DevOps is helping businesses get to market 33% faster, according to a new survey which suggests customer appetite for new products is driving demand for the methodology.

The CA Technologies-commissioned study of 1,300 senior European IT decision makers also found that organisations predict the agile software development strategy will help them release services 73% faster in the future.

And the research found that 88% of UK companies see the need for a DevOps strategy, with sales director Adam Maskatiya adding that more online searches on DevOps have been made in the last eight months than all such searches made between 2010 and 2012.

He said: "It’s external customer pressure driving demand. Customers are demanding more applications 24/7, and they’re consuming that on mobile, tablet and smartphones."

Mobility is another driver for DevOps demand, he believes, as well as the resulting business pressure to release more applications, which was cited by 58% of firms in the UK, a Europe-wide high.

"The shift to mobile is something else increasing that need around the speed to market," he explained. "People want things as quickly as possible."

Businesses geared towards releasing products and services as apps or mobile-friendly solutions often use DevOps to send out small updates to products without overwhelming customers with large and less frequent iterations.

And the research found that those using the methodology improved the quality of deployed applications by more than 21%, increased the number of customers by 20% and introduced 19% more software and services.

They also managed to curb spending on development and operations by 17%.

Yet only 29% of firms will measure the success of DevOps by external business factors, outlined the survey.

The vast majority of UK companies – 82% – plan to invest in new tools and training for development and operations personnel, the survey found, while another 42% are likely to hire new employees with relevant skills – the highest percentage in Europe.

"The impact of DevOps is real and immeasurable," said Maskatiya. "The quality of products, the frequency with which they’re released, that user experience and how the products render to mobile are underpinned by the agile approach."

CA Tech, which acquired startup Nolio in April, hopes to use the startup’s expertise in continuous application delivery to improve its own DevOps solutions.

CA currently has deployed its DevOps solutions in 500 companies in the service virtualisation market, and Maskatiya said the company wants to increase that number dramatically.

"We’re looking to built out at pace and help customers to continue realising the value from those investments," he said.