We’ve all heard the well-known phrase in the DevOps world that it’s “not about the tooling - the tooling changes”, that it’s about the systems engineering, culture and practices that support a robust DevOps and platform engineering operation. One of the incredible parts of the global DevOps and Platform Engineering movement are the communities that help support the peer to peer sharing of resources and knowledge.
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With the constant evolution and dynamic nature of the cloud native ecosystem, staying updated with the latest trends, best practices, and insights is crucial for professionals in DevOps and Platform Engineering. Whether you're a seasoned practitioner or an aspiring enthusiast, following influential thought leaders can provide you with a wealth of knowledge and inspiration. In this article, we'll introduce you to some of the early influencers, prominent and useful content creators in the realms of DevOps and Platform Engineering, that will enable you to skill up and stay on top of emerging trends.
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Below is a roundup of some of our favorites - it’s not exhaustive, but a great place to start, across platforms and media.
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The DevOpsDays Crew & Early DevOps Founders:
- Patrick Debois has a blog and YouTube talks - as the original founder of the global DevOpsDays movement, he coined the word DevOps, and since then has been sharing very useful content across different channels.
- LittleIdea  - Andrew Clay Shafer is also one of the original founders of DevOpsDays, and while he does not maintain a regular blog, has some of the most inspiring and practical talks at the most prominent technology conferences.
- Arrested DevOps Podcast - Bridget Kromhout & Matty Stratton succeeded the founding DevOpsDays team as the co-Chairs, and have hosted the longest-standing continued podcast.
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The IT Revolution Team and the DevOps Enterprise Work
Authors of bestselling books, as well as guidance papers authored by enterprise technology leaders and industry luminaries.Â
- Blog: Profound Deming
- Books: Investments Unlimited, Deming’s Journey to Profound Knowledge, The DevOps HandbookÂ
- DORA Research
- Book: Accelerate
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Excellent Content Creators
- DevOps Toolkit‍ and YouTube - Viktor Farcic provides an impartial and authentic take on a diversity of DevOps tooling in the industry, how they work, and what they’re useful for, as well as a lot of useful demos for how to get started with the many different tools in the Cloud Native and DevOps toolchain.
- Techworld with Nana - Nana Janaisha has built one of the most popular channels focused on DevOps training - providing bootcamps, tutorials, eBooks and much more.
- Coder Dave - Davide Benvegnu  is a Microsoft MVP, Staff member, speaker and contributor to the Microsoft Community. Knowledgeable in Azure, TFS and the .Net stack, his top skills include Devops, Kubernetes, and Serverless Computing.
- The DevOps Guy Community and YouTube - Marcel Dempers, a Solutions Architect, Platform Lead, Technologist, skilled in Kubernetes and Linux.Â
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Thought LeadersÂ
- Kelsey Hightower - Former Developer Advocate for Kubernetes, now Independent Advisor, avid tweeter and mentor.
- Jez Humble - Co-Author the DevOps Handbook.
- Adrian Cockcroft - Tech Advisor. Former VP, AWS Open Source and Sustainability, formerly Cloud Architect at Netflix. Blog.Â
- Emily Freeman - Head of Community, AWS, formerly Chief of Staff Cloud Advocacy, Microsoft. Book: DevOps for Dummies.
- QuinnyPig -  Corey Quinn combines humor with detailed AWS insights, including cost management and best practices through his podcast and excellent newsletter. Podcast. Website .
- Ned-in-the-Cloud - Ned Bellavance has a weekly video for “Terraform Tuesday”, along with a Podcast, all about Day 2 cloud management. His instructional videos are available on Pluralsight and focus on using Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC). Podcast. Blog.
- Anton Babenko - the creator and maintainer of the AWS Terraform Modules repo, for the Terraform community. As part of his excellent community work he maintains a regular weekly.tf newsletter, live stream, has an eBook and other excellent resources on his website to get started with Terraform.
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More to follow:
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The world of DevOps and Platform Engineering is rapidly evolving, and these influencers are your guides to navigating this dynamic landscape. Whether you're looking for technical insights, practical advice, or community engagement, these thought leaders have you covered. By following their expertise and learning from their experiences, you'll be better equipped to excel in your DevOps and Platform Engineering endeavors.
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Firefly has launched the “IaCademy”, a learning resource where beginners and seasoned pros alike can find advice, best practices, and tips for using infrastructure as code to better manage their cloud infrastructure. Have a look and let me know what topics you’d like to see added.
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