3 Reasons You Should Attend DevOps Days

Why anyone can gain something from this conference

DevOps, as a term, was coined in 2008. Since then, DevOps has seen a tremendous amount of growth in its adoption – so much so that it is one of the hardest tech positions to hire for.

“Currently on LinkedIn, there are 124,000 DevOps openings. Last year, there were only about 51,000 – that’s more than double,” said Alan Ribeiro, Senior Recruiter, IT Solutions at System One. “Salaries are climbing as well. Senior DevOps Engineers can now expect salaries upwards of $165,000 in larger cities like New York. While lower in smaller markets such as Tampa, the figures are still clocking in around $130,000. DevOps is clearly an attractive and promising career track.”

With DevOps being such a hot topic, it’s no wonder why DevOpsDays have grown dramatically in recent years – with events now being held all across the globe.

For those unfamiliar, DevOpsDays are a volunteer-run one-day conference filled to the brim with speakers, curated talks, and breakout sessions covering software development, IT infrastructure, and the space between. Topics run the gamut from testing, security, and automation, to the DevOps culture.

DevOps engineers aren’t the only ones with something to gain from DevOpsDays. In fact, anyone and everyone can learn something from attending – even if just a better understanding of what DevOps is, the culture behind it, and why DevOps principles are such a life-changing way of operating a company.

I spoke with Ravi Lachhman, DevOpsDays Atlanta organizer and DevOps Evangelist at Harness, and James Gress, DevOpsDays Tampa Bay organizer and North America DevOps Solution Factory Lead at Accenture, about their involvement with DevOpsDays and why they think everyone can learn something at a conference.

You want to learn more about DevOps culture

“There are two teams of folks,” says Ravi. “One team that writes the features (dev), and one team that keeps the lights on (ops). Development teams are incentivized to build features and make changes. Operations teams, however, are incentivized for uptime. Therefore, they have stringent control around change, and could even shun it. With these two teams at odds, bringing them together is imperative for modern software development.”

DevOps engineers work to tear down the walls between both departments. They see things from a high-level, across multiple silos, and can help optimize inefficient processes and patterns in the development and operational worlds. Having experience in both infrastructure and programming, they’re able to deliver features, updates, and fixes that can be made to the site’s infrastructure, enlisting help from their dev counterparts.

This makes DevOps culture one of the most impressive workplace cultures around. Going to DevOpsDays simply to learn more about it is highly recommended.

You’re in the field

If you’re in DevOps, you know how ubiquitous it is becoming. Indeed, even tiny startups are utilizing DevOps – because they want to build a reliable site infrastructure, right from the start. As such, attending your local DevOpsDays event can be beneficial to your career and company.

“The range of speakers is very inclusive, from industry titans to first-time speakers,” Ravi explained. “You’ll listen to speakers talk about new tools, processes, ideas, automations, QA, and how DevOps principles can be applied to other departments.”

DevOpsDays also bring a strong social aspect to them – it’s not all talks and speakers. There are breakout sessions at certain conferences with lists of topics you can choose from. Plus, the nature of the event is network-heavy: you’ll be surrounded with people in your field where you can talk about anything to do with DevOps. If anything, getting to bounce ideas off other engineers could empower you with new processes and tools you could implement at your workplace.

You want to get in the field

The DevOpsDays community is inclusive and welcoming, even to newcomers. I attended the Tampa Bay DevOpsDays conference – not because I’m in the field, but because I’m very interested in tech, and am close to people who work in DevOps. I figured that attending DevOpsDays would bring me new knowledge and understanding of the breadth of responsibilities and priorities these mighty engineers contend with every day – and it did, in spades.

If what I learned (as an individual not even looking to get into DevOps) is any indication, DevOpsDays are a fantastic venue to expand your knowledge on the cloud, tools, what DevOps is, and more. Additionally, you’ll make new connections at the conference – potentially even someone who could guide you into what your first steps should be. In fact, growing DevOps talent is one of the focuses of these events.

“It boils down to connecting with like-minded people, and getting them excited about the field, as this helps the local area grow DevOps,” James said. “I have a deep passion for DevOps and teaching/growing talent in the Tampa area. Tampa is poised to become a legitimate tech hub, and it’s a great place to live. The more top talent we can grow and attract, the more companies and opportunities will be able to tap into this great resource.”

Find an event near you

If you’re interested in attending your local DevOpsDays conference, check out the official website for upcoming dates and times: DevOps Days Organization

We hope you’ll find DevOpsDays to be a fun, information-filled day with actionable takeaways.

About System One

System One delivers specialized workforce solutions and integrated services. We help clients get work done more efficiently and economically, without compromising quality. For more than 35 years, we’ve built our reputation on exceptional talent, flexible delivery, and full accountability. System One’s national network spans energy, engineering, IT, commercial, scientific & clinical, legal, marketing, and beyond. System One is based in Pittsburgh, PA.