What I'm Up To

The survey contains 32 questions and should take less than 10 minutes to complete. Update: The survey is now closed, thanks folks! When I began working with databases, nobody talked about DevOps. It was a few years before I heard the words ‘Agile’ and ‘Extreme Programming’, (which I still read as “EXTREEEEEEMMMMME programmin!”). A lot has changed since then. But a lot hasn’t changed as well.  Please help us track the history of how we work with databases by taking the Redgate State of Database DevOps survey today. I believe it’s helpful to our whole community to participate in this survey, and this post explains a few reasons why.  The survey… Is hosted by SurveyMonkey, no login is requiredTakes around 10 minutesAllows you to remain anonymous OR provide contact info to get a chance at winning a $250 Amazon gift cardIs for everyone who works with databases, regardless of whether you use…

There was a time when I saw PowerPoint as a necessary evil – a way of conveying ideas that I wasn’t crazy about, but which worked. These days, my perspective has changed quite a bit. I’ve become a PowerPoint fan for a couple of reasons. First, I’m more proficient with PowerPoint, so I can put together presentations quickly and my slides carry greater impact.  Also, the PowerPoint team has added features that I believe help me deliver presentations more effectively. This describes one of those features: the new ‘Zoom’ functionality. ‘Zoom’ is about dynamic presentations (rather than ‘zooming in’) I think it’s incredibly important to give your audience context for where you are in a presentation — especially in a talk longer than 5 minutes. I like to give folks an outline of the narrative at the beginning of the talk in the agenda. While I’m going through the material,…

Click the image to register for the webcast There has never been a better time to start a project to champion data privacy In a recent Harris poll sponsored by the payment company Stripe, over 1,000 C-level executives were asked to rate which factors they feel are most threatening to their business. The #1 item that executives rated as “somewhat” or “very” threatening to the success of their business is security / data breaches. The #2 rated threat to these businesses? Increased regulation.  Data masking mitigates these top threats One of my very first jobs when I began in IT was to build out environments for developer and test teams at a software development company. At first, we didn’t mask any of this data. After problems arose, we began masking only a single field. That was a huge mistake. In this upcoming free webcast, I’ll share the following in just 30…

I’m excited to share this webinar recording, brought to you by Redgate. DevOps is the way of the future – but not all executives understand that yet DevOps practices are powerful tools to build productive, engaged teams who constantly learn and regularly deliver value to their customers. High DevOps performers report greater workplace satisfaction than their peers. But implementing DevOps isn’t a matter of being great at writing code: to become a high DevOps performer, you need the powerful catalyst of executive support. Communicating the value of DevOps to company leaders requires changing your perspective In this webinar, I discuss the value of DevOps from the perspectives of CEOs, CIOs/CTOs, and Managers. We explore how the role of CIOs and CTOs are undergoing a major transformation, and how DevOps aligns with that transformation. You will discover a fresh take on how to discuss DevOps with company leaders, and an understanding…

Kendra and Malathi Mahadevan before the keynote It’s the second main-session day of the Summit for the Professional Association of SQL Server. I had a great breakfast this morning with Brent Ozar, along with Nathan and James from my first timer group. If you attend Summit for the first time in the future, this is a great program and you should join up. I’m jazzed to follow the keynote this morning. Like yesterday, I’m going to capture the highlights into a slide deck and publish them below. Let’s do this! Highlights… and lowlights So… I didn’t love it today. I have some comments in the slides as to why. As a presenter, and as someone who can influence event organizers, I have a lot to reflect on after today about how we can improve at inspiring people across cultures and genders in an international community. That’s the positive takeaway I…