Datanauts 162: From Tech Support To Cloud Architect – An Opinionated Career Path

Looking to elevate your skills from on-prem hardware monkey to cloudy diva? In this episode, we explore one person’s career path from tech support to cloud architect, and get his opinions on key cloud issues.
Our guest is Bill Gurling, Cloud Solutions Architect at Rubrik.
In part one of the show, we review  Bill’s career journey, which includes stints at GeekSquad, end user support, the army, and a converged infrastructure architect. We talk about what drove Bill to move into different roles, and why scripting and automation have been key throughout his journey.
In part two, we pivot to Bill’s cloud expertise and dig into his opinions on tools such as Terraform and AWS CloudFormation, including ease of adoption and what it’s like to work with these tools at scale.
In part three, Bill shares his insights on whether the industry will achieve the dream of multi-cloud applications, getting beyond lift-and-shift as organizations move to the cloud, and what it means to be a distinguished engineer.
Sponsor: Quest Software
Quest Software is your go-to for everything Microsoft. Migrate to a new SharePoint or Office 365 environment, move to OneDrive for Business, consolidate Active Directory and Exchange, secure your AD from insider threats, and much more! Learn more at Quest.com/DatanautsPod.
Show Links:
Bill Gurling on Twitter
Bill Gurling’s Blog
Which do you use – Terraform or CloudFormation? – Reddit
CloudFormation / Terraform real world use cases? – Reddit
Defining a Distinguished Engineer – Jessie Frazelle