Steve Hickman on DevOps in K-12 - Episode 93

In today’s episode, Steve Hickman is joining the podcast! Steve is a 25-year veteran of the software industry who has built many software systems in a variety of environments. He first started out as an individual programmer, became a Director of Development, and is now in an executive role overseeing many developers. Previously in his career, he was also the Director of Technology for a major school district in TX and oversaw technology for the private industry.   In their discussion today, Steve and Jeffrey are taking a look at what the software world looks like in the context of school districts K-12. Steve shares his experiences and thoughts on what testing and deployment look like from a school district’s perspective, the unique struggles school districts face in the software world, whether or not K-12 has gone through Cloud adoption, challenges when it comes to security practices that are essential in a DevOps environment in K-12, and more.   Topics of Discussion: [:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes. [:48] About the recent Microsoft Build Conference and The Azure DevOps Podcast. [1:36] About today’s episode with Steve Hickman! [2:10] Jeffrey welcomes Steve to the show! [2:16] Steve speaks about the unique struggles school districts face in the software world. [3:17] Jeffrey and Steve speak about their history together. [4:25] Steve speaks about what has changed over the last 2 ½ decades in school districts regarding software. [8:46] What do software groups normally look like in K-12? [10:56] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [11:23] Jeffrey shares some quick announcements. [13:12] On the topic of testing and deployment, Steve speaks about some of the common similarities that are common between school districts and small businesses. [16:24] Steve speaks about the differences between HIPAA and FERPA from a development perspective. [18:24] Steve speaks about some of the challenges when it comes to security practices that are essential in a DevOps environment in K-12. [20:10] Has K-12 gone through Cloud adoption? Are they fully on the other side of that curve? [27:18] Steve gives his advice for those working in a school district on how they can apply some of the key advice from today’s conversation! [28:38] Jeffrey thanks Steve for joining the podcast!   Mentioned in this Episode: Azure DevOps Clear Measure (Sponsor) .NET DevOps for Azure: A Developer's Guide to DevOps Architecture the Right Way, by Jeffrey Palermo — Available on Amazon! bit.ly/dotnetdevopsebook — Click here to download the .NET DevOps for Azure ebook! Jeffrey Palermo’s Youtube Jeffrey Palermo’s Twitter — Follow to stay informed about future events! [email protected] — Email Jeffrey for a free 30-point DevOps inspection (regularly priced at $5000!) — Spaces are limited! Steve Hickman’s Twitter: @TXHickman What is FERPA?   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.