Reliability Enablers

Sebastian and I got together to react to and discuss 5 passages from Chapter 1 of Google's Site Reliability Engineering book (2016) by Betsy Beyer, Jennifer Pettof, Niall Murphy, et al. We covered passages like: The sysadmin approach and the accompanying development ops split have a number of disadvantages and pitfalls Google has chosen to run our systems with a different approach. Our Site Reliability Engineering teams focus on hiring software engineers to run our products The term DevOps emerged in industry. One could equivalently view SRE as a specific implementation of DevOps with some idiosyncratic extensions. Google caps operational work for SREs at 50 percent of their time. Their remaining time should be spent using their coding skills on project work. Product development and SRE teams can enjoy a productive working relationship by eliminating the structural conflict in their respective goals. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.srepath.com

Third and final instalment of the Growing as an SRE series covering practical ideas for planning your career progression This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.srepath.com

In part 1, we covered the first truth - that you don't grow in your career merely through tenure. That was a simple one.  Let's explore 2 more truths that are somewhat trickier...Background music credit: Luna by KaizanBlue This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.srepath.com

DORA metrics are a hot topic among technology executives in all kinds of enterprise. But there's more to engineering culture than solely relying on the numbers it goes you. We have a rare treat for you because Ash got Tim Wheeler on the pod. He doesn't do much of social media or podcast episodes. Tim is Director of Engineering Excellence at SquaredUp where he follows the DORA metrics but emphasizes starting conversations around them rather than setting directives. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.srepath.com

How can you grow as an SRE? You've probably thought about your career progression at some point. Ash put together his initial thoughts on this topic. Listen on to learn how he unpacks the first idea of "You don't get promotions with tenure". This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.srepath.com

Jade Rubick needs no introduction in the reliability and observability space. He was VP of Engineering at New Relic from 2010 to 2019. It was my pleasure to take on his non-obvious ideas on managing expectations with teams, especially platform-based teams. We had a few spicy ideas to dive into.We also touched on topics like enhancing engineering practices, DORA metrics, and so much more. Be sure to listen all the way through to learn Jade's amazing insights. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.srepath.com

Yury Niño Roa, a cloud infrastructure engineer at Google’s Professional Services Organization, shares her insights on Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) consulting. She reveals how Google collaborates with clients to enhance their SRE practices and discusses common antipatterns she encounters. The conversation dives into the complexities of SRE, emphasizing the need for cultural shifts and mindset changes for successful implementation. Yury also highlights the importance of chaos engineering in disaster recovery, showcasing Google's innovative strategies for resilience.

Sebastian is back for this episode to help set out direction for 2024. We reflected during the holidays on the problems SREs faced in 2023 in terms of job insecurity, burnout, and "that really shouldn't be my sole job". Sebastian and I talked about what we hope to bring to the community in 2024 to make SREs and SRE teams stronger, happier, and healthier at their work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.srepath.com

Join Ash Patel and Stephen Townshend for a friendly chat about what they've learned in SRE as 2023 comes toward a wrap! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.srepath.com

Ash Patel talks with John Hyland who ran the Ignite Program at New Relic, which is dedicated to developing early career engineers.John shares insights about driving better outcomes for the organization and the early career professionals who join them. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.srepath.com