How Relevant is Jenkins in the Current DevOps Environment?

Jenkins, an open-source fork of Hudson, remains a pivotal tool in the CI/CD landscape, even after 20 years since its inception in 2004 by a Sun Microsystems engineer.

Its relevance is underscored by its open-source nature, independence from version control systems, and robust community support, which has led to the development of thousands of plugins for various integrations like VCS, Helm, and VMs.

Jenkins offers extensive customization options, making it a preferred choice for enterprises, especially in the banking and financial sectors, where self-hosting is crucial for data privacy. CloudBees provides an enterprise-level Jenkins solution for those seeking additional support.

Despite some challenges, such as maintenance overhead, plugin deprecation, and downtime during upgrades, Jenkins remains a strong contender due to its high availability configurations and adaptability. While newer tools like GitHub Actions and GitLab Pipelines offer VCS-dependent, cloud-native solutions, Jenkins continues to be favored for its flexibility and comprehensive plugin ecosystem.

Alternatives like Argo Workflows, Tekton, and Jenkins X cater to cloud-native needs, but transitioning from Jenkins can be complex due to the intricacies of existing Groovy scripts.

For large enterprises, Jenkins knowledge is essential, particularly in understanding both declarative and imperative pipelines.

Startups, however, might opt for cloud-native solutions like Argo Workflows or GitHub Actions. Jenkins' enduring relevance is a testament to its adaptability and the continuous support from its vibrant community.