Checklists are a common way to prepare for the best and worst scenarios. In this talk you’ll learn how checklists for your Ops can prevent disaster. Whether it’s launching a rocket to the moon or deploying an application with Kubernetes, checklists are important. They help provide a reasonable expectation of things that should work in the specific situation you are in. In the case of technology, checklists can help ensure your application remains resilient in times of trouble. During the era of the shuttle program, NASA would send nearly 6500 pounds of equipment to support each mission. Ensuring every piece of equipment was accounted for and was operational was critical to preparing for the mission. This of course required an extensive checklist which absolutely had to be perfect. Attendees of this lightning talk will get a brief history of different types of checklists and how to prepare a checklist for their new project. This talk will focus on the operational aspects of deployment by presenting a number of recommended items that should be considered part of a checklist.

1. Checklists ✅
Good enough for
NASA and Van
Halen?
Good enough for
your app!
Jay Gordon
Cloud Ops Advocate
Microsoft
@jaydestro – Tweets/GitHub

2. Hello!I am Jay Gordon
I worked as an Ops Professional and took part in application
deployment at some awesome businesses.
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3. Checklists
A way to ensure that what you want to
accomplish gets done.
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4. “Under conditions of
complexity, not only are
checklists a help, they are
required for success.” --
Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto:
How to Get Things Right
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5. Why checklists?
Checklists
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• Checklists during
childhood are our
earliest ways of
taking responsibility.
• Help organize ideas
and requirements
before executing a
plan.

6. Quick Story 1
Wanna take a space walk? Better have all your stuff.

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8. NASA Mission Prep
The average space
shuttle trip had
almost 6000 pounds
of equipment to
support the missions.
Packing for these
missions had no
margin for error.
Everything must be
accounted for.8

9. NASA Mission Prep
Troy Mann, a lead
technician for the
United Space
Alliance’s Space
Crew Systems
reviewing space suit
checklist.
200 Pounds!
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10. NASA Mission Prep
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Average shuttle trip:
• Every individual item
required cataloging
• Must be ensured
working, dry and
stored.
• Food.
• Scientific Equipment.
• Human error.

11. NASA Mission Prep
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12. Quick Story 2
Wanna rock? Ya better have the candy right.

13. “Quotations are commonly
printed as a means of
inspiration and to invoke
philosophical thoughts from
the reader.
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14. Van Halen Concert Rider
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15. Van Halen Concert Rider
Van Halen
During this tour VH’s
rider became
infamous – for NO
BROWN M&M’s.
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16. Van Halen Concert Rider
Van Halen’s 1982
tour:
• Largest production for
a rock band at the
time.
• Pyro, Fire, Ramps
• 80 sold out dates
• 1.4 M watts of lights
• 10,000 watts of sound
• 170 tons of equipment
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17. So what’s this got to do with my app?
If you plan, you can execute
If you consider the requirements before
going to production, you can avoid
failure.
Build your own M&Ms into your process.
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18. Before you go to prod, create a checklist.
Examples:
☑ Everything checked into repo?
☑ Monitoring configured?
☑ Ports secured?
☑ Alerting and on-call rotation ready?
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19. Before you go to prod, create a checklist.
Methods to execute:
☑ Use tools you know!
✰ GitHub issues
✰ Kanban board!
☑ Consider an M&M.
☑ Document the procedure!
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20. Thanks!Make a checklist –
check it twice.
E-mail me: jay.gordon@microsoft.com
LinkedIn: /n/jaygordon0042
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