Hello Andi! Shed some light on your life’s journey.
I got my first computer (Commodore Amiga 500) in the late 80s when I was about 9 years old as a Christmas present. My dad thought that computers are the future - well - he was very right on that prediction!
After high school and my first job at a local company I joined Segue Software (which later became Borland). That's where I met Bernd. After 8 years at Borland I joined Dynatrace. Bernd thought I could be a good link between the technical product engineered in Austria and explaining the problems we solve to a global audience. I started blogging, eventually ran the AppMon Trial Program, started YouTube 'Ing and a Podcast. My goal was to create a "Global Fanbase for Observability and Dynatrace!" And now here I am - almost 18 years later - still doing the same thing!
Besides this journey I have a passion for outdoors and salsa dancing. I was lucky to spend time in Boston with Dynatrace where I also met my wife on the dance floor. Fast forward: We both live in Austria, we both work at Dynatrace and we still hit the dancefloors as often as we can!
Tell us about your work and what interesting things you’re working on.
While I am still doing similar things I did when I started I had several iterations in my job title: I started as an Evangelist which was later renamed to Technologist, then Activist, Advocate and now DevRel! My mission is still the same: Enable our users and the global observability community to become better and more efficient in software delivery!
As our industry and the technology is constantly changing I myself have to learn constantly, e.g: what does AI really mean to all of us? I then do my best to share what I have learned through my various communication channels!
What makes you excited about being a part of the Dynatrace?
I think we solve really challenging problems for our users. Those problems seem to get trickier as technology evolves and we do our best to stay on top and hopefully also ahead of the next big thing that will impact our users. I am very proud that Dynatrace - despite a constantly changing world - keeps innovating and keeps helping our customers to build perfect software. I think our Dynatrace mission "Because the World needs Software to run Perfectly!" is a mission worth following.
What makes Dynatrace Community important to you?
"I wouldn't be able to learn as many use cases and share that many stories if there wouldn't be a community! "
Most of my stories come from our users that I have met over the years in different settings. Either online on our community portal, at a Dynatrace event, a conference or through a Zoom call. I am a big believer in "Giving Something and you Shall Receive".
I try to give people insights into how to better leverage observability. In return people approach me and share with me their use cases and implementation details which in the end I convert to stories again. Its a great continuous loop of education!
Tell us something about you that most people don’t know. What is your biggest joy or passion in life?
As I mentioned before. I love to hike in the mountains, bike through the hills, walk through the streets and dance on the Latin dancefloors of the world!
While I do travel a lot for work I still have a lot of untouched territory on this planet. I do hope to see many more places and meet many more people and experience their local culture!
What achievement are you most proud of?
While I have to thank Dynatrace for making this happen one of my highlights in my career was to deliver two keynotes at Dynatrace Perform with Kelsey Hightower. Kelsey - aka Mr Kubernetes - is somebody that many in our industry look up to. We connected well, I learned a lot about how important it is to stay humble and was very happy when he visited me and my wife in Linz!
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