Adrian Cockcroft: Managing Cloud Infrastructure at Netflix

Adrian Cockcroft was the cloud architect at Netflix from 2010 to 2013, and took part in the initial process of evaluating, validating and migrating Netflix services to the public cloud — an initiative that started in 2008.

Adrian has keen insights into the work culture and processes that make Netflix such a remarkably innovative organization. In this podcast, we talk about what it means to be on the bleeding edge of technology, and how to push disruptive new projects forward. You'll also hear:

Why Netflix decided to move the company's video streaming services to a public cloud infrastructure
What economic tradeoffs were considered when deciding whether to manage infrastructure internally or use cloud infrastructure
How to make changes at scale while maintaining autonomous teams
What a bootcamp model can teach teams about new technologies
How to cultivate a culture of freedom and responsibility

Adrian says to watch out for centralized control, as it can stifle innovation. Instead, he recommends you determine overall business goals from the top, and give teams the ability to take action on them by trying out new technologies, implementing prototypes, and releasing open source versions to the public for feedback. A workflow that allows testing and refinement enables everyone to become a pathfinder in their own research lab.

Enjoy the podcast!

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Theme music: "Smirking" by BenSoundBeats