A little bit on lock-in, some app modernization links, and an online holiday party for you to chill out. The Land of Cockaigne, BruegelLock-inOne of the most frequent objections/benefits/discussion points in software is the idea of “lock-in.” This usually means “if I pay someone for something, I’m using something only they have, and I’ll be locked into it.” With public cloud, it applies to cloud services as well. I’m never really bought into lock-in as a huge deal.

What does “multi-cloud” mean? There are multi-definitions. Har har. Also, securing cloud applications and custom software in state and local governments. Also: kubernetes is not for developers…? Approaching Rain, Southwest Texas, 1922 Julian OnderdonkThe many meanings of “multi-cloud.” (Well, two at last.)I really like the recent O’Reilly cloud survey. There’s a lot going on in there especially when it comes to seeing how people use cloud, concerns they have, and so forth.

Original contentDevOps Metrics for Technical, Business and Culture TransformationThis is the talk I gave at VMworld this year. It goes over three types of metrics to use in all your digital transformation, get better with software stuff. While I don’t list very actionable (yeah! check out that work use!) metrics for culture, I think the novel thing in this talk is the suggestion that you track culture change with metrics. Also, I revisit one of my favorite case studies, the IRS.

Developers don’t actually want to change the batteries. BruegelOriginal contentSoftware Defined Talk #328: Your MOM is a SaaS This week we discuss HashiCorp’s S1, AWS Earnings and highlights from Microsoft Ignite. Plus, Coté teaches us a new Dutch phrase. A Shift in Mindset it Critical The missing parts of scaling up DevOps are often involving compliance, security, and most importantly, leadership actually changing and getting more hands on themselves. Check out more in this guest column of mine.

Excuses to keep doing exactly the same thing, if not even less. From The Fight Between Carnival and Lent.Original contentSoftware Defined Talk Episode #326: Just Jump In — www.softwaredefinedtalk.com This week we recap Datadog’s announcements, discuss Sequoia’s investment pivot and hot takes on Facebook’s intent to rebrand. Plus, some thoughts on heated pools… Securing Apps in KubernetesI aspire to talk more about the products we have in Tanzu-land. Here’s me talking about the Tanzu Build Service, trying to explain what it does - and why - in less than 2 minutes and 20 seconds:

Another take at writing up why app modernization is important for business, and the usual links to stuff and my recent podcasts, etc. Smuggling in ModernizationI’m working on a project I call the #legacytrap. Trying to explain to executives (CIOs and non-IT executives) how important it is to modernize your old stacks of IT, mostly stuff used to support all that in-house software that runs the business. I have a slide I use that summarizes the problem in surveys:

Lots of original content this week, and unstructured tips on moderating a panel. Since it’s been two weeks, a passel of links too. We fear changeThis is a the first new talk I’ve done in awhile. It came out alright - I could do a lot more commentary on the existing organization change models, and I cut some tactics for management to make up for time in the conference agenda. Anyhow, I’ll have to find a conference to give a 30 minute and then 50 minute version…and find that extra content.

Nothing profound this time. Garbage Chairs of AmsterdamFree DevOps conference, DevOps Loop, Oct 4thPromotional gifA conference I helped put together, DevOps Loop, is next week. I’m putting together my presentation “fear of change.” So far, I’m playing around with the notion of going over fear of change in more literary sources. There’s plenty to be said for that fear, and change, in the corporate world - I’ve written three books on the topic!

How I find time to make thumbnails for my enterprise videos. Sorry, I flakedThe most operational self-help tactic I’ve learned in years is: get comfortably flaking out on things. Missing meetings, being late delivering things, being unreliable, skipping studying Dutch today (and tomorrow)…just failing at living up to your full potential.  This thinking works for me because it tells me an easy thing to do: just be OK not doing things.

How was your week? A free conference I helped make: DevOps Loop, Oct 4thNext month is DevOps Loop. It’s a conference I’ve been helping out together and it has an outstanding talk list. I’ve worked closely with several speakers to curate talks on things I’m interested in and that they’re excited about. Register and attend for free, it’s October 4th. And now, the stuff: Original contentSoftware Defined Talk #319: We need two elephants — www.

The newsletter is back, for now. This is actually issue #156, but who’s really counting? Your author, as drawn by daughter.New book, freeSince sending out this newsletter I’ve published another book, which you can get for free: Many organizations are toiling away at their application modernization strategy. Most have created enclaves of digital innovation, but few have modernized the entire organization. Why? They start with practices and technologies before changing the most important part: their organization’s mindset.

I’ve proposed an open spaces for DevOpsDays Amsterdam, 2021. The idea is: The DevOps community pushes for people to change how they think and operate. When it comes to working better, we have proven tools, techniques, and even big picture ways of thinking like CALMS. You’re more than likely eager to try these new things, get better, change. However, many more people seem less than eager to change - your co-workers, managers, and the countless “others” in your organization.

Notes: central is thinking about product features, not business. The business funds the product, the customer value - it’s the McGuffin that you careful guide to being cash flow. The question here is to find other org.s that have adopted abs adapted the practices successfully, or not. the advice at the end is pretty straightforward - the practices are kind of simple, so applying them just means deciding to do them - just like deciding to diet and exercise.

Looking at four months of numbers, here’s my theories of how to get more attention for my enterprise tech videos: Make short ones, each with one point - 1 minute to 10 minutes. Post the videos natively to Twitter, YouTube, or whatever channel - don’t rely on people clicking on YouTube. YouTube is, in general, the worst performer for eyeballs. LinkedIn is the best all around performer (but, I haven’t found detailed analytics, like seconds watched versus just auto-play).

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. Carl Sagan. In most enterprise tech marketing copy, it’s an anti-pattern to do the whole “you must first invent the universe” thing. Buyers and curious people already know that there’s market headwinds, things change faster than ever, new technologies, etc. They want to know exactly how you solve the problem, not that it exists.