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How would you characterize your management philosophy at Instaclustr – now part of NetApp following a 2022 acquisition ?
My management philosophy is one of trust . Trust in the team , earn trust with your customers and understand that trust is hard won and easily lost .
When you are building a business or a solution from the ground up , you need the expertise of dedicated people who will take the journey with you through all the ups and downs . You need to set the vision and goals and give those dedicated people your trust that they can do the job you ’ re asking them to do .
Build autonomy and accountability and ensure a sense of ownership in the outcome . In the same vein , you need to earn and retain the trust of your customers . How you build and deliver your solutions , the focus on customer relationships , your approach to cybersecurity and how you respond to their needs are all critical factors in gaining ( and retaining ) their trust .
You ’ re heavily involved in the open source software world and have been for some time – is there anything CIOs still misconstrue about open source technologies ?
Yes . How do you get technology leaders to pay for something that ’ s free ? The ‘ open core ’ trap . Even among CIOs and other leaders , there is still confusion – and then later on , surprise – around true open source technologies vis-à-vis open core alternatives . Built atop capable and flexible 100 % open source projects , open core instead locks businesses in and makes it very difficult ( and expensive ) to move around freely .
CIOs are still Realizing that in fact , no , the ‘ open source-based ’ code now essential and ingrained within their business offerings isn ’ t portable at all . Many open core-based businesses even make certain that enterprise users do not own their own code . I could go on , but there ’ s certainly a big misconception between true open source and open core that warrants extra due diligence from CIOs .
What is a technology trend you ’ re paying close attention to right now , and why ?
Platform engineering . CIOs will need to continue to move quickly on this trend . Introducing internal developer platforms ( IDPs ) that streamline development and operational efficiency – while equipping teams to deliver highly scalable , reliable , secure and compliant applications – is increasingly critical . Open source is shaping up to a big part of this trend . The core goals of an IDP implementation include empowering developers with the self-service tooling they require to shift application delivery into high gear and significantly boost time-to-value . Open source technologies directly facilitate the pursuit of those goals ( while keeping costs much lower ).
What are a couple of other trends , perhaps under the radar , that you think CIOs need to keep their eye on ?
One is certainly ‘ operationalizing ’ AI . Effective AIOps offers several big advantages for CIOs who can get ahead of the curve right now . Imagine readily available , ever-evolving datasets empowering AI to automate database management and proactively address issues .
Another is cloud portability . I think prioritizing cloud portability will be a game-changer for many CIOs . Getting this right means being able to much more easily choose the most effective cloud infrastructure – including powerful and cost-efficient open source options – for each specific task , rather than being beholden to any single cloud giant .
If you could go back and change one career decision , what would it be ?
I came late into cybersecurity after initially graduating as a biochemist with a BSc degree . I hadn ’ t really discovered that technology was where my passion would be and I stumbled into a role as a food tester / researcher . It simply wasn ’ t for me , and , if I had my time over , I ’ d have changed that decision and would have sought to enter a software engineering career sooner ! p
68 INTELLIGENTCIO LATAM www . intelligentcio . com