DevOps - Building software development into operations

We had a lively conversation in class today about how agile software development takes no heed to those who work in operations, that is, many software "innovations" fail to consider the hardware architecture that will make the software actually WORK.  Software development without operations (back-end system and network administrators) will never get off the ground.  Enter: DevOps.  And lucky for us, we have an expert in DevOps coming to talk to our class on Thurs., Feb. 11 (details forthcoming).  I'm very excited.  Nicole Forsgren got her Ph.D in MIS & Accounting here, and now she works for Chef (I posted a link on this blog and the class blogs).

I'm working on a way to create a better understanding of DevOps for our projects, as well as some basic primer readings.  In the meantime, here is are two keynote talks at LISA conferences.  The talks are long, but well worth the time.   is over an hour, but 10-12 minutes in and you'll get the main idea.  Stay with it as long as you can.   Would love to hear your points of view on this. 

• Here is a short video summary of the history of DevOps began. I learned a lot. http://itrevolution.com/the-history-of-devops/ 
• Gene Kim gave a keynote at LISA 2014 (Usenix special interest group for system administrators - mostly ops people).  This is considered a seminal talk. https://www.usenix.org/conference/lisa14/conference-program/presentation/kim. (Some of what Nicole Forsgren talked about in my class is mentioned this talk.) 
• Also Gene Kim et al., wrote "The Phoenix Project" - read Inside Amazon.  Worthwhile and easy to digest.

• A really fantastic talk was given by Jez Humble at LISA 2015 (keynote), delivered to an Ops crowd. He talks about how DevOps is different from Agile Lean Configuration Management

IBM's Got a Plan to Bring DesignThinking to Big Business

IBM IS NOT a design company, but for almost four years, IBM has been working to reinvent itself as a design-led business. All-told, the company is investing more than $100-million in an effort to become a design-centered corporation.

Design thinking is a framework for conducting business that puts users’ (i.e. customers’) needs first. To that end, IBM today published its very own set of design thinking guidelines. It's a selection of best design practices the company hopes other big businesses will look to as they seek to remain relevant and profitable in a rapidly evolving corporate landscape.

In fact, the movement’s watershed moment, as a business methodology, came in the late 1980s, when David Kelley of Ideo popularized the idea of “user-centered design.” But Kelley’s strategies seemed best-suited to smaller, creativity-focused companies—not corporate titans, which tend to think of design as more "waterfall-y." Read the article from Wired and the link to IBM's design guidelines. IBM can't just follow what everyone else is doing in Agile, they have to create their very own logo framework and then offer a boot camp so that 10,000 other IBM employees follow it.

Thoughts?

The Coddling of the American Mind

In the name of emotional well-being, college students are increasingly demanding protection from words and ideas they don’t like. Here’s why that’s disastrous for education—and mental health. In the article, "The Coddling of the American Mind", published in The Atlantic in Sept. 2015, the authors provide reasons for why a movement is arising, undirected and driven largely by students, to scrub campuses clean of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause discomfort or give offense. Many examples are provided.  They define the term microagression and trigger warning, and how the new political correctness is ruining education.

There are many examples in the reading, and I can link to others.  You could say, "what does this have to do with systems analysis and design?"  Sometimes it's worth talking about things that will affect you as you become an MIS professional.  If you think this only occurs on college campuses, think again.  The real question to ask is if you are "coddled" in college, what kind of professional will you become?  Better yet, what kind of person will you be after you leave college and have to live among people who don't care about your trigger warnings?

This is about learning how to be resilient and smart, aware and mindful, as well as tech-savvy, and comfortable in the tech world.  This is world where the playing field is certainly not even, where pay is not stable, where some get ahead and others don't.  

With that said, after you read the article, have any of experienced the new PC environment on campus, or anywhere?  Do you wish people were more sensitive about who you are, where you came from, what you believe?

Brief Intro to Blogging

Blogs were among the first applications to become associated with the transition from static web pages to social media. In early forms, blogs were most commonly used as online journals, known as weblogs, and which were later shortened to blogs.

Blogger was launched in 1999 by Pyra Labs as one of the first free blog websites. Many of today’s blogging conventions were developed, popularized and standardized by Pyra Labs. In 2003, Google bought Blogger and began adding features.

Businesses, newspapers, digital magazines and online posts all use blogging technology. Getting feedback from readers in a sustained conversation without limiting the amount of text, with nested replies, likes and dislikes, and links, is one of the basic ways we read online.

Most businesses have blogs. The widespread use of blogging technology alone is reason enough to consider the implications for connecting with potential customers, promoting products and developing a recognized business presence. A business blog can give an organization the opportunity to get its message out into the world in the way it desires.

Read Fresh and Thought-Provoking Material: The advantage to reading blogs is that you don't have to limit your reading to current news and blog entries that everyone else is reading. Attempt to find unexpected inspiration and new ways of viewing topics from alternative sources.

Blogs Don’t Need to be Balanced: Blogs are useful in conveying an opinion. Reader comments can provide alternative points of view and perhaps build a case for the opposing set of arguments. This is a good way to create a discussion online. If an entry is meant to influence readers, provide them with the best arguments for your opinion. This will convey passion. Balance does not mean provocative, but in its best form solicits new ideas.

QUESTION: Outside of school, do any of you have your own blogs?  If you read blogs, which ones do you like to read?  Which social media do you find them, and on what topics do you mostly follow (it can be anything)?