Terraform Starter Boilerplate for GCP using Terragrunt
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A practical playbook for founders and engineering managers to stop wasting time trying to get started with DevOps the right way
Maybe you're a CTO.
Maybe you're an engineering manager.
If you think about hiring you first DevOps Engineer - this article is for you.
It will save you 6 months of wasted mental capacity.
How? By dedicating 10 hours to planning.
I'll share with you here exactly what to do during those 10 hours.
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You are building your companyâs product.
You start thinking about the development process and building or improving production.
Then, you read about DevOps somewhere and think to yourself: âThis seems like what I needâ.
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You start looking for a DevOps Engineer, but you find out the standard DevOps salary - âOh, thatâs pretty expensive for our budgetâ.
So you decide to wait. âHiring a developer is more important right nowâ you tell yourself.
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A month goes by, and you and your team are grinding away, building a kickass product.
But alas! The missing development automation hurts collaboration, the cloud infrastructure is a collection of manual changes - and youâre not sure if the system is built well.
So, you make a decision, and you post your first âDevOps Positionâ, congrats!
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Candidates start streaming in, and you start interviewing.
After interviewing the 3rd candidate, you think to yourself âthis is not itâ.
Every candidate is missing a different piece of the required knowledge.
One doesnât know AWS, the other isnât familiar with "<enter-relevant-tool-here>", and the last one only worked with on-prem before.
And so, you re-evaluate.
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The realization is this: You canât hire on knowledge for this position, you have to hire on skill and character.
BUT, you feel like the knowledge is crucial, at least at this point.
So you make another decision - Iâll invest some more time in this âDevOpsâ thing - Iâll learn.
You watch DevOps tutorials on Youtube.
You even subscribe to various DevOps Newsletters, something you didnât do before.
Another month goes by.
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After learning and implementing DevOps bits and pieces all over the place, it doesnât feel right.
âAm I re-inventing the wheel and complicating the future?â you might ask yourself.
You take a step back, zoom-out, and ask other startup founders what they did at this stage.
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Thatâs when you find out youâre not alone - âOh! So itâs tough for other founders as well!â
But, each founder tells you something different.
One founder tells you to hire a freelancer - but that seems like just another hiring model and doesnât solve the problem.
Another founder tells you to just hire a full-time DevOps Engineer - but your resources are limited, and youâd rather hire more developers to build the product.
Until one founder tells you to hire an agency: âInstead of a freelancer, get a company thatâs built to get your DevOps rightâ.
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Youâre convinced, and you start looking for agencies.
You get recommendations, you search online, and you start booking calls.
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1st call with a DevOps agency
âHi there! Yes weâre the solution for you! Letâs get started!â
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2nd call with a DevOps agency
âYes! Weâll provide you with a strong DevOps Engineer! Letâs get started!â
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You choose not to go on the 3rd call and you pause the process.
Why? Because you realize: âThese guys didnât remove any uncertainty for me - how are they different from a freelancer?â
So you make another decision.
Youâll continue to do DevOps yourself, and maybe delegate some tasks to other team members.
Thatâs when you find out it was a trap! You got yourself into a loop!
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After just one month you realize itâs not sustainable, and you repeat the same process:
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This loop is sometimes 2 months long, and sometimes 12 months long.
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Either way, it slows down your company!
It occupies your thoughts.
It takes valuable time from you.
It speeds up global warming.
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Maybe the global warming part was an exaggeration.
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Itâs amazing how many founders went through this exact same process.
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Iâm here to tell you:
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You need just 10 hours with a DevOps expert.
What you need most is perspective from an experienced individual.
You donât yet have the DevOps perspective or experience? No problem.
Get a DevOps Expert to consult you on a hourly basis.
IÂ call it "The 10 Hours DevOps Pill" đ
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Not anyone will fit as your trusted DevOps expert.
Use someone that answers these criteria:
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Letâs dive into the playbook for each meeting!
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Share the state of your company with the DevOps expert.
Share your infrastructure, your code, your work process, everything!
Donât be shy, and donât justify - simply explain your startupâs goals and your reasoning.
(Sign an NDA first, of course)
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Take notes or record this call!
Ask the DevOps expert: Whatâs possible?
Ask the DevOps expert: What did other startups do at this stage?
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You now know whatâs possible, and what other companies do.
Time to set short-term, mid-term, and long term goals.
If you want to dive deep into useful DevOps principles, check out the CTO DevOps Handbook here đđź.
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Based on your goals, strengths, and restrictions, choose a strategy.
Discuss the following options with your DevOps expert.
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Hire a DevOps Engineer, Boost with the DevOps expert
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Hire a DevOps freelancer, Boost with the DevOps expert
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Hire a DevOps agency, Boost with the DevOps expert
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Youâre ready to create a DevOps roadmap and start executing your strategy!
Creating a DevOps roadmap is the first step of each of the strategies described above.
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1 - Create the DevOps roadmap based on the goals and strategy youâve set
2 - Start executing the strategy:
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You want to do two things before jumping into the 10 hours:
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If youâre thinking about taking this â10-hours DevOps Pillâ, feel free to reach out.
Drop me a message here đđź
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You now know the general process for breaking the DevOps loop.
You donât NEED a DevOps expert.
Feel free to subscribe to my Newsletter and learn how to do it yourself here đđź