A New Chapter: Joining SUSE as Technical Advocacy Lead

There are moments in your career where the path forward becomes surprisingly clear. After years of building, shipping, and advocating in the open source and cloud native ecosystem, I find myself at one of those moments. 

Today I'm excited to share that I've joined SUSE as Technical Advocacy Lead — and I couldn't be more energized about what lies ahead.

Let me back up a bit, because getting here is a story worth telling.

DevOpsCon Amsterdam 2026: It’s my docs, and I will cry if I want to!

My last DevOpsCon event was in Munich, so when I saw they were expanding and visiting my home country in Amsterdam, Netherlands I could not resist. I submitted a few things and the one that was selected is a talk I'm going to be testing based on my experiences over the last year as a maintainer on the Fluent Bit CNCF project.

I will be on-site at the Van der Valk Hotel Amsterdam-Amstel for DevOpsCon Amsterdam from 20-24 April 2026. They will have networking, sessions, and hands-on workshops available for all who attend.

Below you'll find my talk details and the schedule.

Cloud Native + Kubernetes Edinburgh Meetup - Power up with Podman (slides)

Tonight I returned to the Cloud Native + Kubernetes (K8S) Edinburgh meetup to share new content with my technical friends there in Scotland.  This is a really fun group, active and engaged with both questions and discussions about my content.

Exactly what I'm looking for in a meetup!

Attendees here are knowledgeable as they are often active in their daily jobs with the various technologies that a meetup covers. I shared a fun session on how to get started with Podman, a fully open source OCI compliant container tool for working with container images in a developer environment.

This was a talk my team has given previously, but we continue to perfect it by sharing with diverse audiences. Below are the slides and abstract from my talk.

Cloud Native + Kubernetes Edinburgh Meetup - Power up with Podman

I'm headed back to the Cloud Native + Kubernetes (K8S) Edinburgh meetup, joining them on 15 May 2024. Meetups are really essential to my job, as they are the grounds where I can test out both ideas and hands-on content. 

Attendees are knowledgeable as they are often active in their daily jobs with the various technologies that a meetup covers. They are the perfect candidates to provide feedback on new ideas or help with crafting existing ones towards perfection.

I'll be sharing a fun session of how to get started with Podman, a fully open source OCI compliant container tool for working with container images in a developer environment.

O11y Guide - Beginners Guide to Open Source Instrumenting Java

Instrumenting Metrics in Java

Are you interested in joining the cloud native world and wondering what cloud native observability means for you? 

Did you always want to know more about instrumentation, metrics, and your options for coding with open standards? 

Are you a Java developer and looking for a working example to get started instrumenting your applications and services?

Look no further, as this article provides you with an easy to understand guide to instrumenting your Java using open standards.

In this article you'll learn what open source metrics are, the projects used to collect them, about the libraries available to you as a Java developer for metrics instrumentation, apply instrumentation creating a fully working example in Java for the main four metrics types, and finally, setup metrics collection to explore your Java metrics in real-time.

The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Rules and Processes

As seen online at KieLive episode #14

There are so many ways and so much content out there to get you started with open source rules and process automation tooling by Red Hat, so where do you start? 

The goal of this guide is to provide you with a learning path through this content as a way to get started from download, to installation, to quick starts, to hands-on workshops, and all the way to using this technology for your cloud-native development projects.

You'll walk away from this guide with a learning path mapped out through content that's enjoyable to work with and can help you get started on your rules and process automation projects today.

Trajectory 2022 - Shifting Cloud Native Observability to the Left (slides)

Today I presented at the online event known as Trajectory 2022, a virtual conference. It's a conference is about exploring how development, engineering, and product teams are modernizing software development and delivery.

I'm sharing the slides here of my talk that touched on one of my favorite topics, how the promise of DevOps has led developers down a path that is totally unsatisfying in the cloud native world.

Let's take a look at the slides I used, shall we?

Trajectory 2022 - Shifting Cloud Native Observability to the Left

Just this last month I was made aware of Trajectory 2022, a virtual conference. This conference is about exploring how development, engineering, and product teams are modernizing software development and delivery.

It's a two day conference spanning 9-10 November and speakers will share challenges, tips, insights and more from the frontlines of feature management. It sounded like a great venue for sharing some insights into how cloud native observability applies to your product releases and production environments in the modern cloud world.

The following talk I'm sharing touches on one of my favorite topics, how the promise of DevOps has led developers down a path that is totally unsatisfying in the cloud native world.

London OpenShift User Group - Talking Architecture Shop

My second trip this year takes me to London for some fun later this week at Devoxx UK 2022 and a chance to speak with our customers at the London OpenShift User Group.

As the official site says, Tuesday 10th May we have a special meeting of the London OpenShift User Group featuring:

• Enterprise Portfolio Architecture - the open source way
• Uncover the genius within your ranks - A live stream of the Keynote presentation from Red Hat Summit in Boston featuring Paul Cormier (President and CEO), Stefanie Chiras (Senior VP) and Matt Hicks (Executive VP)

Below you'll find the slides from my talk.

Portfolio Architecture Examples - Application Development Collection

 

Figure 1: The portfolio architecture process

For a few years now we've been working on a project we have named Portfolio Architectures. These are based on selecting a specific use case we are seeing used in the real world by customers and then finding implementations of that case using three or more products from the Red Hat portfolio.

This basic premise is used as the foundation, but many aspects of open source are included in both the process and the final product we have defined. There is a community, where we share the initial project kickoff with a group of architects and use their initial feedback from the start. We also present the architecture product we've created right at the end before we publish to ensure usability by architects in the field. The final publish product includes some internal only content around the customer projects researched, but most of the content is open and freely available through various open source channels. 

This article is sharing an overview of the product we've developed, what's available to you today in our architecture center, and concludes by sharing a collection of architectures we've published.

Portfolio Architecture Examples - Data Engineering Collection

Figure 1: The portfolio architecture process

For a few years now we've been working on a project we have named Portfolio Architectures. These are based on selecting a specific use case we are seeing used in the real world by customers and then finding implementations of that case using three or more products from the Red Hat portfolio.

This basic premise is used as the foundation, but many aspects of open source are included in both the process and the final product we have defined. There is a community, where we share the initial project kickoff with a group of architects and use their initial feedback from the start. We also present the architecture product we've created right at the end before we publish to ensure usability by architects in the field. The final publish product includes some internal only content around the customer projects researched, but most of the content is open and freely available through various open source channels. 

This article is sharing an overview of the product we've developed, what's available to you today in our architecture center, and concludes by sharing a collection of architectures we've published.

Portfolio Architecture Examples - Retail Collection

Figure 1: The portfolio architecture process

For a few years now we've been working on a project we have named Portfolio Architectures. These are based on selecting a specific use case we are seeing used in the real world by customers and then finding implementations of that case using three or more products from the Red Hat portfolio.

This basic premise is used as the foundation, but many aspects of open source are included in both the process and the final product we have defined. There is a community, where we share the initial project kickoff with a group of architects and use their initial feedback from the start. We also present the architecture product we've created right at the end before we publish to ensure usability by architects in the field. The final publish product includes some internal only content around the customer projects researched, but most of the content is open and freely available through various open source channels. 

This article is sharing an overview of the product we've developed, what's available to you today in our architecture center, and concludes by sharing a collection of architectures we've published.

Portfolio Architecture Examples - Finance Collection

Figure 1: The portfolio architecture process

For a few years now we've been working on a project we have named Portfolio Architectures. These are based on selecting a specific use case we are seeing used in the real world by customers and then finding implementations of that case using three or more products from the Red Hat portfolio.

This basic premise is used as the foundation, but many aspects of open source are included in both the process and the final product we have defined. There is a community, where we share the initial project kickoff with a group of architects and use their initial feedback from the start. We also present the architecture product we've created right at the end before we publish to ensure usability by architects in the field. The final publish product includes some internal only content around the customer projects researched, but most of the content is open and freely available through various open source channels. 

This article is sharing an overview of the product we've developed, what's available to you today in our architecture center, and concludes by sharing a collection of architectures we've published.

DevOpsDays Raleigh 2022 - Talking Architecture Shop (slides)

I've mentioned previously that I had a talk accepted to the DevOpsDays Raleigh 2022 conference this year. 

Today was the day after travel to Raleigh that we got  to chat with a room of super enthusiastic architects.

Thanks for the time and lending us your ears. Below you'll find the talk title and abstract along with the slides for your viewing pleasure.

Portfolio Architecture Examples - Edge Collection

Figure 1: The portfolio architecture process

For a few years now we've been working on a project we have named Portfolio Architectures. These are based on selecting a specific use case we are seeing used in the real world by customers and then finding implementations of that case using three or more products from the Red Hat portfolio.

This basic premise is used as the foundation, but many aspects of open source are included in both the process and the final product we have defined. There is a community, where we share the initial project kickoff with a group of architects and use their initial feedback from the start. We also present the architecture product we've created right at the end before we publish to ensure usability by architects in the field. The final publish product includes some internal only content around the customer projects researched, but most of the content is open and freely available through various open source channels. 

This article is sharing an overview of the product we've developed, what's available to you today in our architecture center, and concludes by sharing a collection of architectures we've published.

Portfolio Architecture Examples - Healthcare Collection

Figure 1: The portfolio architecture process

For a few years now we've been working on a project we have named Portfolio Architectures. These are based on selecting a specific use case we are seeing used in the real world by customers and then finding implementations of that case using three or more products from the Red Hat portfolio.

This basic premise is used as the foundation, but many aspects of open source are included in both the process and the final product we have defined. There is a community, where we share the initial project kickoff with a group of architects and use their initial feedback from the start. We also present the architecture product we've created right at the end before we publish to ensure usability by architects in the field. The final publish product includes some internal only content around the customer projects researched, but most of the content is open and freely available through various open source channels. 

This article is sharing an overview of the product we've developed, what's available to you today in our architecture center, and concludes by sharing a collection of architectures we've published.

Devoxx UK 2022 - Designing Your Best Architectural Diagrams (accepted)

As mentioned previously, I've pushed a few talks to the Devoxx UK 2022 conference being held from 11-13 of May in London.

The Devoxx series is well know and I've attended and spoken at multiple sessions for the Belgian version in the past. It's very developer centric with a lot of good depth and knowledgable attendees.

The selection committee decided that the workshop I submitted would fit their developer tools and productivity theme nicely so I'll be sharing this great material with you in London.

DevOpsDays Raleigh 2022 - Talking Architecture Shop (accepted)

 I've mentioned previously that I was trying to join the DevOpsDays Raleigh 2022 conference this year, to be hosted on April 13-14 in Raleigh, NC. 

I submitted a few talks, a workshop, and crossed my fingers to await the selection committee results.

The verdict is in, I've got a session talking architecture shop selected. It's going to be fun to share my teams research and development of open source DevOps architectures.

Here's the talk and abstract and really looking forward to seeing you all in person!

DevOpsDays Raleigh 2022 - Talking Architecture and Career

 It's been some years since I've been to this conference, mostly due to the worldly situation and travel restrictions, but thought this year was a great time to jump back in.

The 2022 edition will be held on April 13-14 in Raleigh, NC. You can register for tickets and join the fun for a really interesting array of talks and workshops. 

I'm going to give it a good shot this year and have submitted two sessions and a workshop. 

Intelligent data as a service (iDaaS) - Example data insights

Part 4 - Example HL7 & FHIR integration

In our previous article from this series we talked about the example iDaaS data architecture specifically integration for HL7 and FHIR healthcare standards.

The process was laid out how we approached the use case and how portfolio solutions are the base for researching a generic architecture. It continued by laying out the process of how we approached the use case by researching successful customer portfolio solutions as the basis for a generic architecture.

Having completed our exploration of an HL7 and FHIR integration architecture, we'll walk you through a more specific example. This scenario is showing a proven and scalable architecture for integrating data insights into your healthcare solutions.