Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

As the year draws to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect on achievements and set sights on what could make the next year even better. For engineering teams, this season is an opportunity to dream of the tools, practices, and culture shifts that drive engineering excellence in the year to come. Cortex|

In today’s hyperconnected world, networks are the backbone of every digital operation. From powering seamless video calls to securing massive e-commerce transactions, networks are at the heart of modern business. However, managing these networks is no easy feat. Complexity has surged as organizations adopt hybrid clouds, IoT devices multiply, and data demands grow exponentially.

Large Language Models, or LLMs, have become a near-ubiquitous technology in recent years. Promising the ability to generate human-like content with simple and direct prompts, LLMs have been integrated across a diverse array of systems, purposes, and functions, including content generation, image identification and curation, and even heuristics-based performance testing for APIs and other software components.

When working with databases, we often encounter rows that lack data. This missing data may result from unknown or inapplicable values, errors during data import or input, or specific calculations involving non-existent values. In such cases, there are two ways to represent missing data: NULLs and empty (or blank) values. While these might seem identical at first glance, they are different and impact essential database operations in distinct ways.

Understanding what went wrong, what went right, and how to improve is crucial for IT teams striving for excellence. But as teams evaluate their processes and outcomes, they often encounter two tools for reflection: postmortems and retrospectives. While they may seem similar at first glance, their objectives and applications differ significantly. Let’s dive into the nuances of retrospective vs. post mortem and explore why both hold a pivotal place in team growth and project success.

What a year it’s been at Cloudsmith. As we look back on 2024, it’s hard not to feel a sense of pride - and even a little awe - at how far we’ve come. From a scrappy startup to a trusted partner for some of the biggest names in the world, this year has been a turning point, both for our company and the people who make it special. In this video, our CEO, Glenn Weinstein, reflects on the highs, the challenges, and the moments that defined this year for us.