@stevefenton.co.uk
🧷 Software Punk 🐙 Swabbie / Octonaut at #OctopusDeploy ✂️ Yak Stylist 🔬 DORA Community Guide 🛡 Deputy Head Boy (BPCS) 🏆 Microsoft MVP 🔁 #ContinuousDelivery and #DevOps 👟 #Agile #Lean and #PlatformEngineering 🧠 Opinions were implanted by smarter people
#Development #Comics
The one true way · What’s the best architecture for software? ilo.im/169rwu by Steve Fenton
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#Debates #Software #Monoliths #Microservices #DevOps #WebDev #Backend
Octopus Deploy dashboard showing an in flight deployment after 8 PM on Friday.
Deploy on Friday...
... night...
... from the train home!
what the fuck is going on in Sam Altman’s head
Steve Fenton is wearing a CI/CD t-shirt and DORA jacket in front of the Everyman in London's Canary Wharf. The red neon sign and cinema signage is visible in the background.
Getting ready for DevOps Not Dead in London. It's a day packed full of content and I'm really looking forward to sharing my talk on the simple engine that powers #DevOps.
An Octopus arm forms a DevOps loop, with people sitting on the soft surface to collaborate on their work.
In the second episode of #ContinuousDelivery Office Hours, we looked at how you keep your software deployable at all times. I wrote up some notes on the awkward silence, the manual testing problem, how to tackle older code, and why automation becomes living documentation.
octopus.com/blog/con...
Adley is cleaning the house and needs to vacuum the carpet. "The vacuum cleaner won't switch on?!" Adley says while flicking the switch. Click! Click! Blake sits at a computer. A notification pops up. "Time for my Zoom call," Blake says and launches the call. Suddenly, there's an "Aha" and Adley's vacuum cleaner whirs into life, just as Blake connects.
Meanwhile in DevOps No.61
The two person rule.
#Remote #RemoteLife
Building trust from source to ship: The missing link in your golden path. Sign up to join us on March 11, 2026.
Don't forget to join us on March 11, 2026, for a crucial #PlatformEngineering discussion trustworthy paths to production.
Register here:
cloudsmith.com/event...
A chart shows a large bar for the 96% of developers don't fully trust the AI-generated code is functionally correct. This is compared to a smaller bar showing that 48% of developers always check the generated code.
"While 96% of developers don’t fully trust AI-generated code to be functionally correct, only 48% say they always check it before committing."
What is the expectation of those who don't fully trust it and don't check it?
Source: Sonar's State of Code Developer Survey.
I'm going to do a short, sharp, and exclusive keynote at #ArgoCon where I'll share never before seen data on ArgoCD vs the world. It's a view over data from the State of GitOps report and nobody in the world has seen this!
See you there, Argonauts!
Vendors are desperately slapping AI labels onto their tools to keep the hype cycle going, but AI is absolutely not the end of DevOps.
Steve Fenton and Richard Simon at Tech Show London at the Excel. The Octopus Deploy booth is in the background.
Look who I bumped into at #DevOpsLive - Richard Simon, the Cloud Therapist.
You can get a quick tour of the whole of Tech Show London from the Cloud Therapist channel if you missed out.
www.youtube.com/watc...
Doug is visiting the development team. His mood is as flat as the clipboard he perpetually wields, and it’s infectious. “We got your request for additional monitors,” Doug tells the team. “We value productivity…” The team starts to get a little excited. Will they finally have enough screen space to see multiple apps at once? “…so,” Doug continues. “We replaced all your keyboards with Dvorak layouts!” “UGJT RUU,” exclaims Blake.
Meanwhile in DevOps No.60
Standardized productivity.
#DevOps #Productivity #Dvorak
Steve Fenton presenting in the DevOps Live Keynote Theater. The slide in the background is showing the GAME OVER spiral as Steve waves his arms around.
Thank you to everyone who made the time to come to my #DevOps talk today. You knew all the answers to the computer game questions, you laughed at all the right moments, and you made the Q&A perfectly fascinating!
According to data collected by DORA (DevOps Research & Assessment), some teams are "Elite" - shipping many times a day, while others are "Low-performing" - shipping < once a month
But some teams aren't shipping *at all*. I propose a new level just for them
codemanship.wordpress.com/2026/03/04/a...
🤔 Do you really need Kubernetes?
You’ve probably heard the arguments:
“It’s too complex.”
“It’s overkill.”
“It’s only for huge companies.”
We’re breaking down those myths and talking about why Kubernetes is often the right choice.
Join us 👉 linkedin.com/events/74319...
An 8-bit gaming graphic of a flaming circle made from four arrows. Inside the circle is the text "the game over spiral".
I hope everyone is ready for DevOps Live tomorrow.
I'll see you at 2:30 pm in the DevOps Keynote Theatre to talk about the GAME OVER spiral during my talk "What if DevOps was really simple?'
#DevOps #DevOpsLive
We have just released the AI Pulse report, focusing on AI capabilities, hiring trends, and what this could mean for software development.
A key finding:
- Top-performing organizations strengthen their underlying infrastructure before adopting AI tools.
👉Full report here:
The first, most critical step in transitioning to AI-assisted software development's to ESTABLISH YOUR BASELINE:
* Deployment frequency
* Lead time for changes
* Change failure rate
* Failure recovery time
If AI makes them go in the wrong direction, STOP USING IT and address your bottlenecks.
I've rejected a few of those PRs!
It's 2023. Arlo is sitting next to Ellis in the office. "Code complete!" Arlo exclaims after finishing a code change. "No way," exclaims Ellis. "We can't trust you to make a change without code review, security scan, and design review." It's 2026. Codebot is sitting next to Ellis in the office. "Kode complee," Codebot emits in an electronic voice. Ellis replies: "Cool!"
Meanwhile in DevOps No.59
We didn't trust humans.
The command bridge of HMS Belfast with views of London
What an amazing day of Platform Engineering conversations on HMS Belfast in London.
Thank you to Octopus Deploy and Cloudsmith for putting the event on, Jennifer Riggins for hosting, and everyone for the great discussion!
Get to know Luke Philips! The CD Foundation has published a Continuous Spotlight on Luke and his contributions to CDEvents, GitOps, and Argo CD. What a legend!
We just published the 2026 AI Pulse Report to look beyond productivity and examine flow, hiring trends, and long-term capability.
Check it out!
octopus.com/publications...
A giant tech CEO is delivering a keynote on a large stage, with a huge video wall showcasing their latest product launch, Tech Phone. “Tech Phone?” An audience member heckles. “What a joke!” Fast forward a few years, and the giant tech company has a new CEO delivering a plea to everyone to stop calling AI output “slop”. The audience member from the original conference reflects for a moment before saying, “Show me that Tech Phone again!”
Meanwhile in DevOps No.58
In retrospect...
Teams are more successful with tools that scale software development (like #AI) if they have Continuous Delivery practices in place.
The Nyquist-Shannon Sampling Theorem is a clever lens to look at our rate of code production!
Check out Dave Farley's explanation on the Modern Software Engineering channel.
www.youtube.com/watc...
#AI #CICD
Simone Casciaroll, Ryn Daniels, Steve Fenton, and Francine Pilot having a discussion on software delivery, feedback loops, and sandwiches.
If you missed the LeadDev panel discussion, "why good teams rely on bad workarounds", you can go and watch the on-demand recording here.
You'll find out more about...
1. Software delivery
2. Feedback loops
3. Sandwiches and Burritos
leaddev.com/event/wh...
If you upgrade your handsaw to a table saw, is safety more important, about the same, or less important?
Okay, let's try this again in a more sensible way.
Software devs and engineering leaders, in your estimation, does AI-assisted and agentic coding make engineering discipline:
* More important than before (Boost)
* As important as before (Like)
* Less important than before (Bookmark)
