmer (2014). |
| MLOps |
Machine Learning + Ops |
CI/CD + CT (Continuous Training) for ML models. Includes versioning, feature stores, and model registries. |
MLflow, Kubeflow, Vertex AI, Sagemaker |
Term appears in Google’s 2015 paper Hidden Technical Debt in ML Systems. |
| AIOps |
AI + Ops |
Uses AI/ML to automate anomaly detection, event correlation, and predictive maintenance in IT operations. |
Dynatrace, Moogsoft, BigPanda |
Originates from Gartner (2017). |
| ModelOps |
Model + Ops |
Manages AI model lifecycle beyond ML (e.g., rule-based or optimization models). |
IBM Watson Studio, SAS Model Manager |
Introduced by IBM ~2018 as enterprise-grade MLOps superset. |
| LLMOps |
Large Language Models + Ops |
Manages LLM deployment, monitoring, prompt versioning, fine-tuning, and context stores. |
LangChain, Weaviate, PromptLayer, BentoML |
Evolved post-2022 with the rise of GPT-3/ChatGPT ecosystem. |
| Term |
Expansion |
Description |
Tools |
Origin |
| GitOps |
Git + Ops |
Declarative IaC operations driven by Git commits. The Git repo is the single source of truth. |
ArgoCD, FluxCD |
Weaveworks (2017). |
| InfraOps |
Infrastructure + Ops |
Broader than DevOps; covers lifecycle of infrastructure provisioning, patching, and scaling. |
Ansible, Puppet, Terraform |
Grew out of Infrastructure-as-Code movement (~2013). |
| CloudOps |
Cloud + Ops |
Continuous governance and optimization of multi-cloud deployments. |
Cloudify, Scalr, CloudBolt |
Post-2016 multi-cloud trend. |
| NetOps |
Network + Ops |
Automation of network provisioning and policy enforcement (SDN/NFV). |
Cisco ACI, Ansible, NetBox |
Emerged alongside SDN (Software Defined Networking). |
| NoOps |
No Operations |
Full automation of ops, developers only code; infra self-heals via serverless or AI-based systems. |
Serverless (AWS Lambda, Cloud Run) |
Forrester coined the term (~2011). |
🛡️ 4. Security and Compliance-Driven Variants
| Term |
Expansion |
Description |
Tools / Practices |
Origin |
| SecOps |
Security + Ops |
Real-time SOC and IT ops collaboration — incident response automation, threat intel integration. |
Splunk SOAR, Cortex XSOAR, TheHive |
Rooted in SOC automation. |
| ComplianceOps |
Compliance + Ops |
Continuous compliance enforcement (PCI, HIPAA, ISO) as code. |
Open Policy Agent (OPA), Cloud Custodian |
Cloud security automation trend post-2019. |
| RiskOps |
Risk + Ops |
Integrates risk scoring and mitigation into CI/CD or SOC workflows. |
ServiceNow RiskOps, RSA Archer |
Coined around 2020 for integrated GRC. |
| PrivacyOps |
Privacy + Ops |
Data privacy governance automation (GDPR, CCPA compliance). |
OneTrust, Ethyca |
Emerged with privacy-first laws (2018+). |
⚙️ 5. Enterprise & Process-Oriented Variants
| Term |
Expansion |
Description |
Tools / Systems |
Origin |
| BizDevOps |
Business + Dev + Ops |
Aligns product delivery with business KPIs; connects OKRs directly to pipelines. |
Jira Align, Azure DevOps |
Introduced ~2016 by Gartner. |
| DevTestOps |
Dev + Test + Ops |
Testing is continuous and automated throughout delivery pipeline. |
Selenium Grid, Testkube, Cypress |
QA automation trend. |
| ChatOps |
Chat + Ops |
Use of chat platforms (Slack, MS Teams) for executing ops commands via bots. |
Hubot, Lita, StackStorm |
GitHub introduced 2013. |
| ServiceOps |
Service + Ops |
Combines ITSM and DevOps for service management automation. |
ServiceNow, PagerDuty |
ITIL4-based evolution. |
| ProductOps |
Product + Ops |
Centralizes product data and insights across teams to enhance product-led growth. |
Pendo, Amplitude |
Emerged in PLG companies (2020+). |
🌐 6. Edge, IoT, and Sustainability Variants
| Term |
Expansion |
Description |
Tools |
Origin |
| EdgeOps |
Edge + Ops |
Manages distributed workloads at the edge, IoT gateways, or 5G MEC nodes. |
KubeEdge, Open Horizon |
Born with edge computing (~2019). |
| IoTOps |
IoT + Ops |
Automates device onboarding, firmware updates, and telemetry pipelines. |
Azure IoT Hub, AWS IoT Greengrass |
IoT platform management evolution. |
| GreenOps / EcoOps |
Green + Ops |
Cloud and compute optimization for carbon footprint reduction. |
Cloud Carbon Footprint, Kepler (K8s plugin) |
Sustainability trend (2021+). |
🔬 7. Experimental / Emerging “Ops” Trends
| Term |
Expansion |
Description |
Example / Origin |
|
| DevRelOps |
Developer Relations + Ops |
Automates community, SDK updates, and advocacy workflows. |
GitHub Actions for SDK Docs |
Coined by CNCF community advocates. |
| PromptOps |
Prompt + Ops |
Automates LLM prompt pipelines, evaluation, and A/B testing. |
PromptLayer, Traceloop |
Arises from 2023 GenAI workflows. |
| PolicyOps |
Policy + Ops |
Enforces organization-wide policies as code. |
Open Policy Agent, Kyverno |
Gained traction with Kubernetes RBAC & Gatekeeper. |
| EventOps |
Event + Ops |
Orchestrates complex event-driven workflows. |
Temporal, NATS JetStream |
Post-Serverless event architectures. |
🔍 Source Trace (Historical Roots in Code)