DevOps: Why Culture Comes First

DevOps promises a revolution in software development and IT operations. Faster delivery, increased quality, improved collaboration, and, ultimately, better business outcomes. However, the allure of shiny new technologies can overshadow the hard work required for real DevOps transformation. Many organizations fall into the “tool trap” - believing that simply buying the right software will yield the desired results. While tools are essential, focusing on them without addressing cultural shifts is akin to putting a fancy steering wheel on a broken-down car....

March 28, 2024

The Shiny Tool Syndrome

It’s easy to fall prey to the allure of the latest buzzwords. From Agile to DevOps, SRE, and the current darling, Platform Engineering - these methodologies and frameworks promise sweeping transformations and competitive advantages. Senior leaders, feeling the pressure to innovate and stay ahead, often find themselves demanding “the new shiny thing” without a clear understanding of their company’s actual pain points or desired outcomes. This phenomenon, let’s call it the “Shiny Tool Syndrome,” can lead to wasted resources, frustration, and, ultimately, a failure to address the core challenges facing an organization....

March 27, 2024

The Need for a Reliability Language in SRE

Ensuring reliability is paramount. Users expect services to be available and function as intended, with minimal downtime or disruptions. This is where Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) comes in, providing a structured framework to achieve, measure, and maintain reliability. However, like any engineering discipline, SRE needs a precise language to define, quantify, and communicate what “reliability” means. This is where Service Level Objectives (SLOs) enter the picture. Why a Shared Language of Reliability Matters Imagine a construction project without blueprints or engineers speaking different technical languages....

March 26, 2024

The Promise and the Perils of Platform Engineering

Platform engineering has emerged as a transformative force within modern software development. It promises to streamline development processes, empower developers with self-service tools, and enhance organizational agility. Yet, like any powerful tool, platform engineering can be a double-edged sword. If implemented without careful consideration and strategic execution, it can lead to pitfalls that hinder progress and stifle innovation rather than accelerate it. In this blog post, we’ll explore the common dangers associated with platform engineering gone wrong....

March 25, 2024

Never Let a Good Incident Go to Waste

The phrase “never let a good incident go to waste” might seem cynical at first. However, in the world of technology, operations, and business in general, it holds a deeper wisdom. It’s a call to use setbacks, failures, and incidents as catalysts for improvement. At the heart of this philosophy lies the postmortem – a critical process vital for turning incidents into growth opportunities. What is a Postmortem? A postmortem (or a post-incident review) is a structured analysis conducted after an incident has occurred....

March 15, 2024