DevOps: A Journey instead of a Destination

For many teams, DevOps has felt like a mountain which must be scaled, and arriving at the summit was the measure of success. Many teams felt this was too daunting an effort and struggled to start. We lost sight of the journey and were too focused on the (perceived) destination.

We realized we were focused on the wrong thing.

Now we have stopped talking at teams about the values and importance of DevOps. Instead, we are meeting teams and leaders where they are today, and using DevOps practices to solve problems they care about. In this talk, Kevin and Ross will share some of the starting points for teams they have worked with, and how they have helped them to overcome their fear of the unknown and embrace DevOps as a journey rather than a destination.

Join us for this lunch talk on Wednesday, October 16th at 12pm at We Write Code. Food and drink will be provided, so please RSVP so we have an accurate count.

About the Speakers

Kevin Chaloupecky

Kevin has over 20 years of experience delivering technical solutions to meet customer needs. He’s spent most of his career in technically-focused roles including software engineer, technical lead, IT manager, and delivery manager. Over the last few years, he’s moved into product management leading a team of product owners and product managers at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, Iowa. Phrases like “customer-focused” and “service first” are pervasive in Kevin’s area of the company and his team is working to deliver better solutions with shorter lead times and improved reliability to these customers. Kevin’s team works daily with their IT teams to make sure problems and opportunities are fully understood from a customer perspective and solutions are delivered that truly meet these needs.

Ross Sickora

Ross is an Engineering Coach for Principal Financial Group. He’s been in the industry for about 8 years, and been pushing those around me to tackle problems in different ways. He loves the challenge of what he does and learning from the experiences of others.

About the Sponsor

We Write Code is a dev shop located in the East Village who puts focus into building applications that facilitate communication, process payments, and manage/process large data sets. If you’re interested in joining their team, they are hiring! Learn more at https://wewritecode.com/jobs

Parking

In addition to the ramp on E 6th just south of Locust St, street parking is available throughout the East Village, and free parking can be found 1 block north of Grand.