A.J. Kuftic's guest appearances

A.J. Kuftic

Nerd Journey Podcast

Blake Johnson

John White

Andrew Miller

Brad Christian

Jon Hildebrand

Ramzi Marjaba

Don Jones

Chris Wahl

Steven Murawski

Ashley Connell

Josh Duffney

Scott Lowe

Tom Hollingsworth

Brad Tompkins

Joseph Griffiths

OwlTail

Paul Woodward

Welcome to episode 40 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_), two VMware Solution Engineers who are hoping to bring you the IT career advice that we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we chat with Paul Woodward Jr. and A.J. Kuftic about the Enterprise Architect mindset and career paths. Original Recording Date: 05-14-2019 This podcast is a follow up to Episode 14 of the ExploreVM Podcast on Making the Move to Enterprise. 1:51 Business vs Technology Goals  * John points out the difference in thinking about business metrics versus technology specifications. * Major software version changes can present a valid reason to make a change (i.e. to move away from a version that is no longer supported, move to a version that is more secure and decreases risk, etc.).  * Remember that software interoperability is important.  A change to one software may require a change to one or more other products.* Paul cites understanding the presence of change control as a difference when working with larger shops compared to smaller shops.  * He points out the organizations he works with as good at detecting risk and his role as an advisor to help mitigate the risk. * A.J. had to learn to talk with people about the reasons they want to make changes within the technology environment.11:56 – The Enterprise Architect Mindset  * Would it be more difficult for someone who started in enterprise IT working in a specific administration role to get into the architect mindset than someone who worked in the SMB who planned, implemented, and supported a specific technology?  *  It depends on the person and how much they want to make the shift.  Likely the person from SMB can make the transition easier.  *  It comes back to whether you can understand the questions being asked from the business side.  *  An administrator in a large enterprise who takes the time to be curious, interacts with personnel in other departments, and gets to the root of problems can move into the architect role.  * It can’t always be fix and forget.*  The person who started in enterprise has a better understanding of how an enterprise business operates than someone moving up from the SMB would regardless of technology exposure.  *  Some factors that determine success here have to do with organizational culture and adapting to it.  * Give back to your team and to other teams in the organization.  Seek to interact with people on other teams in an intentional way. * If the organization is setup in an antagonistic way, it can affect your ability to succeed. * Culture doesn’t come from a committee.  Changes to it come from the top.25:04 – Possible Career Paths for the Enterprise Architect  * An architect from a customer may want to move to a partner to provide this role "as a service." * Once you hit a certain peak within an organization, moving out into the consulting world can make a great deal of sense to gain exposure to other environments. * Another option is to work over to VP, Director, or CIO levels.  This change is more about how you manage people than how you manage technology.  Already being able to speak the business / solution language really helps.  * A.J.

Welcome to episode 40 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [<a href="https://twitter.com/NerdJourney/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@NerdJourney</a>]! We’re <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vJourneyman/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John White</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/vJourneyman" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@vJourneyman</a>) and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickkortenetworknerd/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nick Korte</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/NetworkNerd_/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@NetworkNerd_</a>), two VMware Solution Engineers who are hoping to bring you the IT career advice that we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we chat with Paul Woodward Jr. and A.J. Kuftic about the Enterprise Architect mindset and career paths. Original Recording Date: 05-14-2019 This podcast is a follow up to <a href="http://www.explorevm.com/2017/10/explorevm-podcast-episode-14-making.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 14 of the ExploreVM Podcast</a> on Making the Move to Enterprise. 1:51 Business vs Technology Goals * John points out the difference in thinking about business metrics versus technology specifications. * Major software version changes can present a valid reason to make a change (i.e. to move away from a version that is no longer supported, move to a version that is more secure and decreases risk, etc.). * Remember that software interoperability is important. A change to one software may require a change to one or more other products. * Paul cites understanding the presence of change control as a difference when working with larger shops compared to smaller shops. * He points out the organizations he works with as good at detecting risk and his role as an advisor to help mitigate the risk. * A.J. had to learn to talk with people about the reasons they want to make changes within the technology environment. 11:56 – The Enterprise Architect Mindset * Would it be more difficult for someone who started in enterprise IT working in a specific administration role to get into the architect mindset than someone who worked in the SMB who planned, implemented, and supported a specific technology? * It depends on the person and how much they want to make the shift. Likely the person from SMB can make the transition easier. * It comes back to whether you can understand the questions being asked from the business side. * An administrator in a large enterprise who takes the time to be curious, interacts with personnel in other departments, and gets to the root of problems can move into the architect role. * It can’t always be fix and forget. * The person who started in enterprise has a better understanding of how an enterprise business operates than someone moving up from the SMB would regardless of technology exposure. * Some factors that determine success here have to do with organizational culture and adapting to it. * Give back to your team and to other teams in the organization. Seek to interact with people on other teams in an intentional way. * If the organization is setup in an antagonistic way, it can affect your ability to succeed. * Culture doesn’t come from a committee. Changes to it come from the top. 25:04 – Possible Career Paths for the Enterprise Architect * An architect from a customer may want to move to a partner to provide this role "as a service." * Once you hit a certain peak within an organization, moving out into the consulting world can make a great deal of sense to gain exposure to other environments. * Another option is to work over to VP, Director, or CIO levels. This change is more about how you manage people than how you manage technology. Already being able to speak the business / solution language really helps. * A.J.

Nerd Journey 040: Enterprise Architect Mindset – Paul Woodward Jr and A.J. Kuftic Part 2

Welcome to episode 39 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_), two VMware Solution Engineers who are hoping to bring you the IT career advice that we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we chat with Paul Woodward Jr. and A.J. Kuftic about the transition from smaller organizations to the Enterprise. Original Recording Date: 05-14-2019 This podcast is a follow up to Episode 14 of the ExploreVM Podcaston Making the Move to Enterprise. Topics – Paul Woodward Jr. aka @ExploreVM and @AJKuftic on the transition to Enterprise 2:43 – Background on the ExploreVM Podcast  * Paul had been blogging for a couple of years and thought podcasting would be easier than writing.  Boy was he wrong about the level of effort involved! * Paul mentioned podcasting has been a great experience.  He wanted to give back to the community that helped him grow. * Paul has sound proofing foam in his office to make things sound better. * Changes in Paul’s career trajectory due to starting the podcast…  * Paul made the move from delivery engineer in the SMB to large business.  He’s now a Pre-Sales Engineer for SHI. * His perception is the podcast has not hurt his career but feels like it has indirectly influenced it.* Paul mentioned people have been pretty open to being guests on his podcast, even in the early days. * Some people were hesitant at first, but they eventually get over the fear, relax, and can have a great conversation (that the rest of the internet gets to hear).  * It is not exactly the same as speaking to someone at a user group event or conference (i.e. think phone call vs. in-person interaction).* John speaks to the logistics and challenges of booking podcast guests.  8:55 Paul’s Experience with a Move to Enterprise  * Each step has been interesting. * Paul’s first IT job was very siloed and was in identity and access management, but he’s liking the MSP and the VAR world. * The challenges in smaller environment are different than those in larger environments. * The best part for him through this process was continuing to evolve and learn, which was a direct result of making the moves. * Working at one company as a customer may not expose you to the same number of problems and different environments working for a MSP or VAR might.  Online community participation is also helpful to gain exposure to a wide variety of scenarios.  11:58 – Silos and Interface Areas  * A.J. got silo’d only when he moved to a large enterprise and has spent a large amount of time being a translator who could talk to multiple teams intelligently to promote wider systems level thinking.  * For example, understanding public cloud requires knowledge of a number of areas. * Having the generalist mindset coming from SMB really helps build rapport with different teams.* If your Twitter timeline is excited about some new technology, give it 5 years before you’ll see it in proper enterprise.  * When these technologies get to large enterprise, there are more standards and best practices developed.* If you’re comfortable in interface areas (where technologies interact),

Welcome to episode 39 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [<a href="https://twitter.com/NerdJourney/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@NerdJourney</a>]! We’re <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vJourneyman/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John White</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/vJourneyman" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@vJourneyman</a>) and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickkortenetworknerd/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nick Korte</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/NetworkNerd_/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@NetworkNerd_</a>), two VMware Solution Engineers who are hoping to bring you the IT career advice that we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we chat with Paul Woodward Jr. and A.J. Kuftic about the transition from smaller organizations to the Enterprise. Original Recording Date: 05-14-2019 This podcast is a follow up to <a href="http://www.explorevm.com/2017/10/explorevm-podcast-episode-14-making.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 14 of the ExploreVM Podcast</a>on Making the Move to Enterprise. Topics – Paul Woodward Jr. aka <a href="https://twitter.com/explorevm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@ExploreVM</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/ajkuftic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@AJKuftic</a> on the transition to Enterprise 2:43 – Background on the ExploreVM Podcast * Paul had been blogging for a couple of years and thought podcasting would be easier than writing. Boy was he wrong about the level of effort involved! * Paul mentioned podcasting has been a great experience. He wanted to give back to the community that helped him grow. * Paul has sound proofing foam in his office to make things sound better. * Changes in Paul’s career trajectory due to starting the podcast… * Paul made the move from delivery engineer in the SMB to large business. He’s now a Pre-Sales Engineer for SHI. * His perception is the podcast has not hurt his career but feels like it has indirectly influenced it. * Paul mentioned people have been pretty open to being guests on his podcast, even in the early days. * Some people were hesitant at first, but they eventually get over the fear, relax, and can have a great conversation (that the rest of the internet gets to hear). * It is not exactly the same as speaking to someone at a user group event or conference (i.e. think phone call vs. in-person interaction). * John speaks to the logistics and challenges of booking podcast guests. 8:55 Paul’s Experience with a Move to Enterprise * Each step has been interesting. * Paul’s first IT job was very siloed and was in identity and access management, but he’s liking the MSP and the VAR world. * The challenges in smaller environment are different than those in larger environments. * The best part for him through this process was continuing to evolve and learn, which was a direct result of making the moves. * Working at one company as a customer may not expose you to the same number of problems and different environments working for a MSP or VAR might. Online community participation is also helpful to gain exposure to a wide variety of scenarios. 11:58 – Silos and Interface Areas * A.J. got silo’d only when he moved to a large enterprise and has spent a large amount of time being a translator who could talk to multiple teams intelligently to promote wider systems level thinking. * For example, understanding public cloud requires knowledge of a number of areas. * Having the generalist mindset coming from SMB really helps build rapport with different teams. * If your Twitter timeline is excited about some new technology, give it 5 years before you’ll see it in proper enterprise. * When these technologies get to large enterprise, there are more standards and best practices developed. * If you’re comfortable in interface areas (where technologies interact),

Nerd Journey 039: The Transition to Enterprise with Paul Woodward Jr and A.J. Kuftic Part 1