Cloud Talk

Automation and Security Are the Trends to Watch

December 3rd, 2020  |  Season 1  |  34 mins 2 secs

2021 predictions, technology trends

Which tech trends should you be exploring right now? Two CTOs discuss the most important tech trends for the end 2020 and early 2021, unwrapping the contents of The Rackspace Technology Trends Viewpoint e-book.

From Chatbots to Alexa: The Evolution of NLP

November 16th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  36 mins 55 secs

ai, artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing

Linguists have been analyzing language with computers for seventy years, but it’s only recently through deep learning that we are seeing the full potential of Natural Language Processing (NLP). In this episode of Cloud Talk, Jeff DeVerter is joined by three data science and AI experts to deep dive into NLP.

The Founder’s Dilemma

November 10th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  41 mins 4 secs

cloud native, cloudreach, founder, founder's series

When your company is a success, should you give up control so it can grow?
When’s the right time to sell or spin off a company? When should you embrace technology and when should you discard it? These are questions cloud-native pioneer and Cloudreach founder Pontus Noren has wrestled with during his more than 20 successful years in the industry. This latest Cloud Talk charts a journey from Swedish schooling and a love for the Commodore 64 home computer, through stints at Ericsson, Nokia and Cisco, to his defining work revolutionizing organizations by way of cloud-native tech.

Powering Developers at Every Level

November 4th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  38 mins 23 secs

low code, microsoft, no code

How can businesses drive digital transformation, reduce development costs and increase overall efficiency? Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President of Microsoft Cloud + AI, joins Jeff DeVerter on Cloud Talk, discussing the shift towards low-code technology and how it's enabling people everywhere to innovate in new ways.

The scary cybersecurity risks keeping the pros up at night

October 29th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  37 mins 40 secs

cloud security, cyber security, cybersecurity

Today’s cyberthieves aren’t the same as yesterday’s. They’ve abandoned perimeter battering rams for email phishing and compromised IoT devices. Once inside, they take what they want — usually cold, hard cash, and lots of it. In this episode of Cloud Talk, our host Jeff DeVerter and a former FBI special agent Matthew Dunn discuss new and emerging security threats and share tales of real-world cybercrimes. Hear how a $1M corporate 401(k) heist began as a phishing expedition, and how a highly secure casino was breached through an innocuous IoT device. Then learn what today’s biggest security vulnerabilities are, and how to fight back.

How We Got to AIOps

October 22nd, 2020  |  Season 1  |  45 mins 52 secs

aiops, application performance monitoring

Application performance management (APM) changed the IT industry in the mid-2000s, but AIOps transformed it even more dramatically in the mid-2010s. Will Cappelli, CTO of Moogsoft, joins host Jeff DeVerter to discuss the trajectory of AIOps and its multiple implications for today’s IT enterprises. Hear about the relatively short history of APM, and the fast-moving interconnected development of AI, the cloud, big data and IT digitization.

Machine Learning Is More than a Buzzword — but It’s Not the Answer to Every Problem

October 16th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  34 mins 36 secs

artificial intelligence, machine learning

Artificial intelligence. Machine learning. Outside of tech, these things instill anxiety, due to a lack of understanding about their implications. But those immersed in tech sometimes go overboard, infusing them into everything they do. This episode of Cloud Talk explores the many sides of machine learning: how it adds value; ethics and concerns; when it shouldn’t be used; and the kinds of projects that without machine learning just aren’t feasible.

The Road Back from Developer Burnout

October 8th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  37 mins 31 secs

burnout, developer, developer burnout, stress

Developer burnout: It’s not just a theory. It’s a reality. And it may be affecting more developers on your team than you realize. Are any of them angry? Withdrawn? Rudderless? Those are just three of the classic signs that someone is headed for a crash-and-burn. Another sign is the work itself. Are developers struggling without clear direction, boundaries on their time, recognition or a healthy work-life balance? Those are all precursors to trouble.

Managers play a critical role in taking care of their developers and preventing the slide into burnout. They can proactively communicate, give clear project direction, set clear boundaries, give recognition and promote healthy work-life balance.

In this episode of Cloud Talk, three developers who experienced burnout share their experience. Together, they provide value insight and strategies for keeping developers healthy and happy on the job.

Strengths, Not Skills, Are the Difference Makers for Winning Teams

October 1st, 2020  |  Season 1  |  42 mins 34 secs

gallup strengths, leadership, management, strengths, team building

In this episode of Cloud Talk, Kathy Kersten – the “maven of Gallup Strengths™ training” and host of the Obey your Strengths podcast – shares how leaders can harness the power of Strengths to build winning teams, via her own journey from miserable-feeling working mom to Gallup Certified Strengths™ Coach.

Founders Series: Build a Small Business, Not a Startup

September 23rd, 2020  |  Season 1  |  41 mins 38 secs

small business, startup

Shane Young grows businesses the old-fashioned way: with slow, organic growth. No loans. No seed funds. No angel investors. “You want to do something? Find a way to make the money, not borrow it,” Shane explains. This small-business mentality has served him well. In this Founders Series episode of Cloud Talk, join host Jeff DeVerter and Shane Young as they discuss their history working together, the Microsoft landscape, how PowerApps enables non-developers, and the biggest differences between operating a small business and operating a startup.

Founders don’t know everything, so build better teams for success

September 16th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  36 mins 20 secs

founder, startup, teams, technology

Building teams and finding a place where everyone fits is vital for success. In this episode of the Cloud Talk podcast, Rackspace founder Dirk Elmendorf shares his experiences about how individuals at every level can have a meaningful impact on businesses, why the best ideas don’t always arrive from obvious places, and when to know it’s time to leave a company — even if it’s one you founded.

It’s time to reclaim ‘DevOps’ for its original purpose.

September 9th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  35 mins 30 secs

agile, devops

Some tech words become buzzwords and lose their meaning. In this episode of Cloud Talk, Rackspace CTO Tolga Tarhan sets out to reclaim one such word: DevOps. In just 30 minutes, he delves into what DevOps really means, how to set your company up for success in DevOps, and the best ways to build DevOps teams.

Wishful Thinking Won’t Get People Back in the Office — but Data Science Might

September 4th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  31 mins 46 secs

covid-19, data, data science, machine learning, office reopening

When should you re-open an office in a COVID-19 world? Data can show the way. In this episode of the Cloud Talk podcast, Rackspace data scientists outline how to make data and modeling work for you, empowering your company to make better, intelligent, fact-based decisions that give people real confidence and help keep them safe.

Transformation in the City of Atlanta

August 24th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  31 mins 44 secs

cto, cyber attack, it, operations, public sector, ransomware

Tye Hayes, CTO for the City of Atlanta, joins host of Cloud Talk and fellow CTO Jeff DeVerter to talk about her fascinating journey in the City of Atlanta and give insight into what it means to be an IT leader in the public sector.

Multicloud Rises in the East

August 18th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  37 mins 11 secs

asia, gaming, multicloud, technology

The Asia, Pacific and Japan (APJ) region is a no stranger to early adoption of technology, and in recent months, the adoption of multicloud is surging. Antoine Acklin, Head of Architecture & Professional Services at Rackspace Technology APJ, joins Cloud Talk to discuss what’s happening in the region and give his advice on conducting business in that part of the world.

Founders Series: Leading through constant and unpredictable change

August 11th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  35 mins 57 secs

change, cybersecurity, founder, inspiration, leadership

How do you lead through change and keep employees and customers inspired? This episode of Cloud Talk answers these questions with plenty of great advice and anecdotes from Bret Piatt, CEO of Jungle Disk, and host Jeff DeVerter, CTO of Product & Services at Rackspace Technology.