DevOps tools and automation bring together development and system operations. The following are critical components of a DevOps practice: 

• CI/CD
• Continuous monitoring and improvement 
• Infrastructure as code (IaC)
• Configuration management (CM)

A best practice across all the elements is automation. Automating processes allows you to efficiently perform these operations in a fast, reliable, and repeatable fashion. Automation can involve scripts, templates, and other tools. In a thriving DevOps environment, infrastructure is managed as code. Automation enables DevOps teams to set up and tune test and production environments rapidly. Let's explore more details about each component.