Cloud Unplugged
78 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 months ago - ★★★★★ - 46 ratingsWelcome to The Cloud Unplugged Podcast, hosted by Jon Shanks (CEO) and Jay Keshur (COO). The two co-founded software company Appvia, have backgrounds in engineering and platform development, with years of experience using Kubernetes. Here they take a light-hearted look at cloud engineering under the lens of platform teams. Discussing how developers, platform engineers, and businesses can leverage cloud-native software development practices successfully.
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Episodes
Episode 34 | Product vs. Program, what's the difference and do you really need them?
December 13, 2023 07:00 - 34 minutes - 47.4 MBJon and Jay sit down to discuss what a program is, what a product is and what the difference between the two is. Are they company-specific and completely unrelated, or, are they reliant on each other? This light-hearted episode covers the ins and outs of products and programs.
Episode 33 | The importance of consistency in cloud infrastructure: Cloud Landing Zones
November 29, 2023 07:00 - 27 minutes - 37.7 MBJon and Jay sit down to discuss the importance of consistency when structuring cloud setups.
Episode 32 | Rafe Colburn, Depop (owned by Etsy). Pitfalls of measuring engineering productivity.
November 15, 2023 07:00 - 51 minutes - 71.5 MBJon and Rafe sit down to discuss how things changed for Depop, after the Etsy acquisition, what the CPTO role comprises and when makes sense for an organisation to have one. They also cover how to avoid the pitfalls of measuring engineering productivity.
Episode 31 | Dean Bryen, CTO of Cloud UBS maintaining innovation with new technologies
November 01, 2023 07:00 - 59 minutes - 81.6 MBDean and Jon discuss Cloud adoption and the trials and tribulations of implementing new technologies while maintaining best practices and not hindering innovation! Dean Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanbryen/
Episode 30 | Idriss Selhoum, Marks & Spencer's cloud adoption journey
October 18, 2023 07:00 - 42 minutes - 58.5 MBJon and Idriss sit down to discuss Marks and Spencer's cloud adoption journey, from hosting on-prem to Microsoft Azure. Landing zones and developer self-service were critical to the transformation and modernisation of Marks and Spencer's datacentre exit.
Episode 29 | David Heinemeier Hansson, 37 Signals & Ruby on Rails. Rent vs buy: do cloud providers really save companies money?
October 04, 2023 07:00 - 40 minutes - 55.5 MBDavid Heinemeier Hansson, is a Danish programmer, entrepreneur, and author, best known as the creator of web development framework, Ruby on Rails. Co-founder and CTO at Basecamp, a web-based project management tool, David is also recognised for his strong opinions on software development, business practices, and digital privacy. A vocal advocate for sustainable work practices, he has co-authored several books, including "Rework" and "Remote: Office Not Required", challenging traditional notio...
Episode 28 | Matthew Skelton, Team Topologies, the complexities of managing team in the modern workplace
September 20, 2023 07:00 - 51 minutes - 71.1 MBIn this episode of Cloud Unplugged, Jon and author Matthew Skelton discuss the book Team Topologies and the complexities of team management in the modern workplace. Matthew Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewskelton/
Episode 27 | What is Culture in the Modern Workplace?
September 06, 2023 07:00 - 31 minutes - 42.8 MBJon and Jay discuss the challenges involved in creating and maintaining culture in the modern workplace.
Episode 26 | Viktor Farcic, Upbound. Platform Engineering, Role Evolution and Optimisation
August 23, 2023 07:00 - 43 minutes - 60.4 MBIn this episode of Cloud Unplugged, Jon and Viktor discuss how the role and responsibilities of a platform engineer have developed over time. Viktor Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viktorfarcic/
Episode 25 | Product Manager vs. Product Owner, is there a difference and do you need one?
August 09, 2023 07:00 - 32 minutes - 75.4 MBIn this episode of the Cloud Unplugged podcast, Jon Shanks and Jay Keshur share their thoughts on product management and delivery management. They discuss how these roles contribute to efficient product development and when they become crucial, the challenges and importance of having a clear vision for your product, and how to settle the potential conflicts between these roles.
Episode 24 | Nicholas Chang & Steve Nicholl, Kainos. Navigating Cloud Adoption
July 27, 2023 11:00 - 32 minutes - 75.4 MBIn this episode of The Cloud Unplugged Podcast, Nicholas Chang, and Steve Nicholl, from Kainos, join Jon to share insights on the challenges of navigating cloud adoption framework, platform engineering, and the significance of collaboration in the industry. They cover keeping up with the rapidly evolving cloud technologies through social networking, choosing the right platform and service for creating applications, and giving autonomy to developers while implementing the necessary guardrails ...
Episode 23 | Chris Stura, PwC UK. Platform Engineering & Business Success
July 12, 2023 11:00 - 47 minutes - 109 MBJon sits down with Chris Stura, Director of Financial Services at PwC. Together, Jon and Chris delve into the realm of cloud computing and software development, highlighting the challenges that businesses in the technology sector face. Gain valuable insights on leveraging technology for business success and the crucial role of integrating technology into effective business strategies. Chris Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-stura-8089249/
Anti-Patterns Exposed: Building Platforms the Right Way - Colin Humphreys, CEO of Syntasso
June 28, 2023 06:00 - 51 minutes - 117 MBIn this episode of Cloud Unplugged, host Jon Shanks sits down with Colin Humphreys, the Co-Founder and CEO of Syntasso, the platform-as-a-product company dedicated to bridging the platform gap between low-level infrastructure and delivering value to customers. During their conversation, Jon and Colin tackle the confusing jargon prevalent in the cloud industry and its impact on effective communication, they delve into the significance of product management and design as crucial elements of pla...
Episode 22 | Colin Humphreys, Syntasso. Anti-Patterns Exposed: Building Platforms the Right Way
June 28, 2023 06:00 - 51 minutes - 117 MBIn this episode of Cloud Unplugged, Jon sits down with Colin Humphreys, CEO & Co-Founder of Syntasso. The two tackle the confusing jargon prevalent in the cloud industry and its impact on effective communication, they delve into the significance of product management and design as crucial elements of platform engineering, and they relive the challenging times when Dev and Ops used to be separate entities. Colin Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-humphreys-80691322/
Bridging the Gap: Challenges in Cloud-Native Development and the Developer Experience Gap - Haseeb Budhani, Co-founder and CEO of Rafay Systems
June 14, 2023 09:00 - 34 minutes - 78.3 MBIn this episode of Cloud Unplugged, host Jon is joined by Haseeb Budhani, the Co-founder and CEO of Rafay Systems. During their captivating conversation, Jon and Haseeb delve into the core focus of Rafay Systems, addressing the problems they aim to solve and the specific audience they serve. They explore the thought-provoking topic of the build over buy mentality prevalent in the platform engineering world, shedding light on the advantages and challenges associated with this approach. Further...
Episode 21 | Haseeb Budhani, Rafay Systems. Bridging the Gap: Development and Developer Experience
June 14, 2023 09:00 - 34 minutes - 78.3 MBIn this episode of Cloud Unplugged, host Jon is joined by Haseeb Budhani, the Co-founder and CEO of Rafay Systems. Rafay Systems is at the forefront of delivering cloud-native Kubernetes management and operation solutions to corporations and managed services. Jon and Haseeb explore the thought-provoking topic of build vs. buy in the platform engineering world, shedding light on the advantages and challenges associated with this approach. Haseeb Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/budhani/
Every Cloud Migration Has a Silver Lining: Richard Simon - Cloud Transformation at T-Systems
May 31, 2023 09:00 - 34 minutes - 48.8 MBIn this episode of Cloud Unplugged, host Jay Keshur is joined by Richard Simon, the CTO of Cloud Transformation at T-Systems, a business that drives digital transformation for companies by offering integrated end-to-end IT solutions. Jay and Richard’s discussion encompasses the four stages of cloud migration, how to establish a Cloud Centre of Excellence, what exactly is polycloud, and why you need more than a hammer to build a house.
Episode 20 | Richard Simon, T-Systems. Every Cloud Migration Has a Silver Lining
May 31, 2023 09:00 - 34 minutes - 48.8 MBJay is joined by Richard Simon, CTO at T-Systems, a business that drives digital transformation for companies by offering integrated end-to-end IT solutions. Jay and Richard discuss the four stages of cloud migration, how to establish a Cloud Centre of Excellence, what polycloud is, and why you need more than a hammer to build a house. Richard Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-simon-0272768a/
Episode 19 | Charles Humble, Container Solutions. Technical Writing in the Cloud Era
May 17, 2023 09:00 - 45 minutes - 62.4 MBIn this episode, Jay is accompanied by Charles Humble, the Editor-in-Chief at Container Solutions, a cloud native consultancy. Having the benefit of being a writer in such a technical field, Charles brings a fascinating perspective to cloud discussion. Together, Jay and Charles discuss working remotely in the cloud space, why some companies fail at cloud adoption, and draw parallels between programming and writing. Finally, they wrapped up their discussion by exploring what part AI shall play...
Technical Writing in the Cloud Era with Charles Humble, Editor-in-Chief at Container Solutions
May 17, 2023 09:00 - 45 minutes - 62.4 MBIn this episode, host Jay Keshur is accompanied by Charles Humble, the Editor-in-Chief at Container Solutions, a cloud native consultancy. Together, Jay and Charles discuss working remotely in the cloud space, why some companies fail at cloud adoption, and draw parallels between programming and writing. Finally, they wrapped up their discussion by exploring what part AI shall play in the future of technical writing.
Episode 18 | Kasper von Grünberg, Humanitec. What it Means to be a Platform Engineer
May 03, 2023 07:00 - 42 minutes - 58.8 MBThis time on Cloud Unplugged, hosts Jon and Jay are joined by Kaspar von Grünberg, the Founder and CEO of Humanitec. Working as a platform orchestrator, Humanitec is a product that enables companies to build internal developer platforms. In the episode, Jon, Jay and Kaspar discuss what it means to be a platform engineer, if the industry has a measure of what ‘good’ looks like, and whether having strong opinions of a platform is a positive or negative thing. Kaspar Linkedin: https://www.linke...
What it Means to be a Platform Engineer with Kaspar von Grünberg, Founder and CEO of Humanitec
May 03, 2023 07:00 - 42 minutes - 58.8 MBThis time on Cloud Unplugged, hosts Jon and Jay are joined by Kaspar von Grünberg, the Founder and CEO of Humanitec. In the episode, Jon, Jay and Kaspar discuss what it means to be a platform engineer, if the industry has a measure of what ‘good’ looks like, and whether having strong opinions of a platform is a positive or negative thing.
Platform Team Sizes
April 19, 2023 10:00 - 47 minutes - 64.6 MBIn this episode, Jon Shanks and Jay Keshur discuss the ideal sizes for platform engineering teams. During the course of their conversation, the pair talk through ways to optimise team size to ensure business efficiency, what an ideal platform team size ratio would be, why some platform teams have become bloated, and hypothesise about the concept of a ‘zero-person’ company.
Episode 17 | Optimal Platform Engineering Team Sizes
April 19, 2023 10:00 - 47 minutes - 64.6 MBIn this episode, Jon and Jay discuss the ideal sizes for platform engineering teams. During the course of their conversation, the pair talk through ways to optimise team size to ensure business efficiency, what an ideal platform team size ratio would be, why some platform teams have become bloated, and hypothesise about the concept of a ‘zero-person’ company.
Enabling Developer Self-Service with Existing Technologies
April 05, 2023 10:00 - 38 minutes - 52.3 MBIn this episode of Cloud Unplugged, hosts Jon Shanks and Jay Keshur explain how platform engineers can enable developer self-service with existing technologies. Jon and Jay touch on the evolution of self-service, and how cloud technology has made it easier to provide self-service and open-source solutions for self-service cloud experiences.
Episode 16 | Enabling Developer Self-Service with Existing Technologies
April 05, 2023 10:00 - 38 minutes - 52.3 MBIn this episode, Jon and Jay explain how platform engineers can enable developer self-service with existing technologies. They touch on the evolution of self-service, and how cloud technology has made it easier to do well.
Episode 15 | The State of DevOps Report 2023
March 22, 2023 11:00 - 32 minutes - 44.3 MBJon and Jay analyse the findings of Puppet’s recent report on the state of DevOps and platform engineering. The pair discuss what they thought was lacking from the report, the difference between platform teams and platform engineering teams, and Jon finds an excuse to have a rant about the term 'cognitive load'.
The State of DevOps Report 2023: What Can We Take From It?
March 22, 2023 11:00 - 32 minutes - 44.3 MBIn this episode of Cloud Unplugged, hosts Jon Shanks and Jay Keshur analyse the findings of Puppet’s recent report on the state of DevOps and platform engineering. The pair discuss what they thought was lacking from the report, the difference between platform teams and platform engineering teams, and Jon finds an excuse to have a rant about the term cognitive load.
Episode 14 | Teams and Talent: Unlocking Team Potential with OKRs
March 15, 2023 10:00 - 45 minutes - 62.7 MBJon and Jay discuss the best ways to manage and lead platform engineering teams. Sharing what they've learnt from running their own business, Jon and Jay talk through setting objectives and key results (OKRs) that are anchored to business goals, the importance of diversity and collaboration, and secrets to unlocking talent and potential amongst your team.
Teams and Talent: Unlocking Team Potential with OKRs
March 15, 2023 10:00 - 45 minutes - 62.7 MBIn this episode, Jon Shanks and Jay Keshur discuss ways to best manage and lead platform engineering teams. Sharing what they've learnt from running their own business, Jon and Jay talk through setting objectives and key results (OKRs) that are anchored to business goals, the importance of diversity and collaboration, and secrets to unlocking talent and potential amongst your team.
Cloud Platform Engineering: Saving Time, Money and Effort
March 08, 2023 10:00 - 37 minutes - 51.4 MBIn this episode, hosts Jon Shanks and Jay Keshur tackle the complexities of cloud platform engineering, including cognitive load, the total cost of ownership, public and private cloud, and more. Learn how to save time, money, and effort for businesses by taking advantage of cloud services while managing cost and security properly. Plus, get tips on how to reduce cognitive load when it comes to DevOps engineering.
Episode 13 | Cloud Platform Engineering: Saving Time, Money and Effort
March 08, 2023 10:00 - 37 minutes - 51.4 MBJon and Jay tackle the complexities of cloud platform engineering, including cognitive load, the total cost of ownership, public and private cloud, and more. Learn how to save time, money, and effort by taking advantage of cloud services while managing cost and security properly.
Episode 12: Single or Multi-Tenant Clusters: Security
March 01, 2023 12:00 - 45 minutes - 82.8 MBThis time, Jon and Jay take a deep dive into the security decisions surrounding single and multi-tenancy on Kubernetes cluster architectures. Covering everything from role-based access control to, encrypting secrets stored in the cloud, and process isolation to root read-only file systems.
Single or Multi-Tenant Clusters: Security
March 01, 2023 12:00 - 45 minutes - 82.8 MBThis time, Jon Shanks and Jay Keshur take a deep dive into the security decisions when you're looking into single and multi-tenancy on Kubernetes cluster architectures. The pair cover everything from role-based access control to, encrypting secrets stored in the cloud, and process isolation to root read-only file systems.
Episode 11 | Single or Multi-Tenant Clusters: When and Why
February 22, 2023 10:00 - 42 minutes - 98.4 MBJon and Jay get stuck into the concept of single versus multi-tenancy in Kubernetes cluster architectures. They talk through the decision criteria on when to go single tenancy and when to go multi-tenancy, addressing the compromises you may be making when you share infrastructure... and whether Jon can say "Goodbye" in French.
Single or Multi-Tenant Clusters: When To and Why To?
February 22, 2023 10:00 - 42 minutes - 98.4 MBIn this episode, Jon Shanks and Jay Keshur get stuck into the concept of single versus multi-tenancy in Kubernetes cluster architectures. The pair talk through the decision criteria on how to decide when to go single tenancy and when to go multi-tenancy, addressing the compromises you may be making when you share infrastructure, and whether Jon can say "Goodbye" in French!
Cloud Strategy: What Is It and Why You Need One?
February 15, 2023 09:00 - 49 minutes - 89.8 MBIn this episode, hosts Jon Shanks and Jay Keshur dive into what exactly a cloud strategy is, and why it could be important for your business to have one. The pair discuss why a cloud strategy differs from a business plan, how to measure its success, and why it’s crucial to have everyone on board from the very start.
Episode 10 | Cloud Strategy: What Is It and Why You Need One?
February 15, 2023 09:00 - 49 minutes - 89.8 MBIn this episode, Jon and Jay dive into what exactly a cloud strategy is, how it differs from a business plan and how to measure its success.
What Makes a Successful Platform Team? with Bryan Ross, Executive Advisor at VMware Tanzu
February 08, 2023 11:00 - 42 minutes - 97.3 MBIn this episode, host Jon Shanks is joined by Bryan Ross, Executive Advisor of VMware Tanzu. The pair discuss the process of platform engineers building a developer platform inside enterprise organisations and ensuring that true value is understood and measured; the complexity of technologies and terminologies (not just for builders, but also for businesses); and why your platform will never, truly be complete.
Episode 9 | The importance of DevExp for larger developer teams
February 08, 2023 11:00 - 42 minutes - 97.3 MBJon and Jay dive into what a good developer experience really is, from writing code to troubleshooting.
Episode 8 | Day 0, 1 & 2. Decision making in cloud deployment
February 01, 2023 11:00 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBJon and Jay discuss what Day 0, 1 and 2 mean in cloud deployment and touch on the role of platform teams and developers during these stages.
Platform teams should care about the Developer Experience
February 01, 2023 11:00 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBJon and Jay discuss what Day 0, 1 and 2 mean in the cloud deployment and touch on platform teams work to create a great experience for their clients: developers. Jay talks us through how to build a platform as the goal keeps moving.
Day 0, 1 and 2 in Cloud Deployment
February 01, 2023 11:00 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBJon and Jay discuss what Day 0, 1 and 2 mean in the cloud deployment and touch on platform teams work to create a great experience for their clients: developers. Jay talks us through how to build a platform as the goal keeps moving.
DevExp? Why is this important for larger developer teams?
January 25, 2023 05:00 - 40 minutes - 27.8 MBJon and Jay dive into what, according to them, a good developer experience really is, from writing code, all the way through to troubleshooting your application. The ease with which you get logs, and metrics, understand problems and how platform teams can support them.
Episode 7 | Bryan Ross, VMware Tanzu. What makes a Successful Platform Team?
January 25, 2023 05:00 - 40 minutes - 27.8 MBBryan Ross joins Jon on the podcast, discussing the process of building a developer platform in enterprise organisations while ensuring true value is understood and measured.
Episode 6 | Richard Smith, Codification.io. Common Cloud Struggles with DevOps Teams
December 14, 2022 08:00 - 58 minutes - 40.5 MBRichard Smith from Codification.io joins the podcast. He has helped build several enterprise cloud-native platforms, often modernising legacy applications with the Cloud. The key player involved in the DevOps team, and especially during a transformation, there are some everyday struggles. Richard shares the common DevOps struggles that he witnessed with us. Richard Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwsmith/
Common Cloud Struggles with your DevOps Team w/ Richard Smith from Codification.io
December 14, 2022 08:00 - 58 minutes - 40.5 MBRichard Smith from Codification.io joins the podcast. He has helped build several enterprise cloud-native platforms, often modernising legacy applications with the Cloud. The key player involved in the DevOps team, and especially during a transformation, there are some everyday struggles. Richard shares the common DevOps struggles that he witnessed with us.
Episode 5 | Build vs. Buy, Cloud Platforms
October 26, 2022 14:00 - 45 minutes - 31.4 MBYou wouldn’t build your own car, so why would you build your own platform? Jon and Jay consider the pros and cons of building your own. Spoiler alert: they advise against it. Cloud provides innovation behind the scenes, whereas building your own means you have to hire a team and sink enormous costs before providing any business value.
Building vs. Buying Cloud Platforms
October 26, 2022 14:00 - 45 minutes - 31.4 MBYou wouldn’t build your own car, so why would you build your own platform?Jon and Jay consider the pros and cons of building your own. Spoiler alert: they advise against it. Cloud provides innovation behind the scenes, whereas building your own means you have to hire a team and sink enormous costs before providing any business value.
Is the Spotify Model Right for Cloud?
October 19, 2022 16:00 - 43 minutes - 29.8 MBMost of us aren't at Spotify's scale, so for us mere mortals what is actually useful to implement? Jon and Jay work it out by discussing squads, chapters, agile delivery teams, platforms, and what really works for delivering in the cloud.