Twitter is the go-to platform for most DevOps pros and influencers when it comes to sharing thoughtful, informative and sometimes entertaining perspective on the technologies, trends and practices within the DevOps landscape. Here’s a list of some of the most active DevOps influencers providing valuable contributions to the software development industry in bite-sized pieces of 280 characters or less:

(This article is part of our DevOps Guide. Use the right-hand menu to navigate.)

Martin Fowler @martinfowler

At the top of the list is Martin Fowler, a prolific DevOps writer who authored 7 books on software development and actively communicates his thoughts via Twitter. He writes about all things DevOps, ranging from design principles, people and processes, to technology trends and tooling. Fowler started working with software technologies in the 80’s and currently works at ThoughtWorks.

In addition to communicating his own ideas through Twitter, he regularly shares content from other influencers, content channels and often adds his short commentary as a valuable additional perspective. As a contributor to several blogging platforms, speaking conferences and events, his Twitter profile can lead you to vast DevOps content published around the Web. He also publishes extensive content on his own website, often along with contributions from other leading DevOps influencers on Twitter.

Jez Humble @jezhumble

Jez Humble is the author of several award winning books, including Continuous Delivery (Addison Wesley, 2010), Lean Enterprise (O’Reilly, 2015), The DevOps Handbook (IT Revolution, 2016), and Accelerate (IT Revolution 2018). He is currently a Developer Advocate at Google cloud and teaches at UC Berkeley.

Jez has a strong focus on software delivery practices, lean enterprise and DevOps transformation in his speaking engagements, workshops, blogs and Twitter posts. His tweets aren’t always strictly focused on DevOps, but well balanced with commentary, entertainment and even politics. His personalized style of commentary on Twitter has earned him a place among the most followed and well-regarded DevOps influencers on the platform.

Gene Kim @RealGeneKim

Gene Kim is well known for his books The Phoenix Project, The DevOps Handbook, Beyond the Phoenix Project, Accelerate, The Visible Ops Handbook, and Visible Ops Security. His books focus on the challenges facing DevOps organizations and case studies describing the real-world experience for DevOps professionals.

The multi-award winning author and researcher tweets his thoughts not only about the DevOps but also about the latest and greatest happenings in the tech world. IT Ops professionals can take advantage of his commentary and retweets of content that help improve the performance of software delivery teams. He also regularly communicates the progress and announcements of his speaking engagements and workshops via Twitter.

John Willis @botchagalupe

John Willis is the co-author of The DevOps Handbook and currently serves as VP of DevOps and Digital Practices at SJ Technologies. As a leading influencer in the industry, he is often regarded as the voice of DevOps and evangelist of latest DevOps technologies such as Docker, where is previously served as the Director of Ecosystem Development.

John often writes serious and straightforward commentary about software technologies and their impact on DevOps adoption within organizations. John is one of the active DevOps influencers on Twitter and isn’t shy of communicating his detailed analysis spanning several tweets when needed.

Patrick Debois @patrickdebois

As the founder of DevOps Days, the entire DevOps movement can be attributed to his contributions for the popular conference. He currently serves as the co-founder and CTO of SaaS company Zender, and naturally focuses his Twitter communications toward the development aspects of DevOps. He has been a researcher and consultant with a several companies over the past, and his depth of experience is reflected through his tweets, blogs and content contributions online.

His tweets are often short, witty, and informative at the same time. He is one of the forward-thinking professionals who not only analyze current and past trends in the industry, but also communicate insights on the potential future trends and practices that are set to shape the DevOps landscape.

James Turnbull @kartar

Arguably one of the most prolific author and DevOps influencers on the list, James Turnbull is known for his technical books and contributions to the open source software industry. He has served leadership roles at leading tech companies, including Puppet Labs, Docker, Kickstarter and Venmo, and currently serves as a CTO-in-residence at Microsoft.

His notable contributions include the book, The Docker Book: Containerization is the New Virtualization. His publications primarily focus on monitoring and log management technologies and practices. He regularly speaks at popular conferences such as OSCON, Linux.conf.au and FOSDEM. He uses his Twitter profile to communicate his thoughts about a range of subjects, not limited to open source or the technology landscape itself.

Bridget Kromhout @bridgetkromhout

The Principal Cloud Advocate at Microsoft and the organizer of DevOps Days conference is an active influencer in the DevOps world. Bridget hosts regular DevOps podcast show, Arrested DevOps.

Through her Twitter profile, podcasts, conferences and meetup events, she focuses her contributions to educate the DevOps world on developing good practices and maximizing the potential of DevOps framework and practices. On her Twitter profile you’ll find a mix of content about technology, the industry as well as her personal life events. She regularly communicates plans and announcements for talks on various DevOps topics via social media.

John Arundel @bitfield

John Arundel is an author and consultant with extensive experience in the industry. Some of his popular technical publications include the book, Cloud Native DevOps with Kubernetes. He is a subject matter expert on Docker, Puppet, Kubernetes and other cloud infrastructure technologies.

He uses Twitter to write about technical guidelines, analysis and commentary on software technologies, as well as off-topic posts on recent current events happening around the world. His tweets are often succinct and hold valuable insights for the everyday DevOps practitioner focused on the infrastructure side of things. As a consultant, he has worked with hundreds of clients ranging from early startups to large enterprises, and his experience reflects well through his publications, talks and tweets.

Elizabeth Hendrickson @testobsessed

As a one time board member of the Agile Alliance, Elizabeth Hendrickson has been deeply involved in the software development and DevOps community for over a decade. She has also authored books on software testing and teamwork within the industry.

Elizabeth is another great example of the diverse backgrounds from which DevOps professionals and advocates stem. She has a respectable Twitter following and regularly tweets about relevant industry goings-on.

Dave Farley @davefarley77

Co-author of Continuous Delivery, Dave Farley is a proven expert in the realm of IT and DevOps. He has worked in software for over 25 years and is passionate about Agile and DevOps practices. He has worked in various roles and countries across the industry and loves to share his experience with others.

Farley also has a personal blog site found at davefarley.net which he regularly updates with posts about continuous integration and Agile methodologies. His Twitter feed is packed with industry news and links to detailed articles regarding software development.

Damon Edwards @damonedwards

Damon Edwards is a business consultant that focuses on DevOps and improving enterprise efficiencies. He gives regular talks on DevOps and software industry topics and plays an active part in the DevOps community. His Twitter feed is an absolute treasure trove for DevOps information and resources that includes links to his own work as well as others.

DevOps: Solutions for You

Each member of this list has proven their expertise in the IT industry and is an outspoken proponent of DevOps methodologies, but this list doesn’t include every great influencer in the DevOps space.

This list was compiled to help you dip your toes into the world of DevOps and see what others think of it from their first-hand experience. If DevOps sounds like a good fit for your organization’s needs but you want to make sure you get it right the first time, BMC is the IT solution partner you need. Read more about how automation and DevOps systems can help increase the rate at which you deploy products with BMC’s free eBook: Automate Cloud and DevOps Initiatives.

BMC expert consultants are available to work with you to bring their knowledge and expertise to your organization. BMC provides custom-tailored Deployment Services for your organization to tackle the unique challenges you face. When partnering with BMC, you get:

• Faster service delivery: Agile releases that keep up with rapid demand
• Visibility across data: Ensure compliance and data accuracy
• Cost-effective service: Increased productivity and performance
• Experienced DevOps professionals: Equip you with the tools you need for success
• Conversion or upgrade: Seamless modernization or total replacement
• All tailored for the specific needs of your organization

Download or view the Solution Implementation Overview online to learn more about how BMC Consulting Services can help you. Check out the resources available to you on the web and then contact the experts at BMC to find out more about how to leverage DevOps practices for enhanced building, testing, and deployment success.

These postings are my own and do not necessarily represent BMC's position, strategies, or opinion.

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