Interview with Jan Tymiński: The Role of DevOps in Today’s IT World

26 July 2024

who is devops what is devops

Kajo Rudziński: Hello everyone. My name is Kajo Rudziński and this is KajoData. We’re returning to the interview format, and I’m very excited about it. Today, my and your guest is Jan Tymiński, known online as DivingDevOps. Our conversation will mainly focus on the second part of his nickname, DevOps.

Jan Tymiński: Hello, Kajo. Thank you for inviting me, I’m glad to be here.

What is DevOps?

Kajo: Let’s start with what it actually means to be a DevOps. How would you explain it to someone who has basic IT knowledge, like using Excel, but limits their understanding of the IT world to programmers and analysts?

Jan: DevOps is someone responsible for the infrastructure on which applications created by programmers and analytical systems provided by analysts run. Our task is to ensure everything works smoothly, is available, and can scale, for example during events like Black Friday. DevOps is not just a single position, it’s a whole philosophy of work and collaboration between various IT teams.

Explaining the Role of DevOps

Kajo: So your task is to ensure that what has been created works correctly. But how does that happen when everything is in the cloud?

Jan: Applications can stop working for various reasons, such as running out of RAM and being unable to handle all the users. Our job is to safeguard against such eventualities and adjust the infrastructure so that it can scale independently. The cloud is not a magical solution to all problems—it requires constant maintenance, monitoring, and optimization to work as expected.

Kajo: I understand. So why didn’t you become a programmer?

Jan: Programming seemed more complicated to me. I am a task-oriented person, but I had trouble coming up with goals. Programming requires creativity and inventiveness, and I feel more comfortable with the technical aspects, like managing infrastructure. Besides, the DevOps world gives me the opportunity to work with a wide range of technologies, which is more interesting to me than focusing solely on coding.

Career Beginnings and Introduction to DevOps

Kajo: When did you learn about the DevOps role? How did it happen?

Jan: I started my career when the term DevOps was not yet popular. In 2012, I worked as a junior systems administrator, dealing with Linux and web servers. I worked with internal systems, networks, and servers, which naturally led me towards DevOps. Early experiences with system administration taught me how important reliability and scalability of the infrastructure are.

Kajo: You have an interesting background. What technologies and tools are crucial for you in your daily work?

Jan: I mainly work in AWS cloud, using serverless services like S3. I also use Terraform to describe infrastructure as code, which allows for its repeatability and reusability. Infrastructure as code allows configuring servers, databases, and other resources in an automated and repeatable manner. Apart from AWS, I also use other tools like Docker for containerization, Jenkins for CI/CD automation, and Prometheus for monitoring.

CI/CD and Automation

Kajo: What is CI/CD and why is it important in DevOps work?

Jan: CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment. These processes enable continuous software delivery to servers. CI/CD automates testing and deployment, ensuring faster and more reliable code delivery. CI, or Continuous Integration, is the stage where code is regularly tested and integrated, allowing for quick detection of errors. CD, or Continuous Deployment, is the automatic deployment of code to servers, speeding up the process of delivering new features to users.

Kajo: What challenges do you encounter in this job?

Jan: The biggest challenge is ensuring that all systems run smoothly, especially during major events when traffic is immense. We also need to work closely with programmers to ensure their code is well-tested and optimized before it reaches production. We often encounter issues related to scalability and performance, which we need to solve on the fly.

Collaboration with Programmers

Kajo: Is the collaboration with programmers close? Does DevOps act as a mentor for programming teams?

Jan: Yes, collaboration with programmers is crucial. DevOps often plays a mentoring role, helping programming teams understand best practices regarding performance, scalability, and automation. We work together to make processes as efficient as possible and to ensure that every new feature is deployed without issues. DevOps is also about a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.

Kajo: Can you give examples of what such collaboration looks like in practice?

Jan: Of course. For example, if a programmer encounters a problem with deploying a new feature, we analyze the code, configuration, and environment together to find the root cause of the issue. We often conduct code reviews, integration tests, and debugging sessions to ensure everything works correctly. We also help programmers understand how their code will function in a production environment, which is crucial for ensuring stability and performance.

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of DevOps

Kajo: Do you think artificial intelligence can replace DevOps?

Jan: I think it’s unlikely in the next ten years, or even twenty. Systems are very complex and require understanding the entire ecosystem, which AI will not be able to achieve for a long time. However, AI can assist our work by automating certain tasks and analyzing data. For example, AI can help monitor systems, detect anomalies, and predict problems before they occur, allowing us to act proactively.

Kajo: What applications of AI do you see in the daily work of DevOps?

Jan: AI can be used to automate routine tasks, such as configuring environments, monitoring resources, or managing scaling. It can also analyze logs and monitoring data, identify patterns, and predict potential issues, which allows for faster and more effective responses to failures. AI can also support CI/CD processes by automatically testing code and deploying it to servers based on defined rules and policies.

The Future of DevOps and Advice for Beginners

Kajo: How do you see the future of the DevOps role? What advice would you give to people just starting their career in this field?

Jan: The future of DevOps is very promising. Technology is constantly evolving, and the role of DevOps will become increasingly crucial for ensuring the stability and scalability of IT systems. For those just starting, I recommend focusing on learning the basic tools and technologies, such as Linux, AWS, Docker, Terraform, and Jenkins. It’s also important to understand the concepts of CI/CD and automation. Don’t be afraid to experiment, learn from mistakes, and always strive to improve your skills.

Kajo: That was Jan Tymiński, known as DivingDevOps. Thank you all for your attention and see you in the next interview.

That’s all on this topic. Analyze in peace!

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