What I Do as a DevOps Consultant • Hacker News Board

Re: What I Do as a DevOps Consultant

#21

Post by eropple » Sun, Aug 11, 2019, 5:04 PM UTC

1337shadow wrote: post #16

"DevOps" used to be a methodology where a Dev and an Ops share a same goal of delivering value into production, at least, that's in the book I have read. A sort of extension of the Lean System where workers from different areas share a common goal of delivering value to the final customer (in production), the same card may require a backend dev, frontend dev, and an ops to share the goal to take this card from idea t…

> But I don't think you'd be doing "DevOps" all by yourself, unless you are what I call a full-stack, good at: communication, frontend, backend, and networking.

This is pretty much how I sum up what you'd have to be to be "a devops engineer": an actually-full-stack developer with a strong facility for communication and for process.

Such folks are hard to find. I only know a few, out of the dozens of folks I've worked with.

Re: What I Do as a DevOps Consultant

#22

Post by zbentley » Sun, Aug 11, 2019, 5:16 PM UTC

mishingo wrote: post #9

Now with the advent of software such as Rundeck, the majority of tasks and automation can be consolidated into a singular control panel. Now I focus more on project based work and reduce time fumbling with random annoying tickets. It makes it more manageable to juggle the diverse work we are responsible for in a "DevOps" role.

It is customary on HN to disclaim when you work for/on a product that you are pitching or suggesting.

Re: What I Do as a DevOps Consultant

#23

Post by 1337shadow » Sun, Aug 11, 2019, 5:23 PM UTC

eropple wrote: post #21

1337shadow wrote: post #16

"DevOps" used to be a methodology where a Dev and an Ops share a same goal of delivering value into production, at least, that's in the book I have read. A sort of extension of the Lean System where workers from different areas share a common goal of delivering value to the final customer (in production), the same card may require a backend dev, frontend dev, and an ops to share the goal to take this card from idea t…

> But I don't think you'd be doing "DevOps" all by yourself, unless you are what I call a full-stack, good at: communication, frontend, backend, and networking. This is pretty much how I sum up what you'd have to be to be "a devops engineer": an actually-full-stack developer with a strong facility for communication and for process. Such folks are hard to find. I only know a few, out of the dozens of folks I've worked…

They are rare because it takes like 15 yrs of day and night hacking & learning from books that range from software to sales, through system & networking and communication, and found ways to practice, not something many people are both willing and able to do.

Re: What I Do as a DevOps Consultant

#24

Post by hosh » Sun, Aug 11, 2019, 5:23 PM UTC

That is in alignment with the work I have done as a “devops” person. I have also worked as doing primarily backend development.

The single-most useful skill I have used is problem solving in an unknown context. Knowledge of architecture patterns help a lot in both cases. There have been times when I have had to read code just to figure things out.

There was a technical interview for a devops role I did recently. Whomever designed it was brilliant: a deceptively simple task (install an obscure blogging platform and get it running) with many hidden landmines and gotchas, compressed into 45 mins. Just another day at work.

Re: What I Do as a DevOps Consultant

#25

Post by hosh » Sun, Aug 11, 2019, 5:25 PM UTC

1337shadow wrote: post #16

"DevOps" used to be a methodology where a Dev and an Ops share a same goal of delivering value into production, at least, that's in the book I have read. A sort of extension of the Lean System where workers from different areas share a common goal of delivering value to the final customer (in production), the same card may require a backend dev, frontend dev, and an ops to share the goal to take this card from idea t…

I think he focused on the practical, day-to-day realities of this. His experience pretty much aligns with mine’s.

Re: What I Do as a DevOps Consultant

#26

Post by denimnerd42 » Sun, Aug 11, 2019, 5:26 PM UTC

devops in my department means developers they push into a full time support role to fill out release paperwork, oversee manual regression tests, and fix production failures.

Re: What I Do as a DevOps Consultant

#27

Post by hosh » Sun, Aug 11, 2019, 5:27 PM UTC

1337shadow wrote: post #23

eropple wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But I don't think you'd be doing "DevOps" all by yourself, unless you are what I call a full-stack, good at: communication, frontend, backend, and networking. This is pretty much how I sum up what you'd have to be to be "a devops engineer": an actually-full-stack developer with a strong facility for communication and for process. Such folks are hard to find. I only know a few, out of the dozens of folks I've worked…

They are rare because it takes like 15 yrs of day and night hacking & learning from books that range from software to sales, through system & networking and communication, and found ways to practice, not something many people are both willing and able to do.

They are rare because the primary skill of a devops person is creative problem solving in an unknown situation and with unfamiliar tooling. You are plumber, not a cowboy or farmer.

While I have some deep knowledge in a few areas, most of the work I do has a lot more to do with researching tools, tracing down problems, and figuring out solutions that do not always appear on Google or StackOverflow.

That mindset has also served me well when I write backend code.

Re: What I Do as a DevOps Consultant

#28

Post by 1337shadow » Sun, Aug 11, 2019, 5:28 PM UTC

hosh wrote: post #25

1337shadow wrote: post #16

"DevOps" used to be a methodology where a Dev and an Ops share a same goal of delivering value into production, at least, that's in the book I have read. A sort of extension of the Lean System where workers from different areas share a common goal of delivering value to the final customer (in production), the same card may require a backend dev, frontend dev, and an ops to share the goal to take this card from idea t…

I think he focused on the practical, day-to-day realities of this. His experience pretty much aligns with mine’s.

What I find confusing is how in a perspective he serves the DevOps methodology by pushing DevOps tooling and Human interaction, but in the other he seems to be doing the sysadmin work for the rest of his team, which seems contradictory from a higher (managerial) perspective.

Re: What I Do as a DevOps Consultant

#29

Post by goatinaboat » Sun, Aug 11, 2019, 5:46 PM UTC

eropple wrote: post #21

1337shadow wrote: post #16

"DevOps" used to be a methodology where a Dev and an Ops share a same goal of delivering value into production, at least, that's in the book I have read. A sort of extension of the Lean System where workers from different areas share a common goal of delivering value to the final customer (in production), the same card may require a backend dev, frontend dev, and an ops to share the goal to take this card from idea t…

> But I don't think you'd be doing "DevOps" all by yourself, unless you are what I call a full-stack, good at: communication, frontend, backend, and networking. This is pretty much how I sum up what you'd have to be to be "a devops engineer": an actually-full-stack developer with a strong facility for communication and for process. Such folks are hard to find. I only know a few, out of the dozens of folks I've worked…

you'd have to be to be "a devops engineer": an actually-full-stack developer

Completely false. A full-stack developer applies JavaScript frameworks to create websites. A DevOps engineer applies development methods to infrastructure i.e. infrastructure-as-code. Totally different both skillset and mindset.

Re: What I Do as a DevOps Consultant

#30

Post by benjaminwootton » Sun, Aug 11, 2019, 5:53 PM UTC

I founded a DevOps consultancy (Contino.io) and have been involved in hundreds of DevOps engagements.

I’ve always been comfortable with the idea of DevOps as a role. If you work on Terraform, CI/CD, container platforms etc and have knowledge of both Dev and Ops practices and engineering mindset then it seems like a fine label.

We really took a bet in the early days that DevOps as a discipline as well as an operating model and culture would emerge. We are now approaching 400 people so we are happy with how it’s playing out. I think it’s very early days too.