A DevOps Reset for a Multi-Cloud World
In the world of DevOps, only two things really matter: To release applications and updates as quickly as possible To have access to resources (processing, storage, networks) able to run those apps, as cost-effectively as possible. The measures used to achieve these twin goals should work together seamlessly–otherwise, you’re inefficient. But software development and IT […]
OpenSSL Fiasco: What can DevOps Learn? | Elon Fires ‘50%’ of Twitter
In this week’s The Long View: The OpenSSL project has egg on its face, and half of Twitter’s staff are for the chop tomorrow.
Solving the Culture Conundrum in Software Engineering
The one crucial ingredient underpinning our transition to a digital-first economy, more than any other, is software. That’s why software engineering has become one of the world’s most in-demand professions. In the UK alone, the median salary for the role has increased 13% year-over-year as businesses look to stay ahead of the competition and attract […]
For Engineers, Meetings Waste Time and Money
Meetings can be the lifeblood of any organization, allowing coworkers to check in with one another, exchange ideas and solve problems. But, for engineers moving up the career ladder, the mounting number of meetings expected of engineering managers can end up being a distraction that does more harm than good. Research from Clockwise recently examined […]
Break Open the Black Box of Software Development
If you asked an airline executive what their biggest expense was just a few decades ago, they would’ve easily answered, “Jet fuel.” These days, you’d be hard-pressed to find an executive in any industry that wouldn’t answer with, “Software.” But here’s the difference: With jet fuel, that executive would have told you that they can […]
Know What You Want and Need
Over the years, what we purchase from vendors has changed significantly. It used to be that IT would define a need, go out and find a bit of software to solve it, install and configure the software and, in most cases, spend the majority of time on the project getting it to work correctly in […]
Building New Value in IT Systems Management
For decades, companies treated the IT system as a cost center not much different from facilities maintenance. The job of IT was to keep the lights on, ensuring that the technology a company used worked and that the costs of keeping it working were kept under control. Those days are well over. Not only is […]
Software Quality is the Heartbeat of the Best Organizations
JPMorgan recently announced it was hiring 2,000 engineers, despite the gloom in global economic markets. Is this not an odd risk for an organization to take, given the demand for (and cost of) software developers today? What’s happened? JPMorgan’s hiring drive is no mystery. Virtually every company in the world is leveraging software, with many […]
Adopting Shift Left Testing in Software QA
I am often asked to recommend best practices for building software testing programs. The problem is that it depends on your definition of “best.” What works for an innovative startup developing software and deploying agile development sprints is not necessarily going to suit an established public company launching a new web product. The software development […]
Session Tokens Vs. JWTs: Choosing Your Session Management Solution
In the world of authentication today, session tokens and JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) are the two most popular ways to manage user sessions and maintain a user’s authentication state between calls. Impassioned debates pit these solutions against each other, but each has pros and cons worth evaluating. Depending on the needs of your application, it’s […]
When Self-Service DevOps Forgets Who it Serves
For years, self-service has been touted as the salvation of DevOps. Why? Well, every department in your organization has its own reasons for putting self-service DevOps at the top of its wish list: ● Ops teams need to ensure high availability, performance and security ● Dev teams need speed, self-sufficiency and transparency ● Security teams […]
Fire at Data Center Causes Chaos | 20% Costlier Cloud
In this week’s The Long View: A S. Korean conflagration leads to a ridiculously long outage, and the price of public cloud is skyrocketing.
Transforming Observability
Walking into an unfamiliar operations center some time ago, I immediately noticed database error alerts racing down the primary monitor faster than a Matrix screensaver morphs letters. Strangely, no one seemed particularly excited about it. The situation was a head-turner for me, coming as I did from the “everything must balance” banking world. A senior […]
More Choices, More Problems: The Double-Edged Sword of Multi-Cloud
Multi-cloud environments can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there are clear benefits to using whatever cloud or tool is best for your particular needs, regardless of vendor – in theory. In practice, however, the more choices you have, the more complex and expensive your environment becomes. In fact, Andreessen Horowitz postulates that […]
Of Max and Min: When Performance Engineering Plans Go Awry
Modern software developers have access to powerful tools and services which allow them to quickly develop, demo and deploy fully functional applications. But what happens when the single-user prototype satisfies all required functionality but the user says the system seems slow? Or if the initial implementation turns out fine for one user, but multiple users […]
Kill the Password: Google on Board | 4-Day Week Proves Worthy
In this week’s The Long View: Passkeys is getting another big-tech supporter, and the four-day workweek train picks up speed.
Distributed Systems: Turning Networking to Your Advantage
Whether it’s the office, the classroom, the store or the bank, a great many spheres of human life have moved online. Each day, we grow more and more used to consuming applications on demand that instantly connect us with the rest of the world. Our expanding appetite for the internet depends on an ongoing trend […]
Forget Automation: Why IT Should Take UX Cues From Fine Dining
As a college student, I worked at a five-star Italian restaurant where I learned the discipline and practice of customer service. The general manager knew exactly which corner to stand in to get a view of every single table during service. They would gauge diners’ experience according to how they were interacting, their microsignals, how […]
Five Great DevOps Job Opportunities
devopsy.kinsta.cloud is now providing a weekly DevOps jobs report through which opportunities for DevOps professionals will be highlighted as part of an effort to better serve our audience. Our goal in these challenging economic times is to make it easier for DevOps professionals to advance their careers. Of course, the pool of available DevOps talent […]
From Cloud Chaos to Cloud Smart With Multi-Cloud Services
Organizations that embrace multi-cloud services experience real results and a heap of advantages—including greater resiliency, agility and data sovereignty. This is why it’s no surprise the majority of enterprises today are using two or more public clouds, with 81% reporting in a recent survey that they plan to adopt a multi-cloud strategy by 2024. But […]
Game Developers: 5 Strategies for a Great User Experience
The gaming industry has exploded since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people turned to social and casual gaming to entertain themselves at home and interest is expected to continue to rise. According to PwC, the global gaming industry is forecast to increase revenue from $214 billion in 2021 to $321 billion by 2026. […]
9 Best Practices for Web Hosting Security
A good website hosting service is crucial if you aim to provide the best quality services through your brand’s website. Whether you are setting up a virtual store, website or blog, the advantages of a good web hosting service are immeasurable. For a web hosting service to be great, it needs to be a safe […]
DevOps World 2022: A DevOps Retrospective
With the seminal IT conference DevOps World 2022 in Orlando September 26 to September 29 upon us, I think about the pivotal industry conferences and events critical to my path to the cloud, DevOps and cloud-native. It brings me to this brief retrospective, highlighting some of the most significant influences that still guide my path […]