Catherine's post — est. reading time: 12 min

DevSecOps is often described as a movement driven by technology—tools, platforms, and automation pipelines that bring speed and security together. But beneath the surface, the true catalyst of DevSecOps success lies not in systems, but in people. Collaboration, or more precisely, the lack of it, remains the most critical challenge organisations face when adopting this approach.

Traditionally, development, security, and operations teams have occupied distinct spaces, each focused on their own set of objectives. Developers are under constant pressure to release new features quickly, aiming to outpace competitors and delight users. Security teams, meanwhile, are tasked with identifying and mitigating risk, often introducing constraints that frustrate developers. Operations teams strive to maintain system uptime and stability, sometimes viewing rapid changes as potential disruptions.

True DevSecOps cannot thrive in this environment. Without dismantling these silos, even the most sophisticated automation tools will fall short. The technology might be in place, but the culture required to support it will be missing. What’s needed first and foremost is a mindset shift—one that places collaboration, empathy, and shared responsibility at the core of every process.

The Mindset Shift: From Isolation to Inclusion

Breaking down silos begins with fostering open communication and redefining the way teams perceive one another. Rather than working in isolation and handing off work at checkpoints, teams must come together earlier and more often. This includes regular cross-functional meetings where development, security, and operations representatives not only exchange updates, but collaborate in real time to solve problems and align goals.

Shared dashboards serve as a practical anchor for this change. When all teams operate from the same set of data—whether it’s vulnerability alerts, deployment metrics, or service uptime—they begin to develop a common language. This transparency helps demystify the work of other departments and reduces the likelihood of finger-pointing when issues arise.

Collaborative threat modelling sessions are another valuable tool. When developers, security engineers, and operations personnel map out potential risks together, they not only anticipate vulnerabilities more accurately but also begin to understand each other's constraints and contributions. This fosters a sense of joint ownership, turning 'their problem' into 'our solution.'

Consequences of Siloed Teams: A Real-World Reminder

The impact of organisational silos is not theoretical—it plays out in costly, visible ways. Consider the example of a financial services company poised to launch a new digital product. The development team, eager to meet an ambitious release date, pushed forward with feature delivery at speed. Security, however, was not engaged until the closing weeks of the development cycle. When vulnerabilities were discovered during final review, there was no choice but to halt the launch.

The delays cascaded. The team had to rewrite significant portions of the application, conduct emergency patching, and reschedule marketing activities. The result was a missed market window, internal frustration, and damage to credibility. What might have been a triumphant rollout turned into a crisis of coordination—one that could have been avoided with early and ongoing collaboration.

Leadership's Role: Aligning Incentives for Lasting Change

Cultural transformation cannot happen in isolation—it requires consistent, visible commitment from leadership. Executives and team leads must go beyond encouraging collaboration in words; they must embed it into structures, metrics, and rewards. When different teams are measured against conflicting goals—speed for developers, risk avoidance for security, and uptime for operations—collaboration becomes performative rather than effective.

The solution lies in aligning incentives. KPIs must evolve to reflect shared outcomes: secure, timely releases that uphold system integrity. Leadership should ensure that reviews and performance assessments value cooperation and joint success over siloed achievements. When metrics are unified, teams start rowing in the same direction.

In progressive organisations, we see leaders hosting regular cross-functional retrospectives, recognising team-wide wins, and dedicating budget and resources to collaborative tooling and workflows. These practices not only signal the importance of DevSecOps—they institutionalise it.

From Intention to Transformation

Creating a collaborative DevSecOps culture is not a side project—it is a strategic imperative. The days when teams could work in silos, pass responsibilities along assembly-line style, and treat security as an afterthought are long gone. Modern software delivery demands speed, security, and stability—together, not in competition.

The first step is the hardest: recognising that silos are not a symptom but a root cause of many delivery failures. From delayed launches to unresolved vulnerabilities, the inability to collaborate early and often weakens every stage of the software lifecycle. Yet the solution is both cultural and actionable. Open communication, shared metrics, integrated tooling, and cross-functional leadership alignment can dismantle the walls and unlock new levels of performance.

A Final Reflection for Leaders and Teams

If your teams are still organised around legacy priorities—speed for one group, risk reduction for another, uptime for a third—it’s time to ask a more fundamental question: are we structured to succeed in the world we operate in now?

DevSecOps is not about tools. It is about people. It is about trust. And it is about aligning the way we work with the outcomes we truly care about. Begin by breaking down the walls. What follows may just surprise you.