DevOPs

Goals for 2024

~ Hamish Watson ~ Leave a comment

Way back in 2019 I set some goals…. well I wrote some goals and posted them here

2019 seems a lifetime ago…..that was the year I travelled 200,000 air kilometres (about 125,000 air miles) helping communities learn, I helped a community that was grieving here in Christchurch, ran for the PASS Board, established my first foundational client, wasn’t scared of a cough and paid my mortgage off. Oh and I was married, but that’s a whole different story.

Fast forward 5.25 years and here I am, about to write about goals again. Now that doesn’t mean that I have not had goals in that time – one of my goals of 2021 was to survive a messy divorce and live for my kids every day. My goal for 2022 was to rebuild my life and establish my new home base. My goals for 2023 were to accelerate what I was doing and go forward at a frenetic pace that is how I live life. This involved setting up my company as a Professional Services company with consultants working through it, rather than just me doing keyboard things.

In 2024 my initial vision for this year was to innovate – whilst still maintaining my life based around my children, helping mates out with work stuff, doing great community things and enjoying great food/wine.

So here are my goals for 2024 – a year that I hope will encompass diversification of what I do in industry while maintaining good stable financial outcomes (that sounds wordy doesn’t it… I used my words carefully).

My strategic goals for 2024 are around FinOps, Real-Time Analytics, DevOps, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) which I hope will significantly enhance my company’s (Morph iT Limited) efficiency, innovation, and competitive edge….. or maybe I establish an awesome start-up dedicated to all these things (more on that in another post). Why real-time analytics you might be asking…

…..well, I am a Data Platform MVP with Microsoft and data is core to everything I have done in the past 25 years.

FinOps Goals

I want to help companies realise these benefits:

  1. Cost Optimization and Transparency: Implement comprehensive monitoring and reporting mechanisms to provide real-time visibility into cloud spending across different departments and projects. Help clients get a 20% reduction in unnecessary cloud expenditures through more informed decision-making (using data) and waste elimination.
  2. Cross-Functional FinOps Team: Using my existing DevOps coaching skills to write material that will help clients establish a cross-functional FinOps team that includes finance, operations, and development leaders to ensure alignment of cloud investment with business outcomes.
  3. FinOps Training and Certification: Ensure I am certified in FinOps principles by the end of June 2024 to be able to help clients embed FinOps culture deeply within their organisation.

Real-Time Analytics Goals

  1. Speak more about a Unified Data Platform: Yip, this is about Azure Data Explorer a real-time analytics platform that consolidates data across various sources, reducing the time to insight from hours to minutes. This will be around how it integrates into the Microsoft Fabric ecosystem.

DevOps Goals

These goals are more around what areas I want to focus on in 2024, you could call them trends I foresee…
I spoke about trends in these YouTube videos:

https://youtu.be/0yR0GhDv1q8
https://youtu.be/FyLVOht7T1w
https://youtu.be/L2Cy1zu-egk
  1. Growth of AI and Machine Learning in DevOps (AIOps)
    AI and machine learning will increasingly be integrated into DevOps tools and processes, enabling more sophisticated analysis of data, predictive analytics, and automation. AIOps can help teams anticipate issues, optimize performance, and automate routine tasks, leading to more proactive and intelligent operations.
  2. Emphasis on DevSecOps
    Security will continue to be a critical focus, with an emphasis on integrating security practices throughout the development lifecycle rather than treating them as an afterthought. DevSecOps practices, which incorporate security early in the development process, will become more prevalent, driven by the need to address security challenges in a more agile and efficient manner.
  3. Serverless Architectures and Functions as a Service (FaaS)
    The move towards serverless computing and FaaS is expected to accelerate, offering teams the ability to focus on coding and deploying code without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. This shift supports more scalable, cost-effective, and efficient software development and deployment processes.
  4. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Maturity
    As organizations seek more scalable and manageable infrastructure provisioning, the use of IaC will mature and expand. Tools like Terraform and Ansible will continue to evolve, enabling more dynamic and flexible management of infrastructure, which is particularly crucial in multi-cloud and hybrid environments.
  5. Enhanced Focus on Observability
    Observability will become even more critical as systems grow more complex. The ability to monitor, log, and trace system activities in real-time allows teams to understand the health of their applications deeply and respond quickly to issues. Enhanced observability tools and practices will become a staple in DevOps toolchains.
  6. Sustainability in DevOps
    Sustainability and green computing will start to influence DevOps practices, with an increasing focus on optimizing resource usage, reducing waste, and considering the environmental impact of software development and deployment activities.

These will be core tenants of what I want to do both in the community and for clients of my company.

Artificial Intelligence Goals

  1. AI-Driven Products and Services: Launch a new product or service offering powered by AI to address customer needs and create new revenue streams.
  2. AI for Operational Excellence: Implement AI algorithms in my own activities to improve operational efficiency, such as predictive maintenance, inventory management, and demand forecasting, targeting a 30% reduction in operational costs.
  3. Ethics and Responsibility in AI: Develop and implement a comprehensive AI ethics policy to guide responsible AI development and usage within any organisation, including transparency, privacy, and fairness considerations.
  4. Upskill in AI and Machine Learning: I want to understand all things AI and machine learning fundamentals to build my own capabilities.

By focusing on these goals, I want to leverage the transformative potential of FinOps, real-time analytics, DevOps, and AI to help the corporate and educational communities realise the benefits of driving cost efficiency, operational excellence, innovation, and sustainable growth.

Sounds like some good goals to have to help #makeStuffGo….

Yip.

DevOps: It’s About the Team, Not Just the Tech

~ Hamish Watson ~ Leave a comment

In November 2023 I did a session at PASS Summit and one of my sessions was voted https://passdatacommunitysummit.com/about/news/have-you-watched-some-of-the-most-popular-sessions-from-summit-2023/

That session was called DevOps is about Growing People rather than using Cool Tools basically DevOps is not just about using the latest and greatest tools to automate software development & deployment processes. It is a culture that emphasizes collaboration, communication, and continuous improvement.

DevOps, a term that merges ‘development’ and ‘operations,’ often conjures images of technology, tools, and software. However, at its core, DevOps is far more about people and how they work together than the technologies they use. It represents a cultural shift, emphasizing collaboration, communication, and integration between software developers and IT operations teams.

This approach aims to create a more agile, responsive, and efficient workflow for building, testing, and releasing software.Here are some more of my thoughts around this area:

Understanding DevOps: Beyond Tools and Automation

The essence of DevOps extends beyond merely implementing the right tools or automating processes. While these elements are important, the true power of DevOps lies in its ability to transform how teams collaborate and innovate together. It challenges traditional siloed structures by fostering a culture where sharing, mutual respect, and continuous improvement are paramount. This cultural shift can lead to more effective and efficient practices, ultimately driving better outcomes for both the team and the organization.

The Human Element: Key to DevOps Success

At the heart of DevOps is the recognition that software is created by people, for people. Thus, focusing on the human aspect—how team members interact, share knowledge, and support one another—is crucial. This human-centric approach encourages a more engaged and motivated team, leading to higher quality work and innovation. It’s about creating an environment where continuous feedback, learning, and adaptation are part of the daily routine, enabling teams to respond swiftly and effectively to changes and challenges.

Building a Collaborative Culture

Adopting a DevOps culture means breaking down barriers between departments and promoting open communication. It’s about moving away from a mindset where development and operations teams have separate goals and responsibilities. Instead, DevOps advocates for shared objectives, mutual accountability, and collaboration throughout the software lifecycle. This integrated approach not only accelerates delivery times but also enhances the reliability and quality of software products.

Continuous Learning and Improvement

A pivotal component of DevOps is fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement. This involves regular reflection on processes, outcomes, and team dynamics, followed by proactive efforts to address issues and capitalize on opportunities for growth. Encouraging experimentation and accepting failures as learning opportunities are key aspects of this mindset. By continuously seeking ways to improve, teams can adapt to evolving needs and technologies, ensuring they remain competitive and effective.

The Role of Leadership

Leaders play a critical role in driving the cultural change necessary for successful DevOps implementation. They must champion the values of collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement, setting the tone for the entire organization. Leaders should also provide the support and resources needed for teams to experiment, learn, and grow together. By embodying the principles of DevOps in their actions and decisions, leaders can inspire their teams to embrace this transformative approach.

So remember:

DevOps is not just a set of practices or tools; it’s a philosophy that prioritizes the human elements of software development and operations. By fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and shared responsibility, organizations can unlock the full potential of their teams. This people-centric approach to DevOps can lead to more innovative solutions, faster delivery times, and higher quality software, ultimately benefiting both the team and the wider organization.

I really enjoyed doing the session, people are core to DevOps and presenting about it and how it can positively affect your life is core to me.

Yip.

Redgate SQL Test utility isn’t showing up in SSMS

~ Hamish Watson ~ Leave a comment

I had recently installed the SQL Toolbelt from Redgate at a client site on a laptop they’d supplied me.

(Fantastic product that SQL Toolbelt BTW.)

Things were going swimmingly – in fact thanks to SQL Compare, SQL Source Control and Team Foundation Server I had implemented an automated Continuous Delivery pipeline for the clients databases and applications.

The next thing I wanted to do was start implementing unit testing for both the applications and database. DEV were going to do the application side (this client is a start-up so it made sense that they had little to no unit tests) and I’d do the database side.

Except in SSMS I couldn’t find SQL Test…??

I knew to click on the icons to bring down other utilities but it wasn’t here either:

Redgate SSMS Where is SQL TEST
Not here either…. what have I done wrong??

So as a windows user I naturally looked in the Windows Apps:

Redgate No SQLTEST in apps
Hmmm…. nothing here either

At this point I decided it had to be my machine as I did a google and looked on forums and no one seemed to have experienced this.

So I uninstalled everything – SSMS and the Toolbelt.

Reinstalled everything.

And got this:

It was while clicking around like a madman I found this:

Phew.

And of course now I can do this:

Redgate Now in my happy place
Let’s start unit testing!!

 

So if you have recently installed Redgate SQL Toolbelt and can’t find SQL Test – hopefully this blog post will help you.

By the way I do think there was something wrong with the laptop the client gave me as now when I right click I get the ability to run tests:

Redgate SQL Test context menu
This was definitely not there before the uninstall/reinstall fiasco

So now I can start my unit tests – the good news the DEV team have started theirs and are really getting behind it. I think they’ve got on with it to stop me talking about unit tests…!!

We now have 4 minutes of unit tests per checked in build but that is definitely something I’ll respond to with:

Yip.