(This post originally appeared on Kentik’s blog)
What is the opposite of “Hello, I must go”?
I ask because here at Kentik one of the requirements for a blog is to have a solid musical reference. Or several. I deduced this from a review of the existing blog content. Well, actually, just this blog.
It’s important that I get this right because, as both the location and the very existence of this blog imply, I can now call Kentik my home, at least professionally, and I don’t want to do anything that might get things off on the wrong foot. Honestly, I can’t believe it’s true. And although I know you can’t rush love, I already feel like I’m hanging out with old friends.
I won’t delve into the point (or the song references). Still, I wanted to highlight some of the things I’m excited about now that I’ve officially become a “Kentikian” (yes, that’s what we call ourselves here, but I don’t care).
Observability is for everyone
Monitoring, both network-specific and the broader category of solutions including APM, synthesis, traces, and even Observability with a capital O (whether you explain it or spell it “o11y” like the cool folks at DevOps), is not just a niche skill practiced by a few key people in an organization.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the quarter century of installing, managing, and scaling monitoring solutions, it’s that the data they contain is the lifeblood of the business and a superpower for any IT professional motivated enough to harness it. The monitoring and insights it provides through alerts, reports and dashboards enable organizations to react to changes more quickly, identify and recover from problems more reliably, and understand the true state and performance of the business and the systems on which that business is built.
If there’s one thing I’m excited to share now that I’m here at Kentik, it’s the experiences, lessons, and insights I’ve gained from using dozens of tools for thousands of hours on companies ranging from modest (25-100 systems), moderate (1-5,000 systems), and mind-blowing (250,000 systems).
Content made by IT people, for IT people
Whether it’s a blog highlighting the ways network monitoring has changed (and hasn’t) or an analysis of what it looks like when an entire island moves from satellite Internet to (submarine) fiber, Kentik highly values talking to IT people the same way we talk to each other.
Of course, that starts with clear, concise and detailed explanations of the latest technology or technique and how to leverage it within the Kentik platform.
But it also includes frank explanations when something doesn’t add up. Even more importantly, Kentik isn’t afraid to share honest looks at what we need to do as technology professionals to show up and do our best work every day for the companies that depend on us.
It also means having fun sometimes. Because if work were an endless, joyless struggle, most of us would have built our careers as hamster breeders, deep-sea carpentry engineers, or competitive maraschino cherry jugglers.
With all due respect to Sesame Street, the “c” is for community
A user community has to be more than a support forum. It should not only allow, but encourage conversations and connections between members, regardless of their business affiliations or the issues they are currently facing. A community should uplift, inform, inspire, comfort and celebrate.
I’ll be honest (and one of the reasons I’m excited to be on Kentik is because this kind of honesty is not only allowed but valued), our community isn’t there yet. And my assertion that we need it is much more than an aspiration. It’s happening. Stay tuned to this channel for more information as it becomes available.
But community can be found in many places and in many ways. communal