The document discusses the evolution of IT, emphasizing the need for innovation and adaptability in the face of changing expectations. It highlights trends like DevOps and cloud computing, advocating for a shift in mindset from traditional operations to a more collaborative and empathetic approach. The text also encourages professionals to engage with their peers, embrace continuous improvement, and cultivate a versatile skill set.

1. The New IT
John Troyer, TechReckoning
Minneapolis VMUG UserCon, June 2015
@jtroyer
jtroyer@techreckoning.com

2. Text
The Old IT

3. Old IT doesn’t have a great
reputation
Putting the NO in Innovation
BOFH
PEBCAK
Have you tried turning it on and off again?

4. What if IT was doing
exactly what it was asked to
do?
Q: But what is the one thing that can get you fired
A: Downtime
Q: How many people in your company think they’re
your boss
A: Everybody

5. Background of high-
performing IT managers
Backgrounds
non-commissioned
officers
chemical engineers
auditors
What do they have in
common?
discipline, process Kevin Behr, Gene Kim,
George Spafford

6. Expectations of IT have
changed
IT is being asked to be the
grown-up of the corporation
Of course everything
think’s we’re arseholes.
Other options now exist:
cheaper, faster, consumer-
grade
IT now needs to both be
innovative AND a grown-up

7. Three ways to think about
IT
Pioneers (Agile)
Settlers
(DevOps)
Town Planners
(Six Sigma)
—Simon Wardley
—see also Gartner, “bimodal IT”

9. DevOps
DevOps is explicitly without a definition: Not about
tools, job titles, process, and not even about Dev and
Ops
About empathy, culture, inclusivity, continuous
improvement, aligning incentives, removing
information hiding, clear responsibilities
Dreaming of an IT that Doesn’t Suck
Effect on IT: End-to-end service delivery teams

11. Acknowledge old
way doesn’t work
Smart people fix
things
Codify into best
practices
Establish
processes
Processes without
context fail
Lifecycle of all things
Inspired by a diagram on Twitter I can’t find at the moment
DevOps is over here
ITIL is over here

13. New forces shaping
learning, shifting power
Open Source
Cloud
SaaS
Social Media
inspired by The New Kingmakers, Stephen O’Grady
Cheaper to Try
Try Before You Buy
Easier to Scale
Knowledge Sharing
Faster Time to Value

15. Become part of the new
business landscape
Old channels failing: tech press, analysts, trade
shows, email marketing, Google ads, webinars
50-70% customer decision before talking to vendor
How do people learn anything these days?
From their peers (that’s you)

16. Become a Pi-shaped expert
Generalist = Printer repair
Specialist = interesting but limited
T-shaped Expert = Generalist with
Speciality
PI-shaped Expert
Your “T” must move over time!
Windows -> Storage ->
Virtualization -> Cloud -> Flying
Cars
Generalist

18. Cloud
Cloud is the ultimate AND
SaaS AND self-managed apps
Off-Perm AND on-prem
private, public, AND hybrid
Fighting about definitions (“True Cloud”) has held us back
OpenStack, vCloud Air uses are very different
Effect on IT: IT now a service broker, not an infrastructure
owner
Warning:
Do not play
Buzzword Drinking
Games with “Cloud”
You will get drunk

19. Cloud Skills
Software development basics & APIs
Linux
Automation and orchestration
Public cloud services
-Scott Lowe

21. Containers (Docker)
Job to be done
VM: utilization for legacy apps
(also get isolation, management,
BCDR)
Container: rapid, portable
deployment for cloud-native
apps
destroy/rebuild paradigm
Effect on IT: Docker is seen as a
Dev tool, but it’s actually good for
Ops (early days)
Hardware
OS
Container Container
App App
Hardware
Hypervisor
VM VM
OS OS
App Container
App

22. How do people use
Docker?
“for me the value is in trivial repeatability”
“having a fresh image that is easily rebuildable is easier for
me to give demos than to spin fresh VMs”
“Most configuration management systems actually make
ongoing configuration pretty hard. O… The reality is that once
the VM is built there is temptation/opportunity to make ad-hoc
changes”
“Bridging a gap with less-technical coworkers” for off-line
distribution
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8324138

24. What I do at
Vendors need Geeks
to validate product, marketing message
to explain to peers
That’s what VMware also needed in 2009 with the

25. Social Techies have power
Involvement in
community projects
Blogs and Podcasts
Open Source Projects
VMUGs and UGs
vBrownbags & study
groups
Learn
Better at your job, $$
Raise knowledge level of
the industry
Giving back to others
Actually shape the future
of IT via interactions with
vendors

26. vBrownbag Community
Survey

27. vBrownbag Community
Survey

29. TechReckoning Dispatch http://techreckoning.com
Mostly-weekly mailing list about … stuff
Mostly tech stuff and some ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Geek Whisperers podcast http://geek-whisperers.com
IT careers and marketing and unicorns
The Reckoning 2015: Sept 13-14 in CA

30. Paradox of the grass roots
Virtualization could come from bottom-up
Secretly virtualize a DNS or file server
Start with the low hanging fruit
Start with one person
Cloud, DevOps: all-or-nothing?
Cloud & DevOps require process and cultural
changes

31. But change starts with you
Start a side project
Use a new tool on a new work project
Blog about it
Go to a new user group
Start a brownbag lunch-and-learn series at work
Educate your managers with your results

35. A few Jedi mind tricks
before I leave
Shift from “operator” mindset
to “creator” mindset
Keep moving
Do things that charge you
up
Release early and often
Be a communicator
Be a collaborator: “Yes,
And…” makes you seem
smarter

36. -Gandhi
“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in
the world would also change. As a man changes
his own nature, so does the attitude of the world
change towards him. … We need not wait to see
what others do.”

37. -Not Gandhi
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”