We're very excited to have Kurt Milne, managing director of the IT Process Institute, and one of my co-authors of Visible Ops Private Cloud joining us for a couple of sessions at CA World in less than a month. Kurt has 20+ years experience in various marketing management, alliance management, and engineering positions at leading technology companies. His main areas of expertise include IT service management and IT controls, inventory and supply chain management, and computer integrated manufacturing. He has led six major research studies and is responsible for overall ITPI operations including sponsorship and membership.

I had an opportunity to ask Kurt a few questions over email about his DevOps session (The DevOps Convergence - Where agile development meets agile infrastructure, 11/16 @ 4 pm PT in Mandalay Bay Ballroom L):

Tell us about your upcoming session at CA World 2011.

In our industry there has been significant focus on adopting agile development techniques.  There is also considerable focus on new cloud computing models.  I'll be speaking about DevOps - where those agile development and agile infrastructure converge. 

What are the top 3 things you want attendees to learn from your session?

One, that the benefits of really optimizing the DevOps point of convergence are significant: faster release of applications, better code, and higher service levels.Two, that the core problems at organizations that haven't optimized the point of interaction between Dev and Ops, can be understood and resolved. And three, that culture change may be required to improve collaboration between groups that may not have worked well together in the past. But tools can significantly improve the upstream and downstream processes that are needed to improve collaboration and gain the benefits of DevOps.

Tell us a key insight you have gained about DevOps?

The combination of new cloud IaaS capabilities, where you can stand up infrastructure from a few commands, and new automated deployment and configuration of complex multi-tier workloads from templates - is really transformative. Don't confuse DevOps with Continuous Deployment. And don't pigeon hole DevOps as something that only works for Web App startups. Every enterprise IT organization should be exploring how to implement DevOps practices and tools at their organization. Another way to approach DevOps  - "Assume your competitors are getting good at this!"

What do you hope to take away from CA World this year?

I look forward to experiencing the ongoing evolution of datacenter technology and cloud computing. These really are exciting times in our industry. I appreciate time when I can pause normal daily activities and step back to learn and explore new capabilities.

Thanks to Kurt for taking a few minutes to share his thoughts on his session and the event.

For those of you who are attending CA World, we look forward to seeing you very soon in Las Vegas! Be sure to drop by the Cloud Choice booth on Wednesday, 11/16 from 12:15 - 1:15 pm PT when Kurt, Jeanne Morain and I will be signing copies of Visible Ops Private Cloud.

Not yet registered? Click here to register and use the Agenda Builder to customize your schedule. Select "Cloud Choice" from the focus area drop down menu for cloud-related sessions.

Not able to attend? Follow the #CAWorld hashtag for general event-related tweets or #cloudchoice for updates on cloud sessions and activities.