Excitement is Building for DevOps Enterprise Summit

As the Managing Editor for IT Revolution, I usually have my nose in a book. But once a year, I have the wonderful opportunity to get out of the office (my own little cave) and enter the real world. That event is DevOps Enterprise Summit. Just like all of you, I’ve been missing the talks, the feedback from our readers, the smiling faces, and all the energy and excitement that comes with an in-person conference.

Now that the agenda for DevOps Enterprise Summit Las Vegas is out, I thought I’d take a moment to map out just a few of the things I’m excited to attend in three short weeks!

Book Signings & DevOps Enterprise Journal

Free books! As an editor, it should be no surprise that this is number one on my list. It’s been three long years since we’ve been able to celebrate our books with an author book signing. This year we have some amazing books to share with all of you. On Wednesday night (October 19th), join us in the Chelsea to meet the authors and get your free copies. We’ll be giving away signed copies of Investments Unlimited, Making Work Visible 2nd Edition, Sooner Safer Happier, and an advanced edition of The Value Flywheel Effect (not available publicly until November 29th!). Be sure to bring some extra luggage space to bring home this great crop of books for your library!

In addition to book signings, you’ll also have exclusive access to the print edition of our new DevOps Enterprise Journal | Fall 2022! This is the only place you can get your hands on a physical copy of this journal packed with eight guidance papers from his year’s DevOps Enterprise Forum. Be sure to go visit the LaunchDarkly booth to get your hands on one!

Learning Sprints

Next up on my list is brand new for DevOps Enterprise Summit. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we’ll be hosting Learning Sprints taught by IT Revolution authors!

So what’s a Learning Sprint? Well, you can think of this as a mini-workshop. In each learning sprint, attendees will be able to rapidly build competency in a topic through short-burst, easily consumable content focused on application. We want you to be able to walk away after the hour with a new tool or skill that you can start applying to your job right away. Here’s the list of topics that will be taught:

• Flow Metrics: How to Assess Your Software Delivery Capability: Taught by Dominica Degrandis, Principal Flow Advisor at Tasktop and Author of Making Work Visible, this learning sprint will teach attendees how to utilize data-driven visibility to reveal, quantify, and tackle system constraints that impact delivery across the board.
• Outcome Canvas: Quick Learn: Taught by Jon Smart, Business Agility Coach and Author of Sooner Safer Happier, this simple exercise (the outcome canvas) enables everyone to understand, measure, and improve the identification and delivery of value.
• Improve Collaboration with Conversational Analysis: Taught by Jeffrey Fredrick, Group Product Manager at ION Analytics and Co-Author of Agile Conversations, this learning sprint shows attendees how to apply the foundational conversational analysis described in Agile Conversations. You will learn how to apply the Four Rs yourself and how to take them back to your team with the ready-to-run Conversational Dojo Kit.
• GRC: Overcoming the Next Big Bottleneck: Taught by Bill Bensing, Software Factory, Managing Architect at RedHat and Co-Author of Investments Unlimited, this sprint will help you discover how to use a platform approach to transform your governance, risk, and compliance.
• Learn to Wardley Map Your Cloud Strategy: Taught by David Anderson, Technical Fellow at Bazaarvoice and Author of The Value Flywheel Effect, this session will show you how to use a pragmatic Wardley Mapping canvas, identify a key value chain in your cloud strategy, map it out, and find an action to take!
• Busting Through Bureaucracy: Taught by Mark Schwartz, Enterprise Strategist at AWS and author of The (Delicate) Art of Bueruacracy and A Seat at the Table (to name a few). This session will teach attendees how to bust bureaucracy with the ways of the monkey, the razor, and the sumo wrestler. I know, sounds fun!

Plenary Talks

Okay, next up on my excitement list: Plenary! These main stage talks are never boring, even for someone who doesn’t spend their days immersed in code. In particular, I’m looking forward to checking out the following main stage acts.

Disney Global SRE – Creating Digital Magic by Jason Cox

There’s no better way I can think of to get the excitement and inspiration flowing than with a talk from the amazing Jason Cox. I had the great pleasure of working with him directly over the last year on the new book he co-authored, Investments Unlimited. I can tell you from experience that he is the embodiment of Disney Magic. And this talk is sure to bring a bit of magic to your day as he retells the story of a century-old organization that has scaled its SRE practice to ignite digital magic across the globe.

Presentation from Forrest Brazeal

If you haven’t seen Forrest Brazeal’s amazing videos of original tech-centered, nerdy goodness songs, then stop reading and go check out my favorite: The #HugUps Song. While I don’t know exactly what he has planned for his closing presentation on day one, there is no way I’m missing the possibility of this singing sensation. Come check it out.

Automated Governance Changed What We Believed In by Michael Edenzon and John Rzeszotarski

Okay, full confession. These two are amazing. I had the pleasure of working with them on Investments Unlimited over the last year. If this is anything like the fact-filled, action-based, inspiring weekly meetings I had the pleasure of attending with them, then this will be a session not to be missed. We might not like to think of GRC (governance, compliance, and risk) as the most exciting topic, but it is the next big bottleneck we all have to tackle, and these two have successfully navigated the trenches. 

Jon Smart and Airbnb

Sooner Safer Happier by Jon Smart et al. is an amazing book that came out in 2020. Since then, Jon and his team have been taking those teachings and applying them at organizations around the world with great success. Not only am I excited to see what Jon has to share with us in his talk on day two, but I’m also eager to hear the case study from Airbnb on day three!

Adventures in Agile Auditing by Clarissa Lucas

Finally, (though I’m truly excited for every plenary talk) I can’t wait to see Clarissa Lucas’s talk on auditing. Yes, I’m excited to listen to a talk on auditing! Clarissa has an amazing ability not only to get you to truly care for auditing and their role in the organization, but she has great experience in building a true partnership between auditing and your team. Audit doesn’t have to be a bottleneck! It can actually help you move faster, and Clarissa can help show some ways how. Trust me; this is going to be a good one. (Plus, we might just have an exciting announcement regarding IT Revolution and Clarissa Lucas in the future! Stay tuned.)

Breakout Sessions

Next up, here are just a handful of the breakout sessions that sound amazing!

• Creating the Value Flywheel Effect with David Anderson. Get a sneak peek into how he drove a serverless revolution at Liberty Mutual and now can help you do the same!
• The Rise and Fall of DevOps with Bryan Finster and Dana Finster. Bryan and Dana never disappoint in their presentations. And the title certainly sounds provocative. You know I won’t be missing this session.
• Ethics in Digital Transformation with Mark Schwartz. I know we’re not supposed to pick favorites as editors, by Mark Schwartz has the most unique ability to take a complex subject and make it not only interesting and fun but so simple you’ll smack yourself for not seeing it clearly before. Now, he’s bringing us his unique views on ethics in technology, which is a vital topic today. I’ll be in this audience for sure. (And who knows, maybe there’s a fifth Mark Schwartz book waiting in the wings!)

IT Revolution Booth

Okay, last but not least, I’m excited to host each of you over at the IT Revolution booth. Each year we try to create a nice space for attendees to come read a book, chat with colleagues, grab some stickers, and generally soak up the DevOps Enterprise Summit good vibes. This year, we’ll have some fun activities for you at the booth in addition to the great books and people. Come on by and say hi! We’ve missed your smiling faces, your stories, and your enthusiasm.

I’ve got my ticket. Do you have yours?

- About The Authors

Leah Brown

Managing Editor at IT Revolution working on publishing books for the modern business leader.

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