From dismantling PlayStations as a curious child to cracking the code of enterprise observability, Daniel Adams @StrangerThing has always aimed for excellence – whether he’s monitoring system performance or measuring the distance to the pin. As an active innovator in the Dynatrace Community, Daniel consistently shares numerous product ideas that help shape Dynatrace future features.
Join us in getting to know our Member of the Month, who proves that precision and persistence pay off, both in tech and on the fairway.
Throughout my life, I have always been interested in how things work. I remember taking apart my first PlayStation around the age of 8 and worrying about getting it back together again before Mom found out, which I did successfully. I grew up in a very rural place, so there weren’t very many technology enthusiasts. It was intriguing to learn about something so few of my peers understood.
I was very fortunate to have classes in high school that taught us everything about the basics of computer hardware and operating systems. We got orders from a local college to build their lab computers, hundreds of them. They also offered to pay for the CompTIA A+ certification exam if proven ready. I took and passed that exam at the age of 17, thus kick-starting my career.
My most valuable time was spent at my second IT job at a public school system. There, I untangled a mess of virtual machine infrastructure, wired and wireless networking, a malfunctioning backup system, and much more. I worked in infrastructure as a Systems Engineer for a few years after that and started my observability journey monitoring critical infrastructure components.
I started at FreedomPay as the very first SRE, working on using the monitoring tools we had at the time to enhance our capabilities. About a year into that role, we switched to Dynatrace and my role changed to Observability Engineer, which is my current role today.
Adopting Dynatrace has not been without its challenges. The saying “teach an old dog new tricks” comes to mind. My role at FreedomPay is to be a Dynatrace expert and help push the boundaries on what we thought was possible with an observability tool.
The main challenge in our industry was extracting traces and other data without breaking any PCI (Payment Card Industry) regulations. Dynatrace has helped us overcome that challenge and is now standard in our deployment and infrastructure practices.
Dynatrace Community has been a great resource along my observability journey. I come to the Community when I have new product ideas (this happens often), or when I need help that’s not necessarily a support ticket. I also like to browse and look for ideas from others on how I can use Dynatrace to help my company. We also like to stay on the bleeding edge of Dynatrace, testing and previewing many new features/apps. The feedback channels have definitely helped with this, and I look forward to seeing them for every new app that’s released.
"Dynatrace Community has been a great resource along my observability journey. I come to the Community when I have new product ideas or when I need help that’s not necessarily a support ticket. "
Outside of work, I’m a scratch golfer. I play in many tournaments throughout the year and always have to stay tournament-ready, so lots of practice. In the last few years I’ve been trying to take my game to the next level with new club fittings and lots of lessons. I’ve seen improvement, but not enough to turn pro just yet. I enjoy the grind and the outdoor activity that golf provides.
I love to travel! My bucket list is mostly travel destinations and I’m actually writing this from Scotland where I got to check one of those items off by visiting the Old Course at St. Andrews.
Member of the Month is a series of articles posted at the start of every month to honor the most engaged Community Users among our customers, business partners, and employees. We’re patiently observing the contribution in all aspects of the everyday forum run to award those who make the Dynatrace Community a valuable place to be! In the next chapters, you’ll read personal and professional highlights, as we’re all fascinating human beings with a unique story behind us. Who knows, maybe you’ll be here next month?
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Congratulations @StrangerThing !!
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DanielS
February 4, 2025, 12:22am
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Congratulation to one of the best nicknames of the Community!!!
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DanielS
February 4, 2025, 12:25am
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I love your outdoor photos, where are they taken @StrangerThing ?
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Congratulations, Daniel!! Well-deserved!!
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@DanielS first pic is in Glacier National Park and the second is on the top of a mountain in Oahu, Hawaii
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Really beautiful places and pics.
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Both places added to my bucket list!!!
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Congratulations @daniel !!
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Last day for me! So thankful for being selected @GosiaMurawska
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@StrangerThing Thanks for your commitment and for being an active member of the Community! Wishing you the very best ⭐
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@StrangerThing is not a stranger anymore…
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@AgataWlodarczyk I’ve been exposed
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Congratulations! @StrangerThing
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Introducing Member of the Month!
Member of the Month articles explained!
