The Independent IT Influencer Event
Event: Mobility Field Day 12
Appearance: Cisco Presents at Mobility Field Day 12
Company: Cisco
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Personnel: Ameya Ahir, Nicholas Swiatecki
Wi-Fi 7 from Cisco is here! Get an overview of not only the APs that are now fully unified, but also insights into client ecosystem readiness and pitfalls. Cisco furthermore explores the real world impliciations of deploying a Wi-Fi 7 network, and how you can prepare for it.
Event: AppDev Field Day 2
Appearance: Introducing Codiac at AppDev Field Day 2
Company: Codiac
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Personnel: Michael Levan
Michael Levan demonstrated the Codiac Value-Driven Engineering Platform, focusing on simplifying the deployment and management of applications across Kubernetes clusters. Levan emphasized the challenges developers face when dealing with infrastructure and configuration management, particularly the repetitive nature of writing YAML or Infrastructure as Code (IAC) configurations. He highlighted how Codiac addresses these pain points by allowing users to deploy applications without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. Through a drag-and-drop interface, users can deploy containerized applications, such as a Go web app, without needing to manually manage Kubernetes manifests or other complex configurations. The platform abstracts much of the infrastructure management, making it easier for developers to focus on their applications rather than the environment they are running in.
Levan also demonstrated how Codiac allows for dynamic configuration management across different environments, such as development, staging, and production. Users can easily adjust parameters like replica counts for different environments without needing to maintain multiple Kubernetes manifests or use tools like Helm or Kustomize. The platform provides a central configuration system that can be modified per environment or per “cabinet,” which Levan likened to a Linux namespace or a mini-environment. This flexibility allows for more efficient application management, as users can make changes to configurations and redeploy applications either through the graphical interface or via the command line interface.
Additionally, Levan introduced the concept of “snapshots” within Codiac, which allows users to capture the state of their application stacks and easily redeploy them across different environments or clusters. This feature is particularly useful for scenarios like blue-green or canary deployments, where different versions of an application need to be tested or rolled out incrementally. The platform also supports cluster migrations, enabling users to move applications between clusters with minimal effort. Codiac abstracts much of the complexity of managing Kubernetes clusters, allowing developers to treat clusters as ephemeral resources that can be easily replaced or upgraded without manual intervention. Overall, the platform aims to streamline the deployment process, reduce the need for manual configuration, and provide a more efficient way to manage applications across multiple environments.
Event: AppDev Field Day 2
Appearance: Introducing Codiac at AppDev Field Day 2
Company: Codiac
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Personnel: Mark Freydl
Mark Freydl, CEO and Co-Founder, introduces Codiac, a platform designed to streamline the build and release process for SREs and development teams by addressing the friction and complexity that often arise in modern DevOps workflows. The platform focuses on simplifying the communication and coordination between different team members involved in the software development lifecycle (SDLC). By providing a common language and intuitive interface, Codiac aims to reduce the manual overhead and miscommunication that can occur when managing infrastructure and deployments. The platform offers both a CLI and GUI, allowing users to interact with it in various ways, whether through a browser, console, or pipeline, ensuring that all team members, from developers to project managers, can understand and contribute to the process.
One of the key features of Codiac is its “build once, configure on deploy” approach, which allows teams to build a container once and then configure it dynamically as it moves through different environments, such as development, QA, and production. This eliminates the need for manual configuration changes and reduces the risk of errors during deployment. The platform also supports snapshot deployments, where multiple services can be deployed together as a collective version, ensuring consistency across environments. Additionally, Codiac automates tasks like ingress management and environment scaling, further reducing the burden on SREs and allowing them to focus on higher-level discussions around performance and utilization rather than getting bogged down in the minutiae of YAML files and configuration management.
The motivation behind Codiac stems from the founders’ frustration with the growing complexity of modern infrastructure and the inefficiencies it creates for development teams. They recognized that while tools like Kubernetes offer powerful capabilities, they also introduce significant overhead, making it difficult for teams to move quickly and efficiently. By abstracting away much of the complexity and providing a more user-friendly interface, Codiac enables teams to focus on delivering value to the business rather than getting stuck in the technical weeds. The platform is designed to be extensible and adaptable to different workflows, making it a valuable tool for organizations looking to improve their DevOps processes and reduce the friction that often accompanies large-scale software development.
Event: AppDev Field Day 2
Appearance: Heroku Presents at AppDev Field Day 2
Company: Heroku
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Personnel: Chris Peterson
In this presentation, Chris Peterson, Senior Director of Product Management at Heroku, discusses the future of Heroku and its foundational principles, particularly the 12-Factor App Manifesto. This manifesto, created by Heroku co-founder Adam Wiggins, outlines best practices for building scalable and maintainable applications. These principles have guided Heroku’s development, ensuring that apps built on the platform can scale horizontally and integrate seamlessly with services like databases through environment variables. Heroku is now revisiting and modernizing the 12-Factor App Manifesto to address contemporary needs such as app identity, logging, and telemetry, and is actively seeking feedback from the developer community through open-source discussions.
Peterson also highlights recent advancements in Heroku’s scalability and language support. In 2024, Heroku introduced new features to ensure that customers can scale both horizontally and vertically, offering larger dynos with up to 128GB of memory and smaller options for enterprise customers. The platform has also modernized its language support, adding faster package managers like PNPM and new tools like Poetry for Python. Additionally, Heroku has expanded its Postgres offerings, providing larger database plans and new versions to accommodate growing customer needs. The platform has also integrated with other Salesforce services, such as Mulesoft Flex Gateway, to enhance API management and security within private spaces.
Looking ahead, Heroku is focusing on enhanced networking, including HTTP2 and HTTP3 support, and expanding its language ecosystem with the addition of .NET support. The platform is also working on deeper integrations with Salesforce through event-driven and API-driven solutions, allowing developers to easily connect Heroku apps with Salesforce events and APIs. Heroku is also embracing open standards, particularly in the Kubernetes ecosystem, and is collaborating with AWS to leverage new services and technologies. These efforts are part of a broader strategy to re-platform Heroku and refresh its core values, ensuring it remains a leading platform for developers in the cloud-native era.
Event: AppDev Field Day 2
Appearance: Heroku Presents at AppDev Field Day 2
Company: Heroku
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Personnel: Julián Duque
In this presentation, Julián Duque, Principal Developer Advocate at Heroku, demonstrates how developers can build, deploy, and scale applications using the Heroku platform. He introduces a fictitious company, Lumina Solar, which offers solar energy solutions and uses Heroku to manage its web applications. The architecture of Lumina Solar’s system is divided into two environments: staging for testing and production for live services. The application is split into two parts: an API connected to backend services and a UI built with modern web technologies like React and Node.js. Julián walks through the process of deploying the UI to Heroku’s Common Runtime using the Heroku dashboard, showing how developers can connect their GitHub repositories, set up automatic deployments, and manage scaling options for their applications.
Julián also explains the concept of “dynos,” which are the computational units where Heroku applications run. He demonstrates how to scale applications both vertically and horizontally, depending on the needs of the app, and introduces auto-scaling features that allow applications to automatically adjust based on traffic. This is particularly useful for handling high-traffic events like Black Friday sales. He also highlights Heroku’s built-in metrics dashboard, which provides insights into memory usage, response times, and other performance indicators. Developers can set up alerts for issues like failed requests or high response times, and these notifications can be sent to team members to ensure quick responses to potential problems.
The presentation also covers Heroku’s managed data services, such as Heroku Postgres, and how developers can easily provision databases for their applications. Julián demonstrates how to integrate third-party services like Papertrail for logging and Heroku Connect for syncing data between Heroku and Salesforce. He also touches on enterprise features like Private Spaces and Shield, which offer enhanced security and compliance for applications that need to meet standards like HIPAA or PCI. Finally, Julián shows how developers can use the Heroku CLI for managing applications, scaling, and deploying code, providing a flexible and powerful tool for those who prefer working in a terminal environment.
Event: AppDev Field Day 2
Appearance: Heroku Presents at AppDev Field Day 2
Company: Heroku
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Personnel: Adam Zimman, Betty Junod
Heroku, a platform as a service (PaaS) provider, has been a pioneer in simplifying the process of building, deploying, and scaling applications. The platform allows developers to focus on their core tasks—coming up with ideas and writing code—while Heroku handles the complexities of infrastructure management. By abstracting away the need to manage servers, databases, and other backend components, Heroku enables developers to bring their applications to market faster and with less effort. This is particularly beneficial for enterprises that need to manage updates, security patches, and scaling without getting bogged down by the intricacies of cloud infrastructure. Heroku’s opinionated system provides a streamlined developer experience, allowing teams to focus on innovation rather than the “plumbing” of their applications.
As part of Salesforce, Heroku offers deep integrations with the Salesforce ecosystem, making it easier for businesses to extend their Salesforce applications and deliver seamless customer experiences. The platform is also a valuable tool for enterprises looking to migrate workloads to the cloud without having to navigate the complexities of services like AWS. Heroku simplifies this process by offering a set of primitives that handle the heavy lifting, allowing companies to focus on their core business functions. The platform has been widely adopted across various industries, including finance, retail, healthcare, and automotive, with major companies like T-Mobile and Live Nation relying on Heroku to scale their operations.
Heroku’s value proposition is evident in its ability to increase developer productivity, reduce DevOps costs, and provide a strong return on investment. The platform has supported over 13 million apps and handles more than 60 billion requests per day, demonstrating its reliability and scalability. Customer success stories, such as Health Sherpa and Leather Spa, highlight how Heroku can cater to both large enterprises and small businesses. Health Sherpa, for instance, was able to handle massive traffic spikes during open enrollment for health insurance, while Leather Spa, a single-developer operation, saw significant improvements in sales and operational efficiency. Heroku’s ability to “just work,” much like electricity from a socket, allows businesses to focus on what truly differentiates them in the market, leaving the infrastructure management to Heroku.
Introduced by Betty Junod, CMO and SVP, and presented by Adam Zimman, Sr. Director, Product Marketing, Heroku from Salesforce
Event: AppDev Field Day 2
Appearance: SOUTHWORKS Presents at AppDev Field Day 2
Company: SOUTHWORKS
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Personnel: Johnny Halife
In this presentation, Johnny Halife, CTO of SOUTHWORKS, discusses the company’s approach to leveraging multi-cloud technologies and the importance of being cloud-agnostic. He emphasizes that the cloud landscape is no longer about choosing between AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, but rather about integrating services across multiple providers to offer interoperability. SOUTHWORKS aims to build bridges between different cloud platforms, allowing clients to take advantage of the best offerings from each provider. This approach is driven by both technical and non-technical factors, such as market trends and business needs, which may require companies to switch cloud providers for reasons unrelated to the quality of the service itself. SOUTHWORKS positions itself as a partner that can work with all major cloud platforms, offering flexibility and resilience to its clients.
Halife also highlights the importance of understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each cloud provider. SOUTHWORKS maintains strong partnerships with AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, and its team is well-versed in the specific technologies and terminologies of each platform. This knowledge allows the company to advise clients on the best migration strategies and to help them navigate the complexities of moving between clouds. SOUTHWORKS prides itself on being transparent with its clients, offering them a range of options and ensuring that they are not locked into a single cloud provider. The company’s cloud-agnostic approach is a key part of its value proposition, enabling it to provide agile and flexible solutions that meet the evolving needs of its clients.
Finally, Halife touches on the role of Kubernetes in achieving cloud standardization, noting that while Kubernetes is a good starting point, it is not a complete solution. He explains that while containerization allows for some level of portability across clouds, there is still a need for more advanced tools and abstractions to fully take advantage of cloud-native services. SOUTHWORKS is actively involved in contributing to open-source projects that aim to fill these gaps, such as Terraform and Carpenter. The company’s commitment to multi-cloud solutions is reflected in its day-to-day operations and its development philosophy, which focuses on providing short-term, hands-on support to help clients achieve their goals quickly and efficiently.
Event: AppDev Field Day 2
Appearance: SOUTHWORKS Presents at AppDev Field Day 2
Company: SOUTHWORKS
Video Links:
Personnel: Johnny Halife
In this presentation, Johnny Halife, CTO of SOUTHWORKS, discusses the company’s approach to cloud migrations and multi-cloud scenarios, focusing on how they help clients transition from traditional infrastructure to SaaS models. One of the key examples he provides is a customer who initially deployed VMs on customer subscriptions but wanted to shift to a SaaS model to reduce infrastructure costs and management overhead. SOUTHWORKS helped by containerizing workloads, leveraging Kubernetes, and using tools like Crossplane and Argo to manage multi-tenancy and compliance. The project was completed in nine months with three squads, allowing the customer to accelerate their time to market and reskill their workforce in cloud-agnostic technologies like Kubernetes, rather than being tied to specific cloud providers.
Another case involved a large-scale migration and modernization project for a company with 250 accounts and 100 teams across five regions. The company had acquired multiple businesses without integrating their technologies, leading to a complex infrastructure spread across various cloud providers. SOUTHWORKS created a blueprint using Terraform to streamline operations, prioritize managed resources, and ensure zero downtime during the migration. They also implemented a virtual network that connected data centers globally, allowing for seamless workload movement and high availability. The project took 14 months and involved 15 SOUTHWORKS engineers working alongside 30 client engineers, with a focus on creating a unified security and deployment strategy across the organization.
Throughout the presentation, Halife emphasizes the importance of flexibility, cloud-agnostic design, and the ability to scale rapidly. He discusses how SOUTHWORKS helps clients balance the use of advanced cloud services while maintaining the flexibility to move between providers. By creating abstraction layers and leveraging open-source tools, SOUTHWORKS enables clients to tap into the best features of each cloud provider without being locked in. Halife also highlights the importance of teaching clients to “fish” by integrating their teams into the process, ensuring they can maintain and evolve their infrastructure independently after the engagement.
Event: AppDev Field Day 2
Appearance: SOUTHWORKS Presents at AppDev Field Day 2
Company: SOUTHWORKS
Video Links:
Personnel: Johnny Halife
In this presentation, Johnny Halife, CTO of SOUTHWORKS, discusses the company’s role as a technology partner, particularly in the areas of cloud migration and multi-cloud strategies. SOUTHWORKS works with technology-driven companies, including startups and ISVs, to help them accelerate their cloud adoption and optimize their infrastructure. Halife emphasizes that SOUTHWORKS is not just a system integrator but a partner that helps companies enhance their engineering capabilities and achieve their goals faster. The focus of the presentation is on sharing real-world experiences and insights from the field, particularly in the context of multi-cloud environments and cloud-native technologies.
Halife highlights the growing trend of hybrid and multi-cloud strategies, driven by factors such as customer demands, regulatory requirements, and the need for service availability across different regions. He notes that while companies initially invested heavily in mastering specific cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or GCP, they are now realizing that a single cloud provider may not be sufficient. This shift is often due to factors like data residency requirements, security concerns, and the need for edge computing to reduce latency and improve performance. Additionally, there is increasing pressure to optimize workloads using AI and other technologies to manage the complexity of multi-cloud environments more efficiently.
The presentation also touches on the benefits of modernizing cloud strategies, which often result in a “virtuous circle” of improvements. By simplifying management and optimizing workloads, companies can reduce costs, improve performance, and create new revenue streams. Halife shares examples of how SOUTHWORKS has helped clients navigate cloud-to-cloud migrations, transition from on-premise to cloud, and even shift business models from traditional licensing to SaaS offerings. These real-world examples demonstrate the value of multi-cloud strategies and the positive outcomes that can be achieved, even when the initial transition may seem challenging.
Event: Networking Field Day 36
Appearance: Introducing Aviz Networks at Networking Field Day 36
Company: Aviz Networks
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Personnel: Atsuhiro Aiyama
Japan’s telcos face unique challenges in delivering consistent, high-quality network performance, where even minor outages require regulatory reporting. Aviz Networks, in partnership with ITOCHU Techno-Solutions America, provides a robust, open networking solution tailored to these demands. Our solution, including the Open Packet Broker and Service Nodes, ensures seamless 5G data analysis, subscriber-aware insights, and vendor-agnostic flexibility. By leveraging centralized management, AI-driven analytics, and open-source technology, Aviz enables Japanese telcos to meet strict quality standards while optimizing cost and operational efficiency.
Event: Networking Field Day 36
Appearance: Introducing Aviz Networks at Networking Field Day 36
Company: Aviz Networks
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Personnel: Chid Perumal, Ilona Gabinsky
At Aviz Networks, open-source is at the heart of everything we do. In this presentation, Ilona Gabinsky will dive into our vendor-agnostic AI Networking Stack, built to empower enterprises with flexible, AI-ready solutions that seamlessly support both modern and legacy workloads. From our work with SONiC to integrating open-source LLMs, we’re redefining network infrastructure for agility and performance.
Then, Aviz Networks’ CTO will introduce our advanced Service Nodes, a game-changer in deep observability for telecom and enterprise environments. Our Service Nodes enable real-time visibility, packet processing, and high-speed data insights, powered by AI to meet the demands of modern 4G and 5G networks. Key capabilities include GTP-C/U correlation for user-specific insights, seamless mobile handover management, application identification through advanced DPI, and high availability with unified fabric management.
Leveraging AI integration with NVIDIA Morpheus, our Service Nodes provide granular, subscriber-aware analytics that drive smarter decisions, enhanced security, and optimized network performance. Discover how Aviz Networks is setting new standards in intelligent network observability.
Event: Networking Field Day 36
Appearance: Meter Presents at Networking Field Day 36
Company: Meter
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Personnel: Anil Varanasi, Sunil Varanasi
Meter provides internet infrastructure for the enterprise.
This hands-on session, led by Meter Co-founder and CTO, Sunil Varanasi, brings Meter’s product to life.
With a live demonstration of bringing a network up from 0 to 1, Sunil will show you how Meter’s vertically integrated stack delivers immediate results. This demo will showcase Meter’s end-to-end solution including our new generative UI product, Meter Command—empowering customers with deep visibility and granular control of their networks.
Event: Networking Field Day 36
Appearance: Meter Presents at Networking Field Day 36
Company: Meter
Video Links:
Personnel: Sunil Varanasi
Meter provides internet infrastructure for the enterprise.
In this session, Meter Co-founder and CTO, Sunil Varanasi will take you under the hood of Meter’s architecture, showcasing the complete stack—from hardware to software. He’ll dive into how Meter’s Network Operating System powers its entire stack, enabling rapid product innovation.
This talk examines how Meter’s network architecture is optimized for the best possible customer outcomes on performance, security, scalability, and reliability.
Event: Networking Field Day 36
Appearance: Meter Presents at Networking Field Day 36
Company: Meter
Video Links:
Personnel: Anil Varanasi
Meter provides internet infrastructure for the enterprise.
In this session, Meter Co-founder and CEO, Anil Varanasi explores the “why” behind Meter and what makes Meter different.
You’ll leave with an understanding of how Meter works, Meter’s ambitions, and why we believe it will be the last networking company.
Event: Networking Field Day 36
Appearance: PathSolutions Presents at Networking Field Day 36
Company: PathSolutions
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Personnel: Tim Titus
See a demo of PathSolutions TotalView and how it can speed troubleshooting for help desk employees. This demo discusses how the platform can conceptualize errors quickly and give you actionable information to solve these issues and reduce time spent on trouble tickets.
Event: Networking Field Day 36
Appearance: PathSolutions Presents at Networking Field Day 36
Company: PathSolutions
Video Links:
Personnel: Tim Titus
Automating network troubleshooting is something that other network monitoring systems can’t offer because they don’t collect enough information and don’t have any analytical capabilities to help solve problems. PathSolutions TotalView provides Total Network Visibility® meaning that you will know more about your network than with any other monitoring system.
Event: Networking Field Day 36
Appearance: Itential Presents at Networking Field Day 36
Company: Itential
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Personnel: Dan Sullivan
Orchestrating the provisioning of infrastructure is a key opportunity to capture and store essential data throughout the deployment process. Every time you automate provisioning, you can gather critical insights—technical details, product states, and more. However, without proper tracking and organization, it becomes challenging to understand what’s running where, its current state, or the next steps required.
In this session, Dan Sullivan, Director of Solutions Engineering, will demonstrate how to define, capture, and leverage stateful data to build and manage self-service infrastructure products. You’ll discover how Itential empowers teams to track product states over time and publish reusable workflows that developers and internal customers can access through a self-service catalog.
Event: Networking Field Day 36
Appearance: Itential Presents at Networking Field Day 36
Company: Itential
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Personnel: Rich Martin
Most network teams leverage some sort of domain-specific automation, whether through open-source tools or controller-based software to implement network changes more efficiently. While automating individual tasks may suffice in certain cases, scaling infrastructure as a product for broader consumption requires standardized processes. Orchestration unifies tools, services, and automations across your ecosystem, streamlining each step for greater efficiency and enabling the flexibility to combine automations into new, composable products.
In this session, Rich Martin, Director of Technical Marketing will demonstrate how to connect different automations and systems to orchestrate the provisioning of a new product. You’ll see how Itential integrates with everything from change management tools to documentation processes, so every automation step — from pre-checks to notifications — happens smoothly and consistently.
Event: Networking Field Day 36
Appearance: Itential Presents at Networking Field Day 36
Company: Itential
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Personnel: Wyatt Sullivan
You’ve built a library of useful automations to automate tedious, time-consuming tasks. But as your efforts scale, so do your headaches. You’ve got different scripts for different tasks, written in different languages, with varying levels of access. And when your network starts to grow (along with the complexity of what you need to automate), things start to get messy. Fast.
In this session, Wyatt Sullivan, Technical Marketing Engineer, will showcase Itential’s new Automation-as-a-Service offering and how NetDevOps engineers can standardize automation execution across Ansible Playbooks, Python Scripts and OpenTofu plans and how to enable secure authorization and role-based access control, turning automations into self-service products that teams can access and execute independently.
Event: Networking Field Day 36
Appearance: Itential Presents at Networking Field Day 36
Company: Itential
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Personnel: Peter Sprygada
Network automation is going through an evolution right now. Most network engineers have built awesome scripts or playbooks that solve some problems but you’re nowhere near deploying like AWS. For most, automation likely saves you some time and reduces human error but isn’t the sort of thing you can package up into a product and enable the rest of the organization to consume, let alone be delivered as a self-serve product for app dev teams to utilize.
In this session, Peter Sprygada, VP of Product Management will dive into making sense of the evolution of network automation and how network teams can become producers and evolve from building network automations to offering infrastructure products with Itential.
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