Dave McKinstry on Integrating Azure DevOps and the Culture of DevOps - Episode 005

This week, Jeffrey Palermo is joined by his guest, Dave McKinstry. Dave is a Program Manager with the Azure DevOps Services Community Team — connecting with partners and customers, spreading modern practises, and helping developers succeed with DevOps and Azure. Prior to his position at Microsoft, he has been in software services and technical sales for over 18 years. As a consultant, principal consultant, co-owner, and manager, he has always helped people efficiently build better software. He loves what he does as a technologist and enjoys being a part of today's rapid technology evolution.

In this episode, Jeffrey and Dave talk about changes for Dave since the launch of Azure DevOps, what his journey has been like in the DevOps industry, his thoughts on companies looking to integrate Azure DevOps and move forward with automated deployment and reaching the continuous integration mark, how he thinks developers can move forward in terms of quality and Agile 101, and the modern skillset of what a developer and/or system engineer should look like in today's DevOps environment.

Topics of Discussion:

[:39] About today's guest, Dave McKinstry.

[1:00] Jeffrey welcomes Dave to the podcast.

[1:14] How it has been for Dave since the launch of Azure DevOps.

[1:25] Which side does Dave work on? Azure DevOps Services or Azure DevOps Server?

[2:58] Is Dave going to be at the Ignite event?

[3:10] What has been Dave's journey through (what we now talk about as) modern practices and shipping software?

[5:25] How is it with Dave's customers in regards to getting to continuous delivery and the continuous integration mark.

[8:03] The general nature of smaller and larger companies from a business perspective.

[10:03] Dave's thoughts on the companies integrating Azure DevOps looking into moving forward with automated deployment.

[12:20] A word from Azure DevOps sponsor: Clear Measure.

[12:48] How developers can move forward with quality and Agile 101.

[15:10] How did the culture of DevOps (Dev and Ops) come together?

[17:57] Dave's take on the relevant tasks of 15 years ago, no longer being relevant in today's DevOps environment.

[20:28] The modern skillset of DevOps and what developers and system engineers need to be doing in the current DevOps world.

[21:29] About the benefits of Dave's standing treadmill desk (that he's currently using during the recording of the podcast)!

[25:40] Dave and Jeffrey's early schooling, programming, and typing experiences! And the contrast with modern day schooling and the changing world.

[28:59] Dave describes the term 'machine learning' and the impact it has.

[33:15] What Dave recommends listeners should do next.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Azure DevOps

Azure DevOps Services

Azure DevOps Server

Microsoft Ignite event
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)
Team Foundation Server (TFS)

CICD

Better Business Bureau

Clear Measure (Sponsor)

Agile 101

Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, by Fred Brooks

IoT

aka.ms/devops

Want to Learn More?

Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

Follow Up with Our Guest:

Dave McKinstry's LinkedIn