Why You Can't Buy Cloud Native

The virtual shelves are filled to bursting with cloud native technologies; containers, runtimes, CI pipelines, observability tools. The more an organisation buys, the more cloud native it is, right? And the more network communication an app involves, the more cloud native it is, right? Well, not so much. It turns out cloud native is about how you deliver software, not the tools you use. This talk explains these often-overlooked elements for cloud native success:

- Figuring out what problem we’re trying to solve
- Releasing
- Testing, but not the way you’re used to

Transcript

1. 
   
   
   
   Holly Cummins
   
   
   Red Hat
   
   
   @holly_cummins
   #JBCNConf
   why you can’t buy
   
   
   cloud native
   

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2. @holly_cummins
   #JBCNConf
   

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3. @holly_cummins
   #JBCNConf
   

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4. @holly_cummins
   #JBCNConf
   let’s install it!
   

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5. @holly_cummins
   #JBCNConf
   let’s install it!
   where do I download it?
   

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6. @holly_cummins
   #JBCNConf
   

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7. @holly_cummins
   #JBCNConf
   yes, there is
   some irony
   Buy Quarkus!
   Quarkus helps you be
   cloud native!
   

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8. @holly_cummins
   #JBCNConf
   quarkus makes your cloud cloudier
   

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9. @holly_cummins
   #JBCNConf
   quarkus makes your cloud cloudier
   

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10. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    did I mention quarkus
    saves cloud costs?
    

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11. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    did I mention quarkus also
    makes developers happier?
    

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12. what are we
    even trying to
    buy?
    

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13. what are we
    even trying to
    buy?
    

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14. Kubernetes
    
    
    what are we
    even trying to
    buy?
    

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15. Kubernetes
    
    
    what are we
    even trying to
    buy?
    Micro
    
    
    services
    

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16. Kubernetes
    
    
    what are we
    even trying to
    buy?
    Micro
    
    
    services
    Born
    
    
    on the Cloud
    

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17. Kubernetes
    
    
    what are we
    even trying to
    buy?
    Micro
    
    
    services
    Born
    
    
    on the Cloud
    DevOps
    
    
    but make it 2021
    
    
    

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18. Kubernetes
    
    
    what are we
    even trying to
    buy?
    Micro
    
    
    services
    Born
    
    
    on the Cloud
    12-factor
    
    
    DevOps
    
    
    but make it 2021
    
    
    

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19. Kubernetes
    
    
    what are we
    even trying to
    buy?
    Micro
    
    
    services
    Born
    
    
    on the Cloud
    12-factor
    
    
    Just
    
    
    Cloud
    
    
    DevOps
    
    
    but make it 2021
    
    
    

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20. Kubernetes
    
    
    what are we
    even trying to
    buy?
    Micro
    
    
    services
    Born
    
    
    on the Cloud
    12-factor
    
    
    Just
    
    
    Cloud
    
    
    DevOps
    
    
    but make it 2021
    
    
    Modern
    
    
    and Nice
    
    
    

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21. Kubernetes
    
    
    what are we
    even trying to
    buy?
    Micro
    
    
    services
    Born
    
    
    on the Cloud
    12-factor
    
    
    Just
    
    
    Cloud
    
    
    idempotent
    
    
    DevOps
    
    
    but make it 2021
    
    
    Modern
    
    
    and Nice
    
    
    

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22. Kubernetes
    
    
    what are we
    even trying to
    buy?
    Micro
    
    
    services
    Born
    
    
    on the Cloud
    12-factor
    
    
    Just
    
    
    Cloud
    
    
    idempotent
    
    
    DevOps
    
    
    but make it 2021
    
    
    legacy app
    but on the
    cloud
    Modern
    
    
    and Nice
    
    
    

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24. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    microservices will
    make me look so
    good
    software is fashions
    

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25. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    surely no one would …
    

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26. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    surely no one would …
    

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27. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    surely no one would … oh.
    

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28. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    cv-driven
    development
    

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29. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    there’s a whole
    landscape to explore
    

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30. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    it’s not just a landscape
    
    
    it’s a catalog
    

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31. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    it’s not just a landscape
    
    
    it’s a catalog
    ooh, which ones
    shall I have?
    

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32. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    it’s not just a landscape
    
    
    it’s a catalog
    ooh, which ones
    shall I have?
    they’re all so
    shiny
    

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33. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    what problem are we
    trying to solve?
    

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34. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    “the problem I am solving is there
    are no microservices on my CV”
    

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35. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    my problem is
    there aren’t
    enough containers
    yet?
    

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36. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    my problem is
    there aren’t
    enough containers
    yet?
    

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40. Warning
    
    
    May contain
    
    
    Coupling
    
    
    Cloud native spaghetti
    
    
    Distributed monolith
    !
    

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41. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    

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42. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    distributed monolith
    

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43. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    distributed monolith
    worst of both worlds:
    
    
    no compile-time checking
    
    
    … or guaranteed function execution
    

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44. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    microservices are
    not the goal
    

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45. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    microservices are
    not the goal
    they are the means
    

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46. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    microservices are
    not the goal
    they are the means
    they are a means
    

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48. “the cloud native-ness comes from these network connections”
    

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49. “the cloud native-ness comes from these network connections”
    (no, it doesn’t!)
    

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50. the pain comes from these network connections
    

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51. remember the distributed computing fallacies?
    the pain comes from these network connections
    

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52. remember the distributed computing fallacies?
    1. The network is reliable;
    2. Latency is zero;
    3. Bandwidth is infinite;
    4. The network is secure;
    5. Topology doesn't change;
    6. There is one administrator;
    7. Transport cost is zero;
    8. The network is homogeneous.
    the pain comes from these network connections
    

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53. remember the distributed computing fallacies?
    1. The network is reliable;
    2. Latency is zero;
    3. Bandwidth is infinite;
    4. The network is secure;
    5. Topology doesn't change;
    6. There is one administrator;
    7. Transport cost is zero;
    8. The network is homogeneous.
    9. Distributed means decoupled!
    the pain comes from these network connections
    

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54. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    reasons not to do microservices
    
    
    • small team
    
    
    • not planning to release independently
    
    
    • don’t want complexity of a service mesh
    - or worse yet, rolling your own
    
    
    • domain model doesn’t split nicely
    

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55. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    “every time we change one
    microservice, another breaks”
    true story
    

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56. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    distributed != decoupled
    

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57. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    how do you know if
    you’re decoupled?
    

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58. can you deploy
    independently? v5.1.4
    v5.1.4
    v5.1.4
    v5.1.4
    

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59. can you deploy
    independently? v6.2.8
    v65.7
    v5.1.4
    v1.0.5
    

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60. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    “we made our pipeline enforce releasing
    all our microservices at the same time.”
    true story
    

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61. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    can you even
    deploy at all?
    

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62. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    can you even
    release at all?
    

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63. can you
    release often? v1.0
    v1.0
    v1.0
    v1.0
    

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64. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    deferred wiring
    a deploy is not a release
    

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65. can you
    release often? v1.0
    v2.0
    v1.0
    v1.0
    

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66. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    feature flags
    a deploy is not a release
    

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67. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    A/B testing
    
    
    canary deploys
    a deploy is not a release
    

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68. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    “we have a CI/CD”
    

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69. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    by the way, you also
    can’t buy devops
    

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70. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    (Matt was not serious, before anyone takes this out of context and decides he’s an awful person and they should hate him.)
    

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71. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    if you only want a small amount of devops …
    

    you can’t buy a devop
    

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72. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    CI/CD is something you do
    
    
    not a tool you buy
    

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73. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    “i’ll merge my branch
    into our CI next week”
    

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74. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    “CI/CD … CI/CD … CI/CD …
    
    
    we release every six months …
    
    
    CI/CD …. ”
    

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75. @holly_cummins
    #JBCNConf
    continuous.
    
    
    I do not think that word means
    what you think it means.
    

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76. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    “we’re going too slowly.
    
    
    we need to get rid of COBOL
    and make microservices!”
    true story
    

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77. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    “we’re going too slowly.
    
    
    we need to get rid of COBOL
    and make microservices!”
    “… but our release board
    only meets twice a year.”
    true story
    

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78. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    “we can’t actually release a
    microservice without the
    release board and all the other
    microservices need to be
    released at the same time and the
    manual QA cycle and the release
    checklist and the incantations and the
    death march and the sacrificing a goat and
    the spreadsheet and the moon being in the right
    phase and…”
    

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79. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    releases are like brushing your teeth:
    
    
    if it hurts do it more often
    

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80. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    “we can’t ship until we
    have more confidence
    in the quality”
    

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81. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    “our tests aren’t automated”
    

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82. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    “we don’t know if
    our system works”
    

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83. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    if you’re going to be spaghetti, at
    least be tested spaghetti
    
    
    

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84. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    

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85. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    … and use contract tests
    

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86. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    … and use contract tests
    seriously, use contract tests
    

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87. @holly_cummins
    #RedHat
    “we can’t release because
    we don’t seem to be able to
    actually change things”
    

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88. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    the enterprise hairball
    why change is hard:
    

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89. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    our layer
    
    
    (“business logic”)
    

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90. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    our layer
    
    
    (“business logic”)
    

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91. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    database layer
    
    
    our layer
    
    
    (“business logic”)
    

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92. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    database layer
    
    
    front-end layer
    
    
    our layer
    
    
    (“business logic”)
    

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93. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    integration layer
    
    
    (“panicked sandwich”)
    database layer
    
    
    front-end layer
    
    
    our layer
    
    
    (“business logic”)
    

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94. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    integration layer
    
    
    (“panicked sandwich”)
    database layer
    
    
    front-end layer
    
    
    our layer
    
    
    (“business logic”)
    we
    can’t make progress
    because we need a
    change to the
    database
    

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95. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    integration layer
    
    
    (“panicked sandwich”)
    database layer
    
    
    front-end layer
    
    
    our layer
    
    
    (“business logic”)
    we
    can’t make progress
    because we need a
    change to the
    database
    

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96. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    integration layer
    
    
    (“panicked sandwich”)
    database layer
    
    
    front-end layer
    
    
    our layer
    
    
    (“business logic”)
    oh wait …
    
    
    every change needs a
    front-end change too
    we
    can’t make progress
    because we need a
    change to the
    database
    

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97. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    integration layer
    
    
    (“panicked sandwich”)
    database layer
    
    
    front-end layer
    
    
    our layer
    
    
    (“business logic”)
    oh wait …
    
    
    every change needs a
    front-end change too
    we
    can’t make progress
    because we need a
    change to the
    database
    

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98. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    integration layer
    
    
    (“panicked sandwich”)
    database layer
    
    
    front-end layer
    
    
    our layer
    
    
    (“business logic”)
    oh wait …
    
    
    every change needs a
    front-end change too
    uh…
    we can’t release our
    cool new stuff because we’re
    dependent on a change in
    the integration layer
    we
    can’t make progress
    because we need a
    change to the
    database
    

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99. @holly_cummins #RedHat
    integration layer
    
    
    (“panicked sandwich”)
    database layer
    
    
    front-end layer
    
    
    our layer
    
    
    (“business logic”)
    oh wait …
    
    
    every change needs a
    front-end change too
    uh…
    we can’t release our
    cool new stuff because we’re
    dependent on a change in
    the integration layer
    we
    can’t make progress
    because we need a
    change to the
    database
    what are that ^&!
    *(&!! integration team even
    doing with their time?
    

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100. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     integration layer
     
     
     (“panicked sandwich”)
     database layer
     
     
     front-end layer
     
     
     our layer
     
     
     (“business logic”)
     oh wait …
     
     
     every change needs a
     front-end change too
     uh…
     we can’t release our
     cool new stuff because we’re
     dependent on a change in
     the integration layer
     we
     can’t make progress
     because we need a
     change to the
     database
     what are that ^&!
     *(&!! integration team even
     doing with their time?
     

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101. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     a new approach to ops
     

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102. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     SRE
     

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103. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     a new approach to risk
     

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104. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     de-risk through
     automation, not paperwork
     

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105. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     

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106. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     old-style governance
     isn’t going to work
     

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107. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     “this provisioning
     software is broken”
     

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108. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     what we sold
     “this provisioning
     software is broken”
     10 minute
     provision-time
     

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109. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     what we sold
     “this provisioning
     software is broken”
     10 minute
     provision-time
     3 month
     provision-
     time
     what the
     client
     thought
     they’d got
     

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110. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     what we sold
     “this provisioning
     software is broken”
     10 minute
     provision-time
     3 month
     provision-
     time
     what the
     client
     thought
     they’d got
     the reason
     84-step
     
     
     pre-approval process
     

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111. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     one thing you can buy
     

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112. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     one thing you can buy
     

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113. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     one thing you can buy
     

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114. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     you may not want all
     the cloud you bought
     

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115. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     you may not want all
     the cloud you bought
     

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116. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     Hey boss, I created a
     Kubernetes cluster.
     true story, unfortunately
     me
     

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117. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     Hey boss, I created a
     Kubernetes cluster.
     I forgot it for 2
     months.
     true story, unfortunately
     me
     

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118. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     Hey boss, I created a
     Kubernetes cluster.
     I forgot it for 2
     months.
     … and it’s £1000 a
     month.
     true story, unfortunately
     me
     

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119. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     

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120. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     

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121. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     $11,448.30
     

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122. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     uh…
     why are our cloud
     bills so large? what is all
     this stuff?
     mystery money pit
     

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123. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     

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124. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     

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125. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     cost is now an
     engineering concern
     

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126. @holly_cummins
     #JBCNConf
     FinOps
     

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127. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     getting it
     right
     

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128. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     tangibile-ness
     

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129. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     cncf-listed products
     tangibile-ness
     

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130. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     cncf-listed products
     cloud native architecture
     tangibile-ness
     

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131. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     cncf-listed products
     cloud native architecture
     cloud native operations
     tangibile-ness
     

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132. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     cncf-listed products
     cloud native architecture
     cloud native operations
     cloud native business drivers
     tangibile-ness
     

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133. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     cncf-listed products
     cloud native architecture
     cloud native operations
     cloud native business drivers
     tangibile-ness
     

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134. @holly_cummins #RedHat
     cncf-listed products
     cloud native architecture
     cloud native operations
     cloud native business drivers
     culture
     tangibile-ness
     

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135. ®
     thank you
     
     
     @holly_cummins
     

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