I have a total of 15 years of experience in the IT industry, specifically in DevOps. Throughout these 15 years, I have dedicated my work to the field of DevOps or related areas, and I am committed to continuing in this domain with the same passion and dedication for many more years.
I hold certifications as a Certified Kubernetes Administrator, Docker Certified Associate, and an Associate Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Architect.
In my opinion, “DevOps” has become an overused term in the current software industry. Over the years of being in this profession, I have closely witnessed the transition and evolution within this domain. While the term ‘DevOps’ may have been coined only a few years ago, it is not an entirely new process or technology. As the software industry matures, the technologies and processes used in product development have also evolved. Drawing from past experiences and learnings, new processes and technologies such as DevOps, Agile methodology, and Microservices architecture have emerged, which are more suitable for modern IT practices.
My journey in DevOps began after completing my Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics & Communication in 2006 when I joined a startup named ‘Rishi Systems’ in Bangalore. This startup was primarily focused on product development and services, serving as a channel partner of IBM. During my time there, I had the opportunity to work with IBM tools, provide customer support through training, and implement tools like Rational ClearCase and automation scripting using Perl for Rational Test RealTime product.
Subsequently, in 2007, I joined ‘Siemens India Pvt Ltd, Bangalore’ as a Build & Release Engineer. This role provided me with extensive exposure to build and release processes for various products, both legacy and new developments. Alongside version control management, I honed my scripting skills, particularly in Perl. It was during this period that I first encountered CI/CD practices and started using Jenkins (formerly known as Hudson) around 2008/2009.
After spending approximately 3.5 years at Siemens, I transitioned to Philips India Ltd in Bangalore in 2011. At Philips, I worked across multiple Business Units on diverse projects involving a range of technologies and processes. Initially focusing on TFS (Team Foundation Server, now Azure DevOps) implementation and customization, I later shifted towards setting up CI/CD processes, defining Jenkins Pipelines, and contributing to a significant DevOps project named ‘Atlantis’. This project aimed to restructure a monolithic source code base into independent release modules to enhance build performance. Additionally, I worked on Proof of Concepts (POCs) involving Dockerizing analytic products using Docker and Kubernetes.
In 2018, after a successful tenure at Philips spanning 7 years, I joined Oracle India Pvt Ltd in Bangalore. Here, we utilize an in-house tool stack for CI/CD and build processes developed in PHP. I played a key role in maintaining and enhancing these utilities while introducing Ansible for software configuration on our build servers. With Oracle’s introduction of ‘OCI’ (Oracle Cloud Infrastructure), I led the migration of our build infrastructure and CI/CD processes to OCI. Furthermore, I implemented a server monitoring solution using Prometheus & Grafana for an internal QA framework/application.
Continuing my learning journey, I pursued training in Docker & Kubernetes, developed applications to showcase Docker & Kubernetes workflows, conducted internal training sessions for team members, and delivered training on Docker & Kubernetes for a startup. In November 2020, I achieved Docker Certified Associate certification.
Although I completed an AWS Solution Architect course from SimpliLearn in 2017, I did not pursue AWS certification due to our adoption of OCI at Oracle. Consequently, in April 2021, I obtained certification as an Associate Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Architect.
Most recently, in January 2022, I became certified as a Kubernetes Certified Administrator.
In conclusion, my career began as a Build & Release Engineer when many individuals in the software industry were unfamiliar with this role. Today, the term ‘DevOps’ is widely recognized, indicating a broader understanding of these practices. Clarity on what DevOps entails, who the DevOps professionals are within an organization, and their scope of work can greatly benefit companies. As we continue to mature in this journey and gain experience in adopting DevOps practices, clarity will naturally follow. I am enthusiastic about being part of this evolving landscape. With years of experience in this domain, I have acquired a diverse set of skills. The realm of DevOps is vast with numerous tools and technologies to explore and master, a challenge that I embrace with pride and enthusiasm as a DevOps professional.