Insights with Kan Tang, Distinguished Technologist and Worldwide Chief Technologist for DevOps, HPE Software Services
I am the kind of person who loves to learn, but when I have learned something I want to move on to the next challenge. I commenced my technology career in coding, as an Application Developer and moved on to become an Application Architect, then Solution Architect. This allowed me to be increasingly exposed to IT operations. With a desire to balance my knowledge between Dev and Ops, I moved to a project with Sabre Airline Solutions, one of the world’s largest Airline suppliers and worked on their operational side of the business. This involved configuring Network Interfaces, IP address, Network security, firewall, load balancer, Disaster Recovery, proxy server and so on, which provided a greater sense of what operations are about.
It has been a benefit to start out as a Coder and Application Developer. In DevOps, if you want to maintain some credibility, you still need to be somewhat hands on. You have to get your hands dirty, otherwise you’re just talk. I worked on a lot of heavy duty Java applications early on, including with American Airlines, General Motors, Adobe, Disney, FedEx Office, Delta Dental, Shell, US National Veterans Healthcare and each in different industries.
In my early career, I spent most of time in technology, but I realised that a lot of inefficiencies are actually in the processes. When I was at FedEx Office, I was involved with Agile software development and took a role of Master of Scrum Master for their Agile transformation. I learnt a lot of the ‘good and bad’ of software development, testing and operations, as well as people and team dynamics. It is a challenge to keep the team focused, innovative and working together, with different personalities and hierarchy of the organisation, including working with the senior level executives…Click HERE to read full insights.
