Why We Love DevOpsDays

It’s summer – and that means it’s road trip season! We have been busy over the last six weeks making appearances at conferences across the country. Why do we do this? Because DevOps conferences (especially DevOpsDays) are some of the most fun, informative events in the IT industry, and we couldn’t be happier to play a part! Here’s why we love DevOps events.

There’s no better place to learn about new developments in DevOps.

DevOps events attract some of the best and brightest in the industry, so it’s no surprise the talks and discussions are top-notch. Speakers can include anyone from Nathen Harvey, the VP of Community Development at Chef, to Ernest Mueller, Lean Systems Manager at Alien Vault. Learn more about If you don’t walk away having learned something new at a DevOps event, you’re simply not trying.
Additionally, many events includes demos or updates from sponsors and/or industry leaders. We’ve used these events to debut new features like our Amazon Auto-Scale Group optimization report (which is now available in beta – keep an eye out for a future blog on this!)

We love getting to know the community.

DevOpsDays in particular are known for “open spaces,” periods of small group discussion that facilitate a deep dive into subjects that might not be covered by formal conference talks. Open spaces are a unique chance to speak with other DevOps professionals and hear what works for their teams – and what doesn’t. Not only is it an opportunity to talk over (and yes, occasionally complain about) common issues, it’s also a great time to meet new people and grow relationships in the area.

They’re fun!

DevOps events are more than just talks – there’s a fun social aspect as well. Some DevOps events feature Hackathons, after-parties, and even a conference-wide hike. After all, we can’t have all work and no play!

It’s not too late!

If you missed out on a DevOps event in your area, don’t worry, we can catch you up! Start by checking out some of our own Chief Data Scientist, Betsy Nichols’ presentations on the power of analytics. The first took place at DevOpsDaysAustin, and explored why analytics commonly fail – and what you can do to help them succeed.

Betsy also gave this talk at DevOpsDaysDC, on the fine line between keeping cost low and performance high, and how to effectively juggle the two. (You’ll need to skip ahead to 47:50, when Betsy takes the stage.)