The Cloudcast

Technology leaders have many different focus areas and motivations. On today’s show, we’ll discuss three common types of leaders - Visionaries, Maintainers and Resume-Builders.SHOW: 501SHOW SPONSORS:CBT Nuggets: Expert IT Training for individuals and teamsSign up for a CBT Nuggets Free Learner accountGet started with the JumpCloud Directory Platform today  Visit the JumpCloud Homepage. Email press@jumpcloud.com for a FREE JumpCloud T-Shirt.Datadog Security Monitoring Homepage: Modern Monitoring and AnalyticsTry Datadog yourself by starting a free, 14-day trial today. Listeners of this podcast will also receive a free Datadog T-shirt.See how O’Reilly online learning can help your tech teams. Request a free demo now.CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW NOTES:Three types of product leaders (via @shreyas)Pioneers, Settlers and Town Planners (from Geek Whisperers)THREE TYPES OF TECHNOLOGY LEADERSVISIONARIES | TRANSFORMERSSpeak in stories, painting big pictures.Truly understand the overall business, the broader markets, and the potentially changing landscapes ahead over both the near-term and long-termUnderstand the timing of the markets and when change is needed vs. nice-to-haveUnderstand the breadth of competitive threats to the businessUnderstand both opportunities and opportunity costs MAINTAINERS | PROTECTORS Would like to be a visionary, but always default back to focusing on re-optimizing legacy investmentsTend to believe that all decisions are build vs. buy. Aren’t focused on creating longer-term partnershipsRun long RFI processes vs. creating a mindset of incremental experimental scenarios.Have a protectionist mindset (“avoid vendor lock-in”) with new opportunities, but don’t release that with sunk costs. RESUME BUILDERSRecognize that the world is moving fast (lots of new technologies, business models), but aren’t in an optimal starting position.Establish a big, audacious goal that portrays a visionary mindset. Establish an “everything” or “all-inclusive” policy, even when it doesn’t make economic sense. The old 5yrs of building an ERP system is now the 2yrs of transforming to the cloud. Springboard to build the resume without finishing the project. FEEDBACK?Email: show at thecloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Nick Weaver (@lynxbat, VP Architecture, Innovation, Data/Analytics at @Dicks) talks about the journey from engineer to technology leader within large corporations, the challenges of leading teams during COVID, and the realities of digital transformation.  SHOW: 500SHOW SPONSOR LINKS:Qumulo Homepage: Manage File Data at Scale, AnywhereTest Drive Qumulo: Try Qumulo for free, no downloads or setup requiredSee how O’Reilly online learning can help your tech teams. Request a free demo now.Get started with the JumpCloud Directory Platform today  Visit the JumpCloud Homepage.  Email press@jumpcloud.com for a FREE JumpCloud T-Shirt.CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW NOTES:Eps.400 - Many Paths of an Engineering Journey (Nick Weaver)Technology at Dick’s Sporting GoodsTopic 1 - Welcome back to the show. It’s been almost two years. What are you up to these days?Topic 2 - The last 5-6 years, you’ve really embraced moving from being a hard-core, hands-on engineer to being a leader of very large technology teams, projects and initiatives. Walk us through some of the new muscles developed, some of the unexpected, and some of the stuff you still need to figure out.Topic 3 - When you were at Nike, you lived through a legitimate “digital transformation”, both in how the company engaged with the market, but also how you dealt with suppliers/vendors. Help us understand some of the dynamics in going through those changes.Topic 4 - We all know lots of people on the vendor side of things, and how those dynamics work as people compete, collaborate or change companies. How does that work amongst “customers”, either in the same industry or cross-industry?Topic 5 - You’re still a technologist at heart. What technologies are interesting to you these days? Topic 6 - From where you are today, how would you mentor a young Nick Weaver that just did a 5 minute demo during an EMCworld keynote in 2008-2009? FEEDBACK?Email: show at thecloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

The COVID-19 pandemic will last ~18 months, but how long will the impact to the technology industry last? SHOW: 499SHOW SPONSORS:Get started with the JumpCloud Directory Platform today  Visit the JumpCloud Homepage. Email press@jumpcloud.com for a FREE JumpCloud T-Shirt.See how O’Reilly online learning can help your tech teams. Request a free demo now.Datadog Security Monitoring Homepage: Modern Monitoring and AnalyticsTry Datadog yourself by starting a free, 14-day trial today. Listeners of this podcast will also receive a free Datadog T-shirt.CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW NOTES:How COVID changed on people work (Pew Research)Remote Work Trends and StatsGoogle to invest $7B in post-pandemic officesMicrosoft report on post-COVID "Hybrid Work"Stocks with enough cash to outlast COVID-19HOW WILL COVID CHANGE THE TECH INDUSTRY?REMOTE WORK and COLLABORATIONThe foundational tools are in place (GitHub, Zoom, Slack, Jira, Public Cloud) but are they really designed for large # of remote workers collaborating? Event sign-ups were up 5-10x, but have people actually been consuming the content? Will companies continue to encourage and support remote workers, or do we see a boomerang in late 2021 and 2022? MORE RAPID ADOPTION OF THE PUBLIC CLOUDLess people in the office, so more adoption of public clouds?Public clouds grew, but not at faster rates than before - 2021/2022 might be better indicators, as 2020 had “budget concerns” for many companies (uncertainty)More adoption of SaaS-like offerings (be near the clouds, align buying models, more flexible)Acceleration of more agile approaches, as the world becomes more polarized - hence stability may be shorter intervals? WHY DIDN’T THE CLOUD PROVIDERS DO MORE?Cloud providers have massive cash reserves (Microsoft, $137B, Google $112B, Amazon $50B), but no major acquisitions.Nobody has initiate price-wars, but we are seeing more long-range ELAs announcedWHERE IS THE “NEXT BIG THING”?2006/2007 - iPhone, AWS launch ; 2008 Financial Crash2020 - ???FEEDBACK?Email: show at thecloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Ben Murray (@br_murray, Founder of SaaS CFO and SaaS Academy) talks about how to understand the financial models behind successful SaaS companies, the tradeoffs on profit vs. growth, and how to spot the health of SaaS businesses.SHOW: 498SHOW SPONSOR LINKS:Datadog Security Monitoring Homepage: Modern Monitoring and AnalyticsTry Datadog yourself by starting a free, 14-day trial today. Listeners of this podcast will also receive a free Datadog T-shirt.CBT Nuggets: Expert IT Training for individuals and teamsSign up for a CBT Nuggets Free Learner accountQumulo Homepage: Manage File Data at Scale, AnywhereTest Drive Qumulo: Try Qumulo for free, no downloads or setup requiredCLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW NOTES:SaaS CFO (homepage)SaaS Academy (homepage)Topic 1 - Welcome to the show. We don’t usually get CFOs on the show. Tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you into the SaaS world. Topic 2 - The more we study SaaS companies, the more it seems like everyone needs to understand the financial model and associated metrics (executives, product managers, marketing, customer service, etc.). How do you go about teaching best practices to SaaS companies?Topic 3 - Let’s talk about the core financial concepts that SaaS companies need to think about (CAC, MRR, ACV, LCV, Churn, Gross Margin, etc.)Topic 4 - Are there some common financial patterns (metrics, ratios, etc,) to tell how a SaaS company is doing (good or bad)? If so, are there established best-practices to get them out of bad situations?  Topic 5 - Can you help us better understand why some people get excited when a SaaS company has revenue growth and loses money, and others freak out? Help us understand that in growth stages vs. stable stages. (SaaS Rule of 40?)Topic 6 - Have you found that SaaS businesses are unique in their financial modeling, or can some of these best practices be applied to non-SaaS software businesses?Topic 7 - You just started SaaS CFO and SaaS Academy. Give us an overview of what people will learn.  FEEDBACK?Email: show at thecloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

It’s smaller computers, doing limited tasks. So why is Edge Computing so complicated, and why are there so many definitions?SHOW: 497SHOW SPONSOR LINKS:Qumulo Homepage: Manage File Data at Scale, AnywhereTest Drive Qumulo: Try Qumulo for free, no downloads or setup requiredCBT Nuggets: Expert IT Training for individuals and teamsSign up for a CBT Nuggets Free Learner accountCLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW NOTES:Edge ComputingInternet of Things (IoT)Industrial IoTDigital TwinsDigital Twins and IoTLF Edge, State of Edge 2021 Report ($800B by 2028)THE COMPLEXITIES OF EDGE COMPUTINGNo single definition of edge, because of so many use-casesBranch officeNear-Edge Far-EdgeDisconnectedHardware can dictate quite a bit about edge characteristicsCustom-OS or COTS OSGeneral purpose HW or Specialized HW (GPU, NVMe, DPUs)#of computing devices; volume of local storageNetworking can dictate quite a bit about edge characteristicsAre the devices always connected to the Internet?How are disconnected environments handled?How much bandwidth is available? Is it symmetric or asymmetric? What are the traffic patterns of the applications? Local vs. Backhaul. Security can dictate quite a bit about edge characteristicsHow does Security happen on Day 0?What are the security vs. usability tradeoffs? (direct user interaction) How is security maintained? (CVE, Local Security services, etc.)Maintenance can dictate quite a bit about edge characteristicsHow much does it cost to deploy new edges?How often are the edges expected to be upgraded? How will maintenance happen? (Local tech, remote download, etc.)How sophisticated is the Day 2 Ops? (Telemetry, Environmentals, Benchmarks, etc.)  FEEDBACK?Email: show at thecloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Steve Pereira (@SteveElsewhere, Value-Stream Whisperer @ Visible) talks about measuring, understanding business and technology process through Value-Stream Mapping. SHOW: 496SHOW SPONSOR LINKS:See how O’Reilly online learning can help your tech teams. Request a free demo now.Get started with the JumpCloud Directory Platform today  Visit the JumpCloud Homepage. Email press@jumpcloud.com for a FREE JumpCloud T-Shirt.Datadog Security Monitoring Homepage: Modern Monitoring and AnalyticsTry Datadog yourself by starting a free, 14-day trial today. Listeners of this podcast will also receive a free Datadog T-shirt.CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW NOTES:Visible (homepage) - Value Stream ConsultingSteve Pereira’s homepageSteve’s 4x4 Method of DevOps TractionValue Stream Link - Value Stream resourcesTopic 1 - Welcome to the show. Tell us a little bit about your background and how you eventually became focused on helping companies improve their Value-Streams.Topic 2 - Let’s start by talking about Value-Streams and Mapping. What are they, why do we need them, what do they provide? Topic 3 - Walk us through a Value-Stream-Mapping exercise with a company. What is their pre-homework? What questions do you ask? How do you keep it focused on their language? Topic 4 - Do you need to fix everything at once, or can it be done in phases? How much of the improvement has to do with the application, and how much is adjusting existing processes?  Topic 5 - Lots of people like to compare this to Lean Manufacturing (Toyota Production System, Six Sigma, etc.). Optimize the system, design for efficient flows, empower the workers to make changes and give feedback, etc. But does this break with software, where there isn’t really an end to a production line? Topic 6 - Once people understand it, what tends to work well and what tends to lead to on-going failures? FEEDBACK?Email: show at thecloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Cloud Foundry was going to create an open source alternative to Heroku, as well as replace how Enterprise companies built software. But change is never easy. Looking back, what can we learn from the lessons of Cloud Foundry?SHOW: 495SHOW SPONSOR LINKS:Get started with the JumpCloud Directory Platform today  Interested in a free JumpCloud T-Shirt? Email press@jumpcloud.com.See how O’Reilly online learning can help your tech teams. Request a free demo now.CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW NOTES:Cloud Foundry Launch (Part I) - 2011Cloud Foundry Launch (Part II)Cloud Foundry history (Wikipedia)Cloud Foundry Foundation (launched in January 2015)Understanding the Cloud Foundry Foundation (Sam Ramji, Eps.186)Structured vs. Unstructured Platforms (Wikibon, Gracely, 2015)Architectural Considerations for OSS PaaS and Container Platforms (2016)HOW DID CLOUD FOUNDRY EVOLVE?An open source, programmable cloud application platform (PaaS). Heroku (2007), Google AppEngine (2008) existed before Cloud Foundry (April 2011). OpenShift launched in May 2011. Apcera was launched in 2012 by Derek Collison Open Source, Multi-cloudMultiple languages, frameworksAutomation for the infrastructure (BOSH)Integrated Logging, Tracing, Routing, GUIData Services live off the platform, via Service BrokerVery heavy platform footprint (up to 50 VMs)Diego container scheduler Warden container runtime Many large vendors got involved once it became a foundation. IBM, SAP, Intel, Cisco, EMC/VMwareMany end-user customers joined (great for recruiting)None of the Cloud providers, other than an infrastructure stem-cellBy 2016-17, most large Cloud Foundry vendors were shifting their focus to KubernetesLESSONS LEARNED FOR THE FUTURESingle-vendor led communities are difficult, especially if a foundation is created.Technology transitions are hard, oftentimes impossible. Cloud Foundry chose to downplay Docker and Kubernetes as “just for infrastructure”, even within their own community. Make it simple to get environments/clusters (Managed Kubernetes services, Cluster API, laptop-level environments (minikube). Needs to be a managed cloud service on good clouds. Platform-aware, Infrastructure automation is important (e.g. like BOSH, except that it works)Industry is mixed on if stateful / data services should run on-platform or off-platform. Having to also manage the off-platform is difficult. FEEDBACK?Email: show at thecloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Shira Shamban (@ShambanIT, CEO @SolvoCloud) talks about easily bringing security to CI/CD pipelines and software development, the rise of DevSecOps and "Shifting Left.SHOW: 494SHOW SPONSOR LINKS:CBT Nuggets: Expert IT Training for individuals and teamsSign up for a CBT Nuggets Free Learner accountQumulo Homepage: Manage File Data at Scale, AnywhereTest Drive Qumulo: Try Qumulo for free, no downloads or setup requiredDatadog Security Monitoring Homepage: Modern Monitoring and AnalyticsTry Datadog yourself by starting a free, 14-day trial today. Listeners of this podcast will also receive a free Datadog T-shirt.CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW NOTES:Solvo HomepageSolvo Intro VideoSheCodesOWASPTopic 1 - Welcome to the show. Tell us a little bit about your background, you have a very interesting journey starting in cybersecurity for the Isreal Defense Force all the way to CEO of a newly funded startup. Topic 2 - The rise of CI/CD created some great benefits to software development, it also created some security challenges. Let’s start there, why do developers seem to have so many challenges with security, especially in production?Topic 3 - Increasingly we hear about the concept of DevSecOps, you introduced the term “Shifting Left”. What does that mean and how does this relate to the larger concept of DevSecOps?Topic 4 - When a developer pushes code, where is the friction from a security perspective? How does Solvo solve this problem as code is pushed and how do you integrate with the cloud providers to make sure a least-privilege model is used? You recently released a security tool for health checks of your cloud accounts? (link in the show notes)Topic 5 - We recently raised your first round of funding completely remotely. Tell us about the experience and challenges you faced. Topic 6 - You are passionate about empowering women and under-represented communities in our industry. Tell us about your ongoing partnerships with SheCodes, Cyber Ladies and other mentoring programs you are involved with.FEEDBACK?Email: show at thecloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Brian looks at the recent changes in open source licensing, as it relates to managed cloud offerings, and how the perception of end-users towards free software vs. cloud services is changing. #SundayPerspectivesSHOW: 493SHOW SPONSOR LINKS:Onix - The Leading Cloud Solutions ProviderOnix - Cloud data strategy workshop offer (FREE, $2000 value)CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW NOTESServer Side Public License (SSPL)What does Open Source mean in the Era of Cloud APIs? (Redmonk)Cockroach and the Source Available Future (Redmonk)MongoDB Cloud, MongoDB vs. AWS, MongoDB’s Playbook (Stratechery)Doubling Down on Open (Elastic)Evolution of Commercial OSS (The Cloudcast, Eps.492)THINGS WE KNOWOpen Source has become a mainstream source for innovation - with most of the Internet being built on OSS technologies (in some way or form)Open Source is more widely used in the Enterprise (than in the past), beyond just LinuxOpen Source is often the de facto choice for much of the public cloud (OS, VMs, DBs, etc.)The need for a “free” experience is expected for anything new in software or cloud, whether that’s for any/all usage, or a fixed period of time. “Open core”, or other variations on free OSS + non OSS (non-free) features has been a concept for quite a while. Community driven development does bring a broad set of perspectives, and it distributes the workload across engineers, companies, etc.Plenty of successful projects have been both Open Source and primarily driven by a single company (especially in the data-centric projects)THINGS THAT WILL EVOLVEWhere does the value of software come from? Does it come from the features, from the distribution, from the creator(s), or from how it is run?Do customers value ‘free”, or “stability” or “customizability” (features) or “operationalization”? How much of an advantage or disadvantage (or neutral) is the OSS companies offering cloud services across clouds? UNKNOWNS AND UNCERTAINTIESHow will the VC community view the changes in competitive landscape and licensing? How does it impact their future funding models?FEEDBACK?Email: show at thecloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Joseph “JJ” Jacks (@asynchio, Founder/General Partner OSS Capital) talks about how Commercial OSS has evolved, coopetition with cloud providers, and what's next for Commercial OSS business models and communities. SHOW: 492SHOW SPONSOR LINKS:CloudZero - Cloud Cost Intelligence for Engineering TeamsBMC Wants to Know if your business is on its A-GameBMC Autonomous Digital EnterpriseDatadog Security Monitoring Homepage - Modern Monitoring and AnalyticsTry Datadog yourself by starting a free, 14-day trial today. Listeners of this podcast will also receive a free Datadog T-shirt.CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW NOTES:OSS Capital Partners and AdvisorsCommercial Open-Source Software Company Index (COSSI)OSS Capital to launch an ETF (with NASDAQ) of OSS Companies in Summer 2021Open Consensus - Data Driven Perspectives on Open Source SoftwareCOSS Community / Open Core Summit The Kubernetes State of the Community (Eps.272)Exploring the Business Side of Open Source Software (Eps.358)Server Side Public LicenseTopic 1 - Welcome to the show. For those that don’t already know you, tell us a little bit about your background, and some of the things you’re focused on today. Topic 2 - You’ve been tracking the commercialization of open-source projects for quite a while now. What big trends have you seen evolve over the last two decades (from Red Hat to MongoDB) Topic 3 - Even in the face of new OSS-centric offerings from the cloud providers, we still continue to see companies getting funded. What is the sentiment in the VC-communities about what the new competitive landscape looks like? Are there new rules in the game? Topic 4 - We’ve recently seen MongoDB and Elastic changing their licensing model to SSPL. The stock of both companies continues to rise. Is what they are doing a short-term “fix” to a competitive threat, or a critical mistake? Does licensing need to evolve as a company matures? Topic 5 - Are there fundamental shifts in how OSS companies are created and eventually operationalized happening now? Topic 6 - Where do you see commercial OSS trending over the next 5 years, and what big changes need to happen to make those realities happen?FEEDBACK?Email: show at thecloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet