Who to hire for your Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) team

In our blog What is SRE (Site Reliability Engineering), we discussed what SRE is and the benefits it can bring to an organization. In this blog, we aim to focus on identifying the team members of a site reliability engineering team.

Recapping the importance of an SRE team

The SRE concept was first introduced by Google in 2003, and it has since been adopted by many other companies. . It is a team of engineers responsible for ensuring the reliability and availability of a given service. They work to improve system performance, system reliability, and system designs so that they are that are reliable enough for mission-critical workloads. An SRE team should have technical skills in software engineering, infrastructure automation, and DevOps practices.

SRE came into existence as an answer to bridging the gap between development and operations. The SRE team’s primary goal is to ensure seamlessly released projects. They have a deep understanding of both the product and the infrastructure, so they can manage them correctly.

An SRE team’s responsibilities and roles

You might have heard of the role “site reliability engineer“, but in truth site reliability engineers comprise a whole team of different roles. Each role adds a unique set of skills and experience to this specialized field.

A site reliability team is often a combination of people from different teams: DevOps teams, software development teams, system administrators, and system architects. They work together to create a comprehensive engineering team that can handle the demands of a complex technology stack (e.g., web servers, databases, container orchestration) and improve system reliability.

The roles and responsibilities of an SRE team vary depending on the specific product or service they are responsible for.

Let’s take a look at some of the common team members that make up an SRE team.

The Site Reliability Manager

The Site Reliability Manager is responsible for the overall strategy of the SRE team. They are in charge of creating a plan that meets business objectives, managing resources, and building SRE practices that lead the engineers to success. They are also responsible for communicating the strategies and goals to other teams.

SRE managers need to have a lot of experience in software engineering, DevOps, and infrastructure architecture. They need to be able to think strategically and lead the team to come up with solutions that can solve problems quickly and efficiently.

Software developers and software engineers

Software developers and software engineers are responsible for building and maintaining the software that powers a system. Their responsibilities within an SRE team include developing code, writing automation scripts, and ensuring reliable delivery of services.

The primary responsibility of a software developer or a software engineer on an SRE team is to develop software applications that meet the needs of the organization. They collaborate with software engineers to plan, design, and build new features or functionality. Developers also troubleshoot and resolve defects by researching root causes and developing solutions. 

In addition, they may be responsible for writing or updating documentation, such as user manuals or technical specifications.

DevOps engineers

DevOps engineers are responsible for automating the lifecycle of a service from development to deployment. They use tools like Ansible and Terraform to automate infrastructure as code (IaC). This allows them to quickly deploy applications in different environments with minimal manual effort.

In SRE teams, DevOps engineers also monitor and analyze system performance to identify potential issues before they become problems. They use their knowledge of the application architecture to design, develop, and implement automated solutions.

System administrators

System administrators are responsible for maintaining a service’s infrastructure. This includes setting up and configuring servers, deploying software updates, installing security patches, and performing regular maintenance tasks.

System administrators within an SRE team may also be responsible for developing automated solutions to improve system performance, availability, and scalability. They are also able to respond quickly to incidents and outages by troubleshooting the infrastructure in order to identify the root cause of any issues.

Systems engineers

Systems engineers are responsible for configuring, managing, and maintaining the underlying infrastructure. They use tools such as Kubernetes to deploy applications in containers and monitor system performance. This helps keep service availability and stability high while also ensuring scalability over time.

In SRE teams, systems engineers often collaborate with the development team and DevOps engineers to design, build, and maintain a reliable infrastructure. They use their knowledge of the application architecture to optimize system performance.

Architects

Architects are responsible for designing an overall system architecture that meets the organization’s needs. This includes understanding user needs, exploring viable technologies, and selecting the best solutions to meet those needs.

In SRE teams, architects are also responsible for designing a system architecture that is scalable, secure, and reliable. They use their expertise in distributed systems to develop strategies for monitoring and managing performance across multiple environments.

Network engineers

Network engineers are responsible for setting up and administering the entire network. They use tools like Cisco IOS and Juniper JUNOS to configure routers, switches, firewalls, VPNs, and other networking equipment. This helps ensure secure access to services and data from anywhere in the world.

In SRE teams, network engineers are also responsible for monitoring and maintaining the network infrastructure. They proactively identify potential issues with the network and work to resolve them quickly to ensure continuous service availability.

Testing engineers

Testing engineers are responsible for developing and executing tests to ensure the quality of a service. This includes writing automation scripts and implementing continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines.

In SRE teams, testing engineers collaborate with developers to test new features or functionality before they go live. They use their knowledge of the application architecture to develop strategies for automation, which helps reduce the need for manual testing. Additionally, they use their expertise to develop performance tests that help to identify potential issues before they become problems.

Can you outsource SRE?

Yes, you can outsource SRE. Many organizations decide to hire an external team of SRE experts instead of building their own internal SRE team. This is a great option for those companies that don’t want the overhead or cost associated with developing and maintaining an in-house SRE team.

When it comes to outsourcing SRE services, there are a few things to consider. First, you need to find the right SRE partner and make sure that they have the skills to provide the services you require with high quality. You should also look at their experience in similar projects and assess how they’ll be able to implement them for your organization.

Finally, you should ensure that the SRE partner has the right tools and processes in place to support your organization. This includes making sure they have a robust system for monitoring performance and uptime, as well as automation systems in place to quickly identify and address potential issues.

Final thoughts

When hiring for an SRE team, it’s important to look for individuals with the right mix of technical expertise, problem-solving skills, and customer focus. System administrators, systems engineers, architects, network engineers, and testing engineers are all important roles within an SRE team. Each role plays a critical part in ensuring service reliability, scalability, and performance.

By investing in the right team members, organizations can ensure their services are reliable, secure, and perform well for their customers. Ultimately, this will help them achieve their desired business objectives and provide a positive customer experience.