While Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) emerged from Google’s approach to managing large-scale systems, it’s crucial to remember that it’s not a rigid, one-size-fits-all solution. Google operates at a scale and complexity that most other companies don’t encounter. Therefore, successfully adopting SRE requires careful adaptation to the specific challenges and realities of your organization. Understanding the Importance of Context In the world of software engineering and operations, context is vital. Here’s why your organization’s specific context matters:...

When something goes wrong in tech - a website crashes, a system fails, a project deadline whooshes past - it’s natural to want to understand what happened and why. However tempting it may be to find someone to hold accountable, that instinct undermines one of the most powerful tools in a tech team’s arsenal: the postmortem. What is a Postmortem? A postmortem (literally, “after death”) in the tech world is a detailed review of an incident or failure....

As tech buzzwords go, “platform engineering” has definitely gained momentum. I see it everywhere - in articles, conference talks, and even casual conversations among tech professionals. Too often, though, this concept of platform engineering comes bundled with the tagline “DevOps is dead” or “Platform engineering replaces DevOps.” This makes me cringe a little inside. Every time I hear this, it reinforces my conviction that folks making such statements fundamentally misunderstand the core of what DevOps represents....

The pursuit of ever-increasing “9’s” in reliability metrics has become a hallmark of modern systems engineering. But for senior decision-makers, it’s critical to look beyond the marketing appeal of abstract numbers and assess the real-world trade-offs and potential pitfalls of fixating on this single metric. Understanding the 9’s Scale While seemingly straightforward, the implications of each additional “9” are less apparent to non-technical stakeholders. Let’s demystify it: 99% uptime: Approximately 3....

We’ve all experienced it - the grand initiative launched with enthusiasm and big promises, only to fizzle out months later without truly achieving its goals. Frustrating? Definitely. Avoidable? Absolutely. One of the primary reasons initiatives fail is the lack of a single, clear owner. The Problem with “Nobody’s In Charge” When tasks and responsibilities are spread across a team without someone designated to helm the project, problems are almost guaranteed:...