Episode 10: Geek Out with Brian Shimkaveg (Part 2): Kubernetes: The Rancher Approach to Customers and Development

Sure. So yes, first to talk about the migration from applications that run on single servers to virtual machines and then now to containers. So explain to those that might not be familiar with these technologies, a server is a physical machine. It runs an operating system and it usually runs a program. And it's usually a fairly boring backend program that most users of applications don't really care about all that much. 

And what's happened over the many years that multiple decades is that the machines have gotten more and more powerful. There's Moore's Law out there that talks about the processing capability of machines and how it's basically doubled every 18 months for years and years and years. So these machines created by great vendors like HP and Dell and others, these are extraordinarily powerful machines and what we found is that they're actually too powerful to just host one workload, one application like a database server or a web server or something like that. 

And so there's a reason that we want to get more out of these machines because they offer that much. And so we went to a world of virtualization in the early 2000s where we basically took a technology that allowed us to copy operating systems, the whole operating system. So if you're on a Mac or if you're on a Windows box, that whole experience of an operating system got replicated across one physical machine and that was a way to make those machines much more useful for the power that they had built in them. 

As we passed through time, the machines continue to get more and more powerful and we've been able to get more and more sophistication with how we control those processes. No longer, and this is where we enter the world of containers and Kubernetes, no longer do we have to have a full developed copy of an operating system. 

What we can do it is isolate it at the process level. And basically what that means is a thread of memory and computation in a single machine that gets controlled. And that then that can be copied not only multiple times on the same machine, but it can also be copied across multiple machines that are all interconnected in a cloud. So that's the primer, to go from a physical, a single physical machine to something that is living in a cloud tightly controlled process that can be controlled in terms of life cycle. 

That is fair, yes. And I think that it's really important to note that we have competitors in the Kubernetes space as well. And those competitors have a selection of capabilities, they have a selection of value propositions that they espouse. We do too, and I feel like our version of Kubernetes is exceptional not only in the data center, but where we really shine is at the edge. Because we're talking about low power, low footprint, perhaps even low communication environments where we can provide an environment for mission workloads and mission applications at the edge. 

That edge could be a sensing device, very, very small footprint, collect some information, maybe does some local processing at the edge before it gets shipped back. Some of our customers, and you can imagine, the Department of Agriculture, the National Geological Survey, and many of those cases out there where you're just sensing raw data and then maybe doing some processing and then shipping it back. 

You may have another use case at the edge, which is I'm in a battlefield medical tent and I'm providing an IT infrastructure in the field where I need to have some information local. I have some mission applications that are local, but I don't rely upon the connectivity back to a cloud or back to a data center. 

I need to be able to consume it there. But I need it reliability because what I don't want to find myself is in the middle of a surgery, in a tent in a field, relying upon an IT system where I don't have that reliability of the application and I get the blue screen of death. I need reliability. And that's where Kubernetes at the edge helps. 

So can I build off what you just said, Brian? Reliability, folks, think of an environmental impact and when we see a hurricane coming, or God forbid a tornado that just can quickly happen or I always like to share, especially as we celebrate national or critical infrastructure security and resilience month. That's November, folks. cybersecurity was all about being in October. 

Brian, you're bringing up these sectors that are embracing the edge that need to have data to make decisions, data-driven decisions. Right? To make sure that our crops are growing. Yes, our war fighter, our folks in theater are protected. We want the creature comforts of data quicker, faster, but we have to ensure that it's secure, that the cloud solution providers that we work with as well as the Rancher government solution is one that I can sleep well at night knowing that I can trust the data, that the infrastructure is reliable, but also resilience. 

So I'm going to emphasize that I know that from your Neuvector, RKE2, if I may, Longhorn, Harvester. You all have a litany of tools. And folks, we can speak for hours on those, but I appreciated that, Brian. And I love that you bring up and let's focus on that as we move into the where's Rancher going? 

What's exciting as we start this new fiscal year in terms of the emphasis on ensuring that that very critical infrastructure? Folks go to dhs.gov critical infrastructure, and this is what you'll see Brian's been talking about. But the internet of things and the industrial internet things and the sensors and the devices and the things that we use on our smartphones that serve up information so quickly, how do you think that's being powered? 

Most undoubtedly, it's probably got some open source, some DevSecOps work, some agile methodology and the things that Brian's talking about hidden in plain view. Comments, Brian, on any of that before we move into the visionary, where are we going and why should we be excited about Rancher and fiscal year 25? 

No, I think that's a great summary, Pete. I think that meeting customers where their mission is in the context of the challenges that they face is where RGS serves our customers best. 

I love that, mission matters most. Wonderful. No cookie cutter approach to your customers., Okay, yes. Hey Brian, you're VP of sales man. I mean, you're in a new fiscal year, you got a team of awesome people, you're out there selling. I like to say you're probably more telling versus selling and I always say let's solve problems together versus buy and sell. 

I worked in government for 25 years. I knew what it was like sitting at a table with the Brian's of the world and team and really I cared about what are they going to say that gets me excited about the problems that I have? How do you do that? How do you engage in those to build that trust with a potential partner? 

I think the first thing that I do is when I'm coaching my team prior to going out into the field. It's let's get ready in two ways. One is to be very credible on our technology. Let's understand what it does and what it doesn't do. Let's understand our value proposition, what we do and what we don't do. And so that's part of the homework, making sure that we're ready to go. 

And then the other part of the homework is let's get out and understand the customer first. Let's do some homework. Before you make that sales call, before you go and knocking on someone's door and taking their very precious time, let's make sure to the best that we can, that we understand what their missions are, what they're challenged with, what their priorities are from the White House on down and what their local priorities might be that might supplement what is being asked from the top down. As much homework as possible I think is really critical. 

Now, when we have a conversation, I encourage my sales reps to go out there and say to lead with questions. We don't want to ask naive questions. We don't want to ask questions indicating that we haven't done any homework. But I think that it's also important to have a beginner's mind, to ask and to probe and to really make sure that the customers feel comfortable that by asking these questions, what we're trying to do is come to a mind share with them about where they really are. 

What is their job to be done? What are they trying to accomplish? Let's get past the buzzwords, let's get past the technology bingo, let's find out what we can do to solve a mission problem. So those are the two things that I coach my folks to get out there before they... When they go and meet their customers.

So again, this wasn't scripted folks, but I'm writing down and Brian, you sound like you're the federal person hoping for the same things I did. Because what I appreciated you just said is leading with questions and you didn't say, "I want to know what keeps you up at night. I want to know why is the sky falling and where is it." This line you used about doing homework, God bless you. 

I love giving homework and I like that you preempt a sales call with understanding the agency, its mission. There are over 430 folks, agencies, folks, that are unique. There's not 10, there's not 20, there's not 30. And Brian, you just made that point and I appreciate that. Right? 

Again, as a former Fed who says, let's do our homework, let's figure out how we can have impact, maybe not today, maybe next year. But back to my audience and the audience, folks, read the National Cybersecurity Strategy, read the documents that we referenced earlier today, read the CISA DHS Open Source Software and Security Roadmap published in 2023. 

There's a plan the government has and needs companies and expertise like Brian and those at Rancher government solutions to please come talk and help us get to where we have a resilient, secure, reliable, critical sector. Okay. Brian, I can talk as you know and suck the air out of any room, but I want to use this not quite parting shot. Has there been some element of today. We want talk about educate, inform, enlighten. Examples of maybe what Rancher's doing today? You referenced a few. Are there some, because I think it's important to celebrate your success.

Yes.

Are there some that you want to share with the audiences to where you're having some impact today? 

Yes, certainly. I would say that we are seeing a lot of traction, a lot of interest at the edge. It is a natural alignment with our capabilities and a lot of natural alignment with what the missions are, whether they are in the federal civilian sector, whether they're the Intel space or whether they're in the DOD. That natural alignment, that natural product fit is where we're seeing a lot of traction and where we can come with alternatives that the customer hasn't been able to see. 

And the reason why we're able to offer that is because of that power of the innovation that's happening in the open source communities. These technologies didn't exist. The problems had always existed. We've come to market with a better solution for it. This is what I think is really important to relate to audience and to listeners. Open source provides a lot of capability for agencies to meet their mission requirements. 

And the question is, well, who best to partner with? And I would argue that RGS and other types of vendors that are providing support for open source products are really the go-to way to go because we edit the source code, we compile the source code, we provide it in stored facilities, we provide a secure supply chain, we provide an attestation as to the ingredients that are in your cake, is actually the cake that you are actually eating. 

Could you imagine the FDA not supervising the ingredients labeling of food that you consume? Of course they're going to do that. Why? Because consumers of food want supply chain security of a meal that they're eating so they know what's in it, and that's what we do. 

I like that. And again, for me, it's illustrating, and I'm going to just list a few things here because I thought you just capture that wonderfully. And that is if we can all just think about when we're at school, how education has changed, distance learning, working remote, our healthcare system, the medical devices that you see in a hospital now that are beeping. 

And I mean, folks, that's all powered by technology and at the edge could be that device in this hospital, in this state is in a cloud over here that's being managed and led by some expertise from folks thousands of miles away. It's pretty exciting. But to trust that information flow in transit and at rest, Rancher clearly locks that down from what I'm hearing. And I encourage folks to meet with Brian just because I think Brian's one hell of a storyteller, you heard about his journey and he cares about the mission. 

Yes

And that is what the government preaches, right? Open government principles, participatory, collaborative, and most importantly being transparent. Brian, parting shot?