Few organizations feel they are reaching their true potential. Technical debt, antiquated processes, outdated measurements, and a never-ending influx of new requirements leave most feeling incapable of doing much more than keeping the lights on. Overcoming these challenges and achieving meaningful change doesn't happen overnight, but is a necessity in order to create the next generation of IT operations and create the foundation for DevOps success. This session will explore techniques that modern IT organizations are adopting to become more agile, adopt new technologies like containers, new processes like DevOps, and build a culture of continual improvement. We will touch on how to: • Improve responsiveness, collaboration, and learning across teams • Adopting and supporting new technologies like containers, microservices, and automation • Gain more visibility into your environments and processes to identify constraints • Grow beyond firefighting and just getting the next feature out

1. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Adopting a Continual
Improvement Mindset for IT
Josh Atwell | @josh_atwell
Sr Technology Advocate, Splunk

2. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
How did they
do it?
Sciencemag.org @Josh_atwell @MyVMug #NewOps
9-11 Ft Tall
6 Tons
5.4 ft Tall
.068 Tons

3. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
A little bit at a time.
Applied New Tools.
Worked as a Team.
Sciencemag.org @Josh_atwell @MyVMUG #NewOps

4. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
The Case for Continuous
Improvement
Personal, Technology, Business, IT Ops

5. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Personal Impacts

6. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Technology Impacts
Last 5 Years
• Virtualized x86 VMs
• Large Apps
• On-prem virtual datacenters
• Single “pain” of glass (punny)
• Tools silos
• Structured Data
• Development needs
abstracted
Next 5 Years
• Containers, Services, Cloud
• Distributed Applications
• Multi-cloud management
• AI/ML assisted observability
• Tools versatility
• Structured, Unstructured Data
• Development needs critical and
diverse

7. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Business Impacts

8. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Traditional Operations teams must change how they think about their
job. It is no longer just about availability, mean time to restore (MTTR),
and mean time between failure (MTBF). Instead, it is more about the
speed at which the infrastructure teams can deliver the needed
resources and services required for the business to thrive while also
driving reliability, resilience, and cost-effectiveness.
Modernizing Operations in the Age of DevOps
https://itrevolution.com/book/modernizing-operations-age-devops/
Organization Impacts

9. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Growing Beyond Fire Fighting
You can’t improve what you can’t measure

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DATA Driven IT Ops today
Do
Anything
That
Alerts
If it beeps, we silence it.

11. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
DATA Driven IT Ops tomorrow
Data
Analyze
Train
Apply
If it beeps twice, we
missed something.
Automate

12. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Understand Your Data. It Tells the Story
• Sev 1 Incidents Could we have seen this coming?
• Data Quality Are we collecting the right things
• Data Volume Is it too much? Alert/Data Fatigue
• System Knowledge Do we understand how this data
relates? What next?
Identify the data and scenario that led to incident. Collect in the gaps
Regularly review data ingest for its value – Remove misleading data
Collecting everything is laborious without smarter tools. Train your systems.
Ask good questions of your data. Apply automated responses for the answers.

13. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Assume the Unforeseen

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Successful organizations do not
seek improvement in silos
Improving Responsiveness, Collaboration, and Learning

15. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Understand App Development Workflows
Optimize at ConstraintsLearn Development
Pain Points
Developer Productivity = Business Productivity = IT Productivity

16. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Transparency
• If “they” can’t see it,
”they” can’t help you
• Sharing is caring
• Survivability = Vacation = Promotion
Impressive Transparency Graphic © Josh Atwell
<insert your name>

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Adopt new Tools
and Technologies
Marathon runners do not train sitting on the couch

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Experienced?
Experiment!
No one becomes proficient or expert without practice
Andrew Redington/Getty Images @Josh_atwell @MyVMUG #NewOps

19. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Avoid Adding Toil
• Minimize new processes – reuse
existing processes
• Adopt technologies for Self Service
• Listen to user needs. Assume
nothing. Get Clarification
• Add Tech Debt reduction to each
new project scope to increase
agility
If a human operator needs to
touch your system during
normal operations, you have
a bug

20. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Experienced? Be Honest

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Creating a Learning Culture?

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“Our ability to
learn makes
us adaptable”

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Understand
the Ways We
Learn
“Formal” Training
• Books
• Videos
• Classroom
“Informal” Training
• Mentoring
• On-the-Job Experience
• Google
Don’t make it Binary
• Ad-Hoc Learning (YouTube)
• Learn with/From Peers (How do you?)
• Share with others (Internal sharing sessions)
• Take Classes (Get started or Round Out
Knowledge)
Complete Learning

24. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Let’s Take it Home

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Mindset Adjusters
• You can’t improve what you
can’t measure
• Find and use the right tools for
the job.
• Become a full-time learner
• Successful organizations do not
seek improvement in silos
• Optimization anywhere other
than the constraint may do more
harm than good.

26. @Josh_Atwell #DevOps #NewOps
Focus
• Once you better understand processes, focus on the tools and
technology that can improve those processes and priorities.
• Don’t get distracted by every bright and shiny object.
• Spend calories where the development and app teams point out pain.
• Seek regular small improvements – 10% improvement / quarter

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No Shortcuts

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“I’ve always believed that if you took one-tenth of the energy you put
into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you’d be
surprised by how well things can work out.”
Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture