CloudBees Named a Leading DevOps Vendor for the 2018 DevOps Industry Awards

Recently, the judging committee for the 2018 DevOps Industry Awards named its list of finalists to recognize companies and individuals who have accomplished significant achievements when incorporating and adopting DevOps practices. The CloudBees team is thrilled to be recognized as a finalist for ‘Leading DevOps Vendor’ as part of this awards program and looks forward to joining the organizers at the annual awards gala on October 16 in London, England! The DevOps Industry Awards recognize the tremendous efforts of individuals and teams when undergoing digital transformation projects – whether they are small and bespoke, or large complex initiatives. As part of this program, ‘Leading DevOps Vendors’ show:

• Evidence of a commitment to high quality and standards to customers

• Commitment to customer satisfaction

• Evidence of value for money

• Demonstration of DevOps thought leadership and contributing to the wider IT community

We caught up with our own Chief Strategy Officer (DevOps and Corp Dev), Wesley Pullen, for a Q&A ahead of the event. Wesley is continuously interacting with our customers to help them enable successful DevOps transformation efforts and get the most value out of our industry-leading Adaptive Release Orchestration platform, CloudBees Flow . Question: What makes CloudBees stand apart from other vendors in the DevOps space? Wesley G. Pullen (WGP): Our recipe for winning is pretty simple: build great products and align with our customers to achieve their transformational business outcomes. We’re honored to have been chosen by so many industry-leading companies to be part of this journey to deliver even more software innovation – faster, better, safer and at scale. Our users trust us with their core business – and we’re here to deliver! Continuously! Q: What have been your favorite conferences that you’ve attended in your career? WGP:I have really enjoyed the DevOps Enterprise Summit in both USA and Europe (London). I also enjoyed the Gartner ITOSS Conferences in Spain and Orlando. My ultimate favorite was the DevOpsDays Conference in Istanbul. The upcoming DevOps Industry Awards Gala in London looks to be an excellent venue to interact with the leaders in DevOps, and I’m really looking forward to conversations ahead. Q: If you had to explain the concept of DevOps to a child, what would you say? WGP: DevOps to a child would be similar to allowing ALL kids to play in the sandbox without causing fights! It helps to allow kids to work together as they play and have fun. Q: What is one piece of career advice you would love to give yourself 20 years ago? WGP:** Pace yourself! This is a marathon and not a sprint! Believe in yourself and know that your greatest impact will be through helping others to achieve their goals. Selflessness and teamworkare virtues to live by. Q: What are your favorite sources for learning today, related to DevOps transformations? WGP:1. Helping companies actually accomplish their DevOps transformations in REAL time; 2. Attending conferences (like the one we co-founded with Gene Kim - DevOps Enterprise Summit) to hear from teams who have implemented DevOps; 3. Reading blogs, articles and LinkedIn posts on DevOps transformations that have taken place. Q: What activity gets you the most energized at an industry conference today? WGP:** Being on the ballroom floor as a software vendor when the conference session lets out and the audience comes in droves to hear what you can do and how you do it! I enjoy being able to strategize on how we (CloudBees) don’t just sell software, but we partner and collaborate as Thought Leaders on how to transform the business. Q: How have mainstream stories of security breaches affected the way you and your organizations work? WGP:For me, this is one of the reasons why CloudBees has partnered with John Willis to run the DevSecOps Workshop. We hear of so many security breaches and security vulnerabilities that are taking place frequently. It is time to shift left with security and ensure that we have not only quality software, but secure software as well. Q: How do we get people outside of the tech organization to not just participate in the DevOps journey, but be active leaders in it as well? WGP:** We need to ensure that all parts of the enterprise/organization are equally involved and aware of the company’s commitment to DevOps. Getting HR, Finance and Business Owners involved in the DevOps journey is just as critical as Developers, QA and IT Operations. I would highly suggest having company meetups and software symposium’s where various parts of the organization not currently in the DevOps journey are actively invited to share and participate in how the company is transforming its software practices and culture. Q: What is one skill others can’t live without when helping to lead an IT transformation journey?** WGP:I have several answers for this question, most notably: Patience, Teamwork, Selflessness and Focus. Thanks to the DevOps Industry Awards judges for recognizing CloudBees as a finalist for Leading DevOps Vendor. We’re looking forward to attending the event and sharing the final results on October 16 – best of luck to all the finalists!