Gestalt IT

This is post 33 of 36 in the series “IT Origins” This podcast is sponsored by SolarWinds. Be sure to check out their new Tech Publication, Orange Matter, to learn more about the other SolarWinds Head Geeks. Leon Adato is a Head Geek at SolarWinds.  This week on the podcast, we have an interview with SolarWinds Head Geek Leon Adato, recorded on-premises from our lovely Hudson, Ohio offices. We discussed how Leon went from Theater major to working in tech education, what exactly a head geek does, and finishes with some great career advice. A full transcript of the interview is available here. Table of Contents 0-0:40: Host intro 0:40 – 10:10: IT Origins Story 10:10 – 12:25: What is a Head Geek? 12:25 – 15:24: When Did Single Pane of Glass Enter the IT Lexicon 15:24 – 22:58: Biggest Change Since You Started Your Career 22:58 – 27:05: Current Worst Trend in IT 27:05 – 32:45: Current Best Trend in IT 32:45 – 38:57: Where is IT Going in the Next 3-5 years? 38:57 – 44:23: Book Recommendations: * Accidental Empires by Robert X. Cringely * The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford * Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone by Satya Nadella 44:23 – 46:43: First Computer You Owned 46:43 – 48:06: What Do You Do When You’re Not Working in IT? 48:06 – 50:03: How Do You CXaffeine? 50:03 – 50:40: Who Do You Want to See on IT Origins? 50:40: Career Advice © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | Leon Adato – IT Origins Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

Premise: IT burnout is simply unavoidable. It’s a part of the gig. The discussion: Is burnout an inevitable part of IT? Is it part of the way IT roles are created? Maybe it says something about the types of people attracted to IT. Or maybe it has something to do with the incentives that causes work to become burnout. Our roundtable discusses why they’ve seen burnout happen and how they cope with IT stress to avoid or mitigate it. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Twitter @NetworkingNerd @SomeClown @MattHaedo @GhostInTheNet Follow us on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your inbox. © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | IT Burnout is Inevitable – The On-Premise IT Roundtable Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

With Cisco Live US happening this week in Orlando, we decided to share a throwback episode featuring Rob Rodgers and Mils Swart of Skyport Systems. Skyport was recently acquired by Cisco in February. It’ll be interesting to see how Cisco uses this talent to address the security concerns raised in this episode. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: < p style=”padding-left: 30px;”> Follow us on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your inbox. © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | Revisited: Security is a Dumpster Fire – The On-Premise IT Roundtable Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

Enjoy this bonus episode of the podcast. Ted Dunning is the Chief Application Architect at MapR and a board member of the Apache Software Foundation. This week on IT Origins, we had a conversation with Ted Dunning, Apache Software Foundation board member, and the Chief Application Architect at MapR. We discussed Ted’s introduction to IT, his early involvement with the open source software community, and how AI advances quickly go from aspirational to blasé. We were also fortunate to have Ted’s colleague and co-author Ellen Friedman join in on the second half of the interview. Both were able to give some great career advice about how to stay relevant in rapidly evolving fields. Books mentioned in the interview by Ted Dunning and Ellen Friedman: * Streaming Architecture: New Designs Using Apache Kafka and MapR Streams * Practical Machine Learning: Innovations in Recommendation * Real World Hadoop Music: “Inspired” by Kevin MacLeod  © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | BONUS: Ted Dunning – IT Origins Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

The Premise: Enterprise AI is a buzzword slapped onto products and services without any technical merit. Let’s face it, AI gets thrown around a lot in the enterprise these days. It often gets conflated with Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and neural networks. But does the term actually mean anything? Are there solutions out there that actually qualify as AI? The roundtable debates. For another look at this topic, check out our conversation with Dr. Rachel Traylor on the difference between ML and AI. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Twitter @SFoskett @GMinks @DarkkAvenger @Andrea_Mauro Follow us on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your inbox. © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | Enterprise AI Is Just a Buzzword – The On-Premise IT Roundtable Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

We recorded a great interview with Patric Palm of Favro and decided to put it in the podcast feed as a bonus episode. Enjoy! Patric Palm is the Co-Founder and CEO of Favro. This week on IT Origins, we had the privilege speak to Patric Palm, the Co-Founder and CEO of Favro. We discussed how he started the company, his previous startup efforts, the importance of adaptability,  and his background in organization and process. Book recommendations from the interview: * The Art of Action by Stephen Bungay * The Age of Agile by Stephen Denning * Teeming: How Superorganisms Work Together to Build Infinite Wealth on a Finite Planet (and your company can too) by Tamsin Woolley-Barker, PhD Music: “Inspired” by Kevin MacLeod  © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | BONUS: Patric Palm – IT Origins Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

The Premise: The efficiencies of network engineering will decimate engineering jobs. The panel debates if this is true. They look at if this will happen across the board, if engineers will just become programmers going forward, or if automation will actually benefit network engineers down the road. And if automation does eliminate all these jobs, does it then become a pernicious form of support lock-in? On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Twitter @NetworkingNerd @PacketJay @DarkkAvenger @ArjanTim Follow us on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your inbox. © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | Automation Will Kill Engineering Jobs – The On-Premise IT Roundtable Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

On this episode, we’re discussing Network Functions Virtualization, aka NFV. The roundtable discusses what exactly NFV is, how it differs from SDN, and if it’s going to eat all specialized networking hardware. The discussion then turns into how changes in network design principles als make NFV even more viable in the enterprise. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Twitter @NetworkingNerd @ScottM32768 @MrTugs @KeithNorbie Meatspace Only Follow us on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your inbox. © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | All Your Networking Are Belong to NFV | The On-Premise IT Roundtable Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

An episode so nice, we share it twice. Throwing in a bonus episode to the feed. Had a great conversation with Karen Lopez for IT Origins. If you haven’t already, be sure to listen to her appearance on the podcast with What is Big Data? Karen Lopez is a Senior Project Manager and Data Architect.  I had the privilege to talk to Data Architect Karen Lopez for this week’s IT Origins interview. We discuss how data hasn’t changed all that much since she started her career, but our ways of relating to it have. We also discussed the best and worst IT trends, got some book recommendations for the world, and walked away with some career advice. You can follow Karen on Twitter, LinkedIn, and at InfoAdvisors Music: “Inspired” by Kevin MacLeod  © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | BONUS: Karen Lopez – IT Origins Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

On this roundtable, we’re getting cloudy. The panelists discuss why it matters where your SaaS apps live, and not just depend on an SLA. This can impact not just business continuity and customer experience, but security and compliance as well. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Twitter @SFoskett @UprightVinyl @JPWarren @GreenReedTech @Ned1313 Follow us on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your inbox. © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | You Should Care Where SaaS Lives | On-Premise IT Roundtable Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

Enjoy this bonus IT Origins interview episode. Our regularly schedule podcast will post April 10, 2018. Zachary Smith is the CEO of Packet.  I had the privilege to talk to Zachary Smith from Packet in our most recent IT Origins interview. We discussed how he went from majoring in the double bass at Juilliard to becoming an IT entrepreneur. We also discussed his two months in the Boy Scouts, the hip Australian coffee, and the benefits of innovating on the software layer. You can follow Zac on Twitter, LinkedIn, and on the Packet blog. Music by Kevin MacLeod © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | BONUS: Zachary Smith – IT Origins Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

Let’s face it, your alerts stink. If you’re finding lifehacks to deal with the amount of notifications you’re receiving, you’ve already lost the battle. On this episode of the podcast, the roundtable discusses why we’re drowning in notifications, how to better approach it, and why can’t we actually get actionable alerts. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Twitter @SFoskett @NerdBlurt @LeonAdato @Cuff_S @FerventGeek? Follow us on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your inbox. © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | Your Notifications Stink! The On-Premise IT Roundtable Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

The podcast that inspired it all! Today we’re sharing the pilot episode of the On-Premise IT Roundtable, looking at terrible IT language. Does the name of our podcast drive you nuts? Do you cringe when someone asks you to “double-click” in conversation? Do you have opinions on how to pronounce BPDU? This is the episode for you. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Twitter @NetworkingNerd @ECBanks @Network_Phil @PJWelcher @ScottM32768 Follow us on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your inbox. © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | Painful IT Language – The On-Premise IT Roundtable Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

Enjoy this bonus IT Origins interview episode. Our regularly schedule podcast will post March 13, 2018. Dong Ngo is an IT consultant and writer at Dong Knows Tech. From 1999 through 2017, he was an Editor at CNET.com, covering the storage and networking beats.  This interview provided some fascinating perspective into what we assume is significant technology. Dong shares his journey from a small village in Vietnam to moving to San Francisco in the 1990s. After listening to his interview, be sure to check out this 2011 piece from Dong about revisiting his hometown. You can follow Dong at Dong Knows Tech on Twitter and LinkedIn. Dong’s Book Recommendations: What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World by Mark Miodownik Music: “Inspired” by Kevin MacLeod  © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | BONUS: Dong Ngo – IT Origins Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast

Do words mean things? It depends on who you ask. Often the more technically minded IT folks like hard and fast definitions, while marketing tends to lend to a more “generous” interpretation of words. Do we need to rigidly enforce definitions, or are we resigned to an infinite regress into mutual unintelligibility? We’re no stranger to this debate on Gestalt IT, but the panel sheds new light and perspective on this often frustrating premise. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Twitter @SFoskett @YoAdamCarter @AndyBanta @JDGreen @DemitasseNZ Follow us on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your inbox. © rich for Gestalt IT, 2018. | Words Don’t Mean Things After All! The On-Premise IT Roundtable Read more posts categorized as On-Premise IT Podcast