Msp Techpod

The tech industry is booming, and there are many opportunities to transition from other career paths – or to change your path within tech. Join Head Geek™ Chrystal Taylor as she chats with tech professionals Ivan Bravo, Paul Guido, Jake Muszynski, and Marc Netterfield as they share their tech origin stories and discuss the challenges and benefits of having an unconventional background. They’ll share advice, anecdotes, and insights gained through their IT journeys and years of experience.  This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2021 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved. 

While it may not be circled in red on many people’s calendars, SysAdmin Day holds a special place in the hearts of many IT professionals. Certainly, because everyone likes to be appreciated for what they do, but more so because SysAdmin day is a chance for tech practitioners not only to recognize and celebrate, but to also shine a light on the work we do and help the next generation of technologies see how systems administration is a vibrant, relevant, and important role in every organization. In this TechPod episode, we sit down with Kimberly Deal, Jennifer Aguilar, and Tannia Rodriguez – three sysadmins who’ve taken different paths to their current role – to hear how they got to this point in their career, what being a sysadmin means to them now, and what they see on the journey ahead. This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2021 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

Automation has been a disaster for the traditional database administration (DBA) role. As more systems and processes are automated away with code, the need for DBAs decreases. In time, the role of a DBA may disappear altogether. This ongoing series will examine who DBAs are, what they do, and where they'll go once their job has been replaced by a handful of PowerShell scripts.    This episode will focus on defining the role of a DBA and discuss why they’re disappearing.  This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2021 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

CDW Technology Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer Ruben Chacon, SolarWinds® CISO and VP, Security Tim Brown, and SolarWinds Head Geek™ Thomas LaRock talk about what CISO need to know to face today’s escalating cybersecurity threats – and what it’s like to be in the “hot seat” when challenges inevitably arise.  This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2021 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

Paul Guido has worn several hats during his IT journey. But now he’s made the leap from deep-dive individual contributor to managing teams of the same kind of IT pros he was (and still is). There are lessons in that journey – not just for IT practitioners considering the next step of their career, but also managers who came to the job from a different (and non-technical) direction. We sit down with Paul to find out what insights and advice he has to help managers do a better job of leading their IT teams.  This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2021 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

Hang around with IT folks for anything longer than your typical stand-up meeting and you’re likely to hear some variation of “Managers! Am I right?” Snark aside, as folks who design, deploy, and maintain monitoring solutions, we’ve got a choice: we can continue to dismiss and diminish people who don’t know about our discipline; or we can take the time to educate and inform them.  It’s in this spirit we are building spaces—from THWACK forums to conference talks to this podcast—created geared to answering the technical questions managers—those folks who both lead and represent the boots-on-the-ground monitoring engineers—might have.   This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2021 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

What drives technology innovation?  In the second part of our conversation with Dr. Robert Metcalfe, the co-founder of Ethernet and internet pioneer explains the relationship between innovation and freedom/prosperity, the importance of fostering an environment for technology innovation, and why he’d like to be known as more than “the father of Ethernet.” This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2021 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

Dr. Robert Metcalfe is arguably one of the most influential pioneers of modern technology. In this episode of TechPod, the award-winning engineer relives the critical events that led to the invention of Ethernet and the development of Metcalfe’s Law. He also discusses the difference between invention and innovation, driving adoption of new technology, and the business landscape that helped form the internet as we know it today.  This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2021 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

The recent SUNBURST cyberattack reveals new threats to the supply chains fueling today’s businesses. SolarWinds® and FireEye have raised the alarm for leaders everywhere to reexamine their security, to prepare for threats, and to raise the standards of the supply chains on which they rely.  Join this episode of TechPod for a compelling discussion between SolarWinds President and CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna and FireEye CEO and Board Director Kevin Mandia, hosted by SolarWinds Head Geek™ Thomas LaRock. These leaders will share their unique insight into how organizations around the world should be thinking about securing their supply chains from highly sophisticated and targeted cyberattacks.  This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2021 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved. 

The recent SUNBURST cyberattack on the SolarWinds software build environment is a concerning new reality for the software industry, representing the increasingly sophisticated actions by outside nation-states on the supply chains and infrastructure on which we all rely. SolarWinds® is committed to sharing our learnings about this attack broadly given the common development practices in the industry and our belief that transparency and cooperation are our best tools to help prevent and protect against future attacks.  Join us as SolarWinds SVP, Engineering Lee McClendon, KPMG Director of Cyber Security Services Caleb Queern, and Head Geek™ Thomas LaRock discuss how SolarWinds is prioritizing security in its software build environment, and what the entire industry can learn about next-generation software development.  This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2021 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

Organizations were stopped in their tracks when the cyberattack occurred. When you’re focused on taking the right actions to protect your environment, your users, and your entire enterprise, solid counsel and assistance is critical. How do you get back to business?   Join SolarWinds® President and CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna, Head Geek™ Thomas LaRock, and our key partners Greg Fetterhoff (Monalytic) and Bill Fitzpatrick (Loop1) as they share stories from their engagements with SolarWinds customers answering the challenge of the cyberattack—and getting back to business. From U.S. governmental agencies, to the Fortune 500, and all around the globe, they’ve helped clarify the confusion and focus on the future.  Sudhakar will share an overview of the Orion® Assistance Program SolarWinds created to:  Help customers get upgraded and updated  Get professional consulting help at no cost to them  Put our customers fi

Companies must change the way they operate to combat increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks across ever-expanding attack surfaces. What we learn from one attack can help us protect against the next. Because the next attack is always on the horizon. What should you do to raise your defenses?  SolarWinds President and CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna and cybersecurity expert and Krebs Stamos Group Founding Partner Alex Stamos discuss our plan for a safer SolarWinds and customer community – grounded in principles you can follow to secure your enterprise.    Sudhakar addresses the steps SolarWinds is taking to:   Further secure our internal environment  Enhance our product development environment  Ensure the security and integrity of our software  Part of that work is drawing on the experience of cybersecurity experts like Alex – founder of the Stanford Internet Observatory, and recognized security technologist – who led security teams at Facebook and Y

The relationship IT professionals have with upgrades can sometimes only be described as “fraught.” Reasons range from the cost in terms of time and lost opportunity to “nothing in that update seems very exciting.” Of course, the benefit often exceeds the effort needed. In this episode, Head Geeks® Chrystal Taylor and Leon Adato are joined by SolarWinds® Sales Engineering Manager Mike Driskell to make the case for upgrading regularly. This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2021 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

Last month we celebrated IT Pro Day, a holiday designed to recognize tech pros and the work they do. As everyone was challenged with navigating 2020’s evolving landscape, IT pros kept users and teams afloat. Much like the changes evidenced this year, we also added a new twist to IT Pro Day’s festivities – awards! Beyond the well-deserved nominations and celebrations, we wanted to learn more about the experiences that shaped our participants. In this TechPod, SolarWinds Head Geek Liz Beavers will be joined by IT Pro Day winner, Meka Egwuekwe, IT Mentor of the Year. Listen as Liz and Meka reflect on the importance of mentorship in the IT community, how he navigated the pandemic, and the lessons he’s carrying into the future.   This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2020 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Although this adage holds much truth, it’s important to understand how it applies to the digital transformation we’ve witnessed this year.  We’re in what’s truly a new normal. In this episode, SolarWinds Vice President of Security, Tim Brown—joined by Christopher Kissel, research director, Security and Trust Products at IDC—will walk listeners through the new era, what to expect when it comes to digital shifts impacting security, and how to properly address and embrace these changes for success.  This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2020 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved. 

Every year, on the third Tuesday of September, we celebrate IT Pro Day – a day set aside to recognize all tech pros and the work they do. For some obvious reasons, this year we ran a survey to find out how IT folks are holding up. The answers we got back were by turns insightful, funny, and touching. In this episode of SolarWinds® TechPod, Head Geeks™ Chrystal Taylor, Liz Beavers, and Leon Adato look at what those answers reveal—and share some of their own thoughts about the questions as well.  This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2020 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved. 

For campus IT, “back to school” holds an entirely different meaning for the Fall 2020 semester. On this episode of SolarWinds® TechPod™, Head Geek™ Liz Beavers is joined by Jenny Reeves, operations program manager for a K-12 school in Atlanta. They’ll recount the Spring journey as schools pivoted mid-semester to virtual classrooms, applying lessons learned as many schools currently face moving targets for re-opening and/or virtual learning. Join Liz and Jenny as they help IT leaders in education navigate the new different.  This podcast is provided for informational purposes only.© 2020 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

Security operations and IT operations have a lot of differences, but more similarities than you may think, especially as their worlds are merging more quickly than ever before. This presentation will delve into research driven by in-depth conversations with professionals from both groups, examining some of the biggest challenges they see separately—and in working together more effectively. Going beyond traditional surveys, the findings will provide deeper insights into what’s needed to overcome these challenges. Supportive quantitative data will also be highlighted.   You’ll hear directly from SolarWinds® Vice President of Security, Tim Brown and IDC Research Director of Security & Trust Products, Christopher Kissel. They’ll take you through the research and leave you with some actionable steps to accelerate the transformation of your IT and security operational collaboration.  This podcast is provided fo

What do IT managers and managed service providers (MSPs) have in common? They both manage a sea of desktop devices. Join the SolarWinds MSP™ Head Nerds while they discuss the challenges and successes of deploying, managing and securing the multitude of desktop devices in various environments. This podcast is provided for informational purposes only. © 2020 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

For many people, February 2020 marked the point when everything changed: When schools, stores, religious institutions, and businesses began to shutter their physical locations and we all began grappling with ways to turn our homes into multi-purpose office, gym, schoolhouse, and pet centers. But that was then, and the challenge businesses now face is the inverse—people coming back to the office. How are organizations planning to un-ring the work-from-home bell? More to the point, how are IT departments helping their organization craft a successful Return-to-Office (RTO) plan and ensure disruption to both the business and the IT team itself is minimized.   This episode of TechPod is brought to you by the SolarWinds IT Trends Report 2020: The Universal Language of IT. Explore the priority areas tech pros manage in a world where roles have converged, and the reality of how it's affecting s