Growing Future Operators (eBook)

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Saturday, April 9

“Someone asked me yesterday whether you were a software engineer, a systems engineer, or a security engineer. They didn’t believe me when I told them all three. I then explained your three-part career, and they got it. They were incredulous at first,” Ginger said.

“Why do people react that way? Maybe people don’t know anyone who gobbles up learning no matter the subject.”

“Our order is ready. Can you get it?”

“Sure, be right back.”

Freddie visits this coffee shop four or five times per week. He loves his iced coffee. Ginger doesn’t drink coffee. Her order is tea or hot cocoa. She loves donuts.

“Here is your tea and jelly donut.”

“This donut is perfect! It has a ton of grape jelly, and it’s still warm. You should try one.”

“I’m happy with my Boston cream donut. The custard is still warm. The chocolate on top is warm too.”

“Do you remember when we first started dating and you were working 80-plus hours per week? I thought you were crazy, until I realized later that you will work however many hours needed to make a project a success.”

“I am surprised you married me after that start.”

“You wore me down during the first five years of dating. I kept waiting for a proposal—I’d almost given up when you eventually proposed.”

Freddie and Ginger are the co-owners of All Things Operations (ATO). Ginger has the CEO position and Freddie is the CTO.

ATO started as a contracting company. Freddie would take a couple of contracts, hire some subcontractors to help, and complete projects in record time. During this period, Ginger worked on getting more contracts, recruiting subcontractors, and did the books for ATO. The success of the contracts resulted in money rolling in.

Freddie came up with a product idea. ATO completed all its contracts and did not take any renewals. This meant Freddie could work full-time for ATO. Freddie and Ginger decided they needed a team to work on the product. Freddie hired co-op students from Northeastern University in Boston. ATO signed up for a summer session of full-time work for two students. ATO employed the students full time for six months.

The company has two products for sale. Product one helped people using the DevOps method. The second product focused on the SecOps method, and it is now outselling the first product.

Ginger earned an accounting degree and worked for a couple of companies before founding All Things Operations (ATO) with Freddie. Freddie has an electrical engineering degree and a systems engineering master’s degree, and he had dozens of jobs before he and Ginger created ATO.

Ginger and Freddie are quiet, unpretentious people. They own the condo they live in and have paid off the mortgage. They love to take cruises, and clean up well for black tie events. You don’t know how casual they are when they dress well.

The couple also owns Ash, their miniature schnauzer. He was born on New Year’s Day and is four months old as we start the story. Freddie has always loved miniature schnauzers because they are so smart.

“Did I tell you Ash graduated?”

“Graduated?”

“From puppy 101 school. The instructor said most dogs need five to six months before moving to puppy 102 school. Ash is going there in his fourth month. The instructor said he is one of the smartest dogs he has trained.”

“Outstanding! That means we can teach him more commands.”

Freddie grew up in a Catholic family, attended Catholic school through high school, and did his undergraduate degree at Notre Dame. Ginger did not grow up in a religious house.

“Can someone tell us if your idea can change the educational world?”

“Don’t worry about it this weekend.”

Monday, April 11

Frank didn’t expect to see so many tables occupied.

“Good evening, Your Excellency. Thank you for meeting me at short notice. I know you are busy.”

“You’re welcome, Frank. Please call me Ed. No need to use my formal title when I am sharing a meal with a friend.”

Bishop Acosta has been the bishop for nine years. He wants to put the Catholic schools on top of the other schools. He wants a win before he retires. This is the motivation for having invited Frank to his favorite seafood restaurant. He wants to hear Frank’s idea.

“OK, Ed. Where should I start?”

“Tell me about your idea starting at 10,000 feet.”

Frank Spencer is the superintendent of schools for the Catholic Church in New Hampshire. He got his law degree from Boston College where he also played college football. In his early 40s, he was the superintendent of schools for five years. Popular in the Catholic community, he is expected to run for the governor’s office at some point.

“What if we could hire someone who could bring in knowledge about DevOps, SecOps, and DevSecOps?”

The bishop appeared to be retrieving information as Frank spoke. “I still have the cheat sheet you gave me for all those acronyms. This would give us a second technology area to teach the students?”

“Yes. All those acronyms fall under operations. Companies that hire software engineers have an operations team that controls the servers, network equipment, and the CI/CD pipelines. These days, operations teams write as much code as the software teams. Everything these days is based on software.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Freddie Lima. I sent you videos last week about his university talks.”

A server brings food to the table, prompting a pause in the conversation.

The seafood restaurant the bishop suggested for their meeting is very popular in this area of New Hampshire. New England is full of seafood restaurants, but this one stands out for its showing of the history of fishing in New England and its fabulous menu. The bishop likes to bring co-workers, friends, and family here as often as he can, because he loves the food. The restaurant has about 75 tables and three rooms for big parties.

“Yes, I remember those videos. I couldn’t believe it when he talked about teaching operations to school children.”

Frank’s face lit up. “Same for me. It was like a dream come true. We have talked about adding another area of technology to our schools. This might be it. Also, this yellowfin tuna melts in my mouth. It works well with garlic butter too.”

“I told you; this restaurant is the best. Have you talked to him yet?”

“No, sir. I wanted to get approval from you before I reach out to him.”

“Is he a technology guy or a teacher?”

“Technology guy. I plan to take it slow with him. My understanding is his company keeps him busy seven days per week. I don’t want to scare him off by moving too fast.”

“Take it slow with him. We don’t want to turn him off by being too aggressive. You can meet with him whenever you please. I’ll stay out of it for now.”

“Thank you, Ed. Also, thanks for introducing me to this place—it’s great. I will keep you posted on how we are doing with him.”

Tuesday, April 12

“Hi Jack. It’s been a while, my friend. Your invitation surprised me,” Mike said.

Mike is Freddie’s younger brother. He is also a lawyer, and he graduated from Yale Law School a year behind Jack Whitaker. He has a wife, Julie, and a daughter, Michelle, who is finishing up fourth grade. Mike practices law as a mergers and acquisitions attorney.

“I thought it was time that the Yale Law School friends got together again,” Jack said.

“Those were the days, weren’t they?”

“They sure were. I also wanted to talk about your brother.”

Jack Whitaker was an Oklahoma football player as an undergrad. People find him to be loud, and he often acts like a bully. He continued to be a bully at Yale Law School, and it did not earn him any fans among the professors. Somehow, he still graduated first in his class there. Jack is divorced, and has no children. People that know him well can’t believe he’s the leader of Carran public schools.

“What do you want to know?”

“Doesn’t he have his own company now?”

“Yes, his company is called All Things Operations (ATO). He develops software with ATO that makes it easier for operators. Also, he consults with Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs). He amazes me, because ATO combines all three phases of his career.”

“Remind me again, did your family emigrate from Costa Rica?”

“No, our parents brought us over here from Cuba when we were kids.”

“Is Freddie married?”

“Yes, his wife’s name is Ginger.”

“Your brother has been making a lot of noise. Should I be worried about him?”

“What kind of noise?”

“I heard he gave talks at Boston University and Northeastern University, where he talked about adding operations classes to school systems.”

“I knew he was giving talks, but I don’t know much about them. He often comes up with ideas people like. Sounds like you don’t like that idea.”

“I feel like we have too much technology in my schools already. We took a poll this year, and 67% of the students voted for having computer science classes. There are companies we can hire to produce the class material, and they make it easy for teachers to pick up the material. I have asked around, and none of those companies...