>>live from Atlanta, Georgia. It's the Q covering Answerable fest 2019. Brought to you by red hat. >>Hey, welcome back. It was a cube. Live coverage here in Atlanta for answerable fast part of red hats. Event around automation anywhere. I'm John for it. With my coast to Minutemen. Next guest's Abram Snell, senior I t analyst at the Southern Company Customer Invincible. Great to have you on. Thanks for coming on. >>I'm glad to be here. >>So tell us what? Your company What do you do there? About what is Southern Company? So So what do you do there? >>Yeah. Yeah, Southern Company is Ah ah. Very large. Probably one of top three energy providers. And we're based in the Southeast. So we're energy utility. So we do electric and gas. We also generate electric and gas. Oh, >>and your role there. >>And and there I am. So, in infrastructure, we build systems platforms s o. I'm a kind of OS specialist, and so we build red hat platforms for applications. >>And what's your what's your goal here? The answerable fest this year? >>Well, a couple of things. So I submitted a talk, and so I'll be doing a talk here. But the other thing is just to learn other ways. How to increase the automation footprint at our company. Abraham, why don't you >>walk us through that? Some we heard in the keynote red hat talked about their journey. Microsoft talk about their journey J. P. Morgan did. So I'm assuming that, you know you're undergoing some kind of journey. Also bring bring us a little bit, you know, bring us back to kind of his far back as you can. And you know where things have been going. >>Yes, So I heard about answerable during the time when we were trying to automate patch process. So our patch process was taken about 1900 man hours per year. So it was It was highly manual. And so we were looking at some other things, like a puppet was out cf engine, which is incredibly complex. And then, in a sales meeting, you heard about answerable because that was the direction that red hat was going. So I looked it up, um, and learned about it. And that's the other thing. The various to entry were so low. It's modular. You could jump in and start learning you can write a play book without knowing everything else about answerable. And so So that's how we got started with the journey. >>Okay, so the patches you said over, like, 1900 hours in a year. Do you know how long addiction now? >>Yeah, we reduced that to about 70 hours. So it was a massive reduction in the amount of time that we spent patching. >>Okay. And, you know, have you been been expanding? Answerable and you know what? What? Where's it going from? Your footprint? >>Yes. So as a West platform group, we are doing, you know, we do deployments now with answerable. Let's do everything with answer. Well, obviously someone just asked me to deploy some files. I was like, You have no right answer playbook for that or use one that we already have. So now we have other groups the database of folks are now using answerable to patch their databases. And the network folks have been asking us questions, so maybe maybe they'll be getting on board. But yet, from my standpoint, I think I think we should expand, answerable. I don't know if it's if that's my call, that's a little above my pay grade, but I'm definitely going to do everything I can to make sure that >>you like the play book concept. >>Oh, yeah. Oh, absolutely. >>I mean, you had a lot of playbooks developing feelings, like growing everywhere. People tend to use them or >>Yeah, so, you know, I learned something today that there's gonna be, like, kind of like a depository, and that that will actually work right now there. We probably have about 150 playbooks, but people aren't able to just use them because they're just kind of stored >>something built. So what you're talking to be eventually going to a talk. >>Oh, yeah. How, um how automation can can reduce business conflict. So we're gonna talk about creating automation. Is that kind of reduced the siloed conflict. And so I'll be talking about creating an easy button for groups who, you know, when you say, Hey, I want a patch that now you can't patch this week. And so, rather than having an argument about when we're gonna patch, just give them an easy button and say, Hey, when you're ready, press this button and it'll patch and just let us know if anything turns red and we'll fix >>it. People want to get rid of the comfort. They like the conflict there. Let me talk about the culture because this is, you know, this conflict. Been there? Yeah. Oh, yeah. What's that? What's the culture like with the new capability? >>S O. I mean, the culture is getting better. I wouldn't say we're there. We're on that journey that hit that he mentioned. But when you say people want conflict, >>that they're used to it. >>Yeah. I mean, there's no way I'm ready. The problem with that is it slows business. So at the end of the day, what were all you know, therefore happens a whole lot slower because we're back and forth and were in conflict. So what automation does is it literally speeds up what we need to be doing. But it also helps us to be friends alone away. So >>don't get your thoughts on. So we did a little survey to our cube community of Amon Automation. You know, a couple of key bullet points a week. We're reporting on earlier much everyone's agreed. But don't get your reaction. You're doing it. One benefit of automation is for the teams are focus efforts on better results. You agree with that? Yes. Security is a big part of it. So automating Help security? >>Yeah, I think it does. I think any time you could do something the same way every time you minimize the ability for human error. So I think that helps security. Um and so I'm not a security gap, but >>well, here's the next one will get your thoughts on you mentioned culture, automation, drives, job satisfaction. >>Oh, yeah, Yeah. What? That So A few ways that just come to mind immediately. One is I have a greater opportunity for success because it's gonna work the same way every time, right? The second thing is it kinda gives people options. So I talk about this in my talk. You know, we we tend to want options around the window where sometimes even the how on dso automation can actually do that. The and the third thing is, it really does free us up to do important stuff, you know? And so when I'm spending my time doing tedious things like paperwork, automation helps me now to do the stuff I really want to do. The stuff. I come to work >>and there's new jobs Being created on this means new opportunities. This creates growth for people that are actually new, higher level skills. >>Well, one of the cultural aspects of it is people are afraid that automation kill my job. Right. But honestly, when you start building this stuff, we're finding out that man. It takes ah village to do all this stuff. So it really does take, allow us to learn new things and probably send our careers in another direction. I hadn't seen a job that was killed. Yeah. >>Yeah, well, that's all these cripples love to get better jobs and doing the mundane stuff. The final point on the quick poll survey of our community was that infrastructure and Dev ops or dead professionals, developers or Dev Ops they get congee re skilling with this opportunity because it's kind of new things. Is Reese killing a big part of the culture in the trenches? When you start looking at these new opportunities or are people embracing that? What's the vibe there? What's your take on >>s? Oh, my take on it is It's probably some kind of bill curve. Right? So you got probably 10% of the folks that are gung ho. You gotta probably that middle 80% That's like, either way. And then you got 10% there. Like, dude, I'm about to retire. I don't wanna do this anymore. Whatever I'm afraid or I don't think I could do it. So But, you know, that opportunity is that I mean, I was actually trained in college as a developer. I never wanted to do development, so I didn't have been an infrastructure. But now I'm getting to do development again, and I kinda like it, right? It's kind of like, OK, >>hey, books. You got recipe, >>right? And I still get to be an infrastructure guy. So, um, I think there's definitely opportunity for growth for that 90% that says, Hey, we want to do >>all the scale and all. All the plumbing is gonna be still running. You got a utility network. You still needed storage and compute. Get the abstraction layers kind of building on top of that scale. Yes. So the question for you is you're gonna take this across the company and >>am I gonna be Oh, yeah. Let's >>change your Southern. >>Let me get that promotion. So you know, I am definitely champion being a champion for because I want to share this. I mean, it just kind of makes life better. So, yes, the plan is Hey, let me share this Automation is great, but we actually have an automation team. There's a management team and a structure around automation, and they allow me to kind of be on their, you know, come to their meetings and do some of the things with them. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to it, too. It propagating through Southern. >>Well, you certainly nailed the use case. >>Abraham does. Does cloud in a public cloud fit into this discussion at all yet from your group? >>So public Cloud is in the discussion, and automation is a part of that discussion. But I think we're kind of early on in that process. There's not a whole lot around it, but but the one thing where it really does fit is the way of thinking, right. So now, to be cloud, native automation is just really a part of that. And so you have to start thinking in a cloud native fashion. And that's beginning, right? Mostly now it's in the strategy time for but implementation of something's coming. And the more we do automation, the more it kind of gets you ready for this idea of cloud. >>Yeah, E. I think that's a great point. You talk about that mind set the other thing when you talk about, you know, infrastructures. Infrastructure used to be kind of the boat anchor that prevented you from responding to the business. It was okay. Can you do this? Yeah. Get to it in the next 6 to 12 months, maybe if we have the budget and everything, How does how does automation help you respond to the business and beam or a group of Yes. >>Well, I'm glad you said that because of infrastructure has often been seen as the party of no right. No. And don't come back. But with the automation, what we're seeing is there a lot of things that we can do because one of the things that you don't want to happen an infrastructure is create a task that I could never get rid of. Okay, I'm gonna be doing this forever and a day. But now, if it becomes a push button item and I could do it consistently every time. It's like, Oh, yeah, why don't we do that? Why haven't we been doing that in the past? So yeah, that's exactly you know, a great point is that now infrastructure can feel like a part of the party rather than being the people sitting in the corner. They don't want to do this, right? >>Yeah, it's great. It's a critical component of scale. Am I want a final after my final question for you is you've had a great experience with answerable automation. This is the whole conference automation for all. What's the learning? Your big takeaway. Over the past couple of years, as you've been on this wave and it's gonna be bigger behind you, the clouds come in a lot more. A lot more scale, more software applications. What's your big learning? What's your big takeaway? >>You know, my big takeaway, believe it or not, is really not technical. So I've been doing this 23 years or so years, and I never thought that there would be a tool that could really change in effect culture the way it has. And so for me, my big takeaway is mean this automation thing. Help for my job in ways that that's not technical, You know? It helps me, you know, work better with other teams. Now their networks of folks that I work with who I never would have worked with before who were doing automation. We get along. It's not them over their social network. It's a social network. And who knew that a tool could could make that happen? >>You have more collaborative relationship, get someone's face, and no one's gonna get offended. Conversations share playbooks. >>Yeah, because because with automation now we we can all focus on the big picture. What is the corporate goal? Not what is my You know, I just want to keep this running. I just want to keep this up. Why are we keeping it up? Why are we keeping it running? What is the corporate go >>Better Teamwork does every vision. Thank you for coming on. Sharing your insights. Appreciate >>it. Yeah. Finally, red hat accelerators. Maybe just explain the shirt in the hat. >>Oh, yeah, Kind of flood. The accelerated. So the accelerator's are like a customer at Advocacy group. And so what has happened is and I was actually a charter member of the accelerator, so I gotta plug that too. Started a couple of years ago. They just call us and talk about new stuff that's coming out at Red Hat and go. What do you think? And we are brutally frank with them, sometimes to brutally. What? That and they keep coming back for more. I'm thinking, really, Guys, we just abused you. But no, it is a great group of guys and girls. And in a Ford And for us, the customers, it affords us opportunities to see new technology and gets away >>again. Collaboration scales as well there. >>Oh, absolutely. And you get to see what other companies are doing. Like, you know, my peers. I go, Hey, what are you doing in Cloud? What are you doing in automation on? So you get the get the shit >>that's doing. I interviewed a lot of the red headed folks. They love the feedback, Their technical group. They want brutal honesty. Okay, you're feeding the product requirements. What they want. Thanks for coming on. So now here on the queue Jumpers Do Minutemen for more coverage here, Answerable fest day One of two days of coverage will be right back