As engineers, we build custom solutions to fill gaps our vendors haven't solved yet. But should they live forever? Most teams are carrying at least one custom solution that a vendor they already use has since solved natively. Knowing when to let it go is a habit worth building.

I get frustrated when I reach for a USB cable for a certain scenario, but I don't know if the one I got can do the job. Few manufactures print the capabilities on the cable itself, but there is some action you can take. Check out my rambling below to see what I'm doing!

Was probably one of the first video games I remember playing.

Late last year, I kicked off a series - Inside Platform Engineering. I speak with platform practitioners in the trenches, find out what's working, what keeps them up and night, and where things might be headed. With 2026 underway, I'm gearing up for more discussions:

I really love this series on Drumeo, and Alter Bridge are one of my fav bands. There’s a heap of fantastic drummers who have participated in this series and come up with really awesome tracks on the spot. youtu.be/vr540YCh5us?...

Join @mattallford.com , @clfleming.bsky.social , and me for a conversation about our year in research. Featuring #GitOps, #PlatformEngineering, #AI, #Compliance, and more! Date: December 9-10, 2025 Starts: 5am PST / 8am EST / 13:00 GMT / 14:00 CET Location: Virtual event ➵ ➵ ➵ octopus.com/shipped

Meanwhile in DevOps No.45 You build it, you run it! #DevOps

Platform Engineering is a hot topic. So hot that later this week, Steve Fenton, Chris Pirillo, and I are having a fireside chat where we'll discuss some interesting insights from the field and uncover insights and trends. Come along and join the discussion live. Oh, and it's free. Link below!

If you’re working with @biceplang.bsky.social, go jump into this community on LI!

Nailed it. youtube.com/shorts/bBKdR...

"The Productivity Delusion" - My new article challenges how we think about productivity in tech. Multitasking isn't helping, and "typing faster" isn't the goal. Let's focus on real impact, not just perception. Read more: octopus.com/blog/product... #DevOps #SoftwareEngineering #Productivity #Tech

Stop relying on gut feelings to measure your DevOps success! 📊 In the latest Exploring Octopus Deploy video, I show how to use built-in Insights to track DORA metrics with hard data from your existing deployments, no extra tools needed! www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN3f...

In the field I experienced a lot of companies use what I refer to as “skeleton pipelines”. They’re a great starting point to perform a build or release, though can often be overlooked for improvements and value. I put some thoughts on this below! #OctopusDeploy octopus.com/blog/beyond-...

I’m super excited to have recently started as a Developer Advocate at Octopus Deploy! I’ve spent the last few weeks getting my feet under the desk, feeling extremely welcomed, and drinking from the firehose (maybe even 8 fire hoses?).

Software rollbacks often get oversimplified. Just revert a commit, right? Becoming more common, automatic rollbacks are pitched as a safety net, but are they really that simple, or safe? @stevefenton.co.uk makes the case that automatic rollbacks should be a last resort: octopus.com/blog/automat...

I had fun on my first appearance of @octopus.com’s Deploy on Friday! As usual, lots of good news from Octopus over the last week, wrapped up for you in under 10 minutes.

Lining up another newsletter for later in the week! This week there's a mix of code scanning for IaC, A newly released Well Architected Framework, a resource to use to keep your Azure environment tidy, and a great article covering the concepts of AI agents. Sound interesting? Sign up below!

Aiming to achieve a GitHub certification in 2025? Looking for some study resources? Over at Pluralsight, the team have just published 3 learning paths for the following certifications: - GitHub Foundations - GitHub Administration - GitHub Actions Find the links below!

Why is there never a fire at a fireside chat 🤔