The DevOps lifecycle is a cyclical process that guides continuous development, integration, testing, deployment, monitoring, and improvement of software. It begins with planning and coding, followed by automated testing and building, deployment to production environments, and then operation and feedback loops to improve the software. The lifecycle includes seven main components: Planning, Code, Test, Build, Deploy, Operate, and Feedback and Iterate. These stages are interconnected, creating a positive feedback loop that drives continuous improvement. Effective DevOps implementations prioritize rapid iteration upon small changes, with minimal delay between key stages. Implementing an efficient DevOps lifecycle requires synergy between tools, people, and processes, including automated workflows, collaborative working methods, and consistent processes for code, configuration, and infrastructure. The DevOps lifecycle emphasizes collaboration, iteration, autonomy, continuous improvement, security, and compliance from day one. Popular tools support various phases of the DevOps lifecycle, such as planning, development, integration, deployment, monitoring, and operations. To ensure successful DevOps implementation, teams should integrate all tools and processes, automate everything, use consistent processes for code, configuration, and infrastructure, promote a culture of collaboration, iteration, and autonomy, continually look for improvement opportunities, and include security and compliance from day one. Spacelift is an IaC management platform that helps implement DevOps best practices, providing policies to control resource creation, stack dependencies, self-service infrastructure, creature comforts, drift detection, and remediation.