• Smart Kiosks for Lost People: Innovative Wayfinding Tools in the Cloud
    Jun 27 2023

    Most people have used Google Maps or a similar app on the road, but wouldn’t it be great if you had a wayfinding service at a massive indoor facility like a mall? Or a hospital?

    Since 2017, the folks at RoveIQ">RoveIQ have been deploying interactive smart kiosks nationwide. Not only can these kiosks help people get from A to B, but they’re also invaluable data collectors for their clients.

    RoveIQ’s VP of Software Engineering, Nate Denlinger">Nate Denlinger, breaks down a typical day for their DevOps and how they’re keeping these kiosks of the future running with the cloud.

    Join us as we discuss:


    - Wayfinding and the challenges that come with indoor geocaching (2:22)

    - Managing hundreds of digital kiosks in a cloud-based infrastructure (14:57)

    - Optimization and update hurdles in customer-facing installations (27:08)

    Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

    - AWS Elastic Beanstalk">AWS Elastic Beanstalk

    - Go Programming Language">Go Programming Language

    - Svelte">Svelte

    To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for Cloud and Clear: IT Modernization Out Loud in your favorite podcast player.


    Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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    40 mins
  • Bend But Don’t Break: Customizing Cloud-Based Services for Discerning Clients
    Jun 20 2023

    Custom website design and development can be a tricky business. On one hand, you need to provide your clients with a product that meets their needs. On the flip side, you don’t want it to be so responsive that they accidentally clog up the plumbing.

    Matt Meier">Matt Meier and Terence Devine">Terence Devine of design studio Ligature Creative">Ligature Creative join us to share how cloud-based services are helping them delight their clients with innovative branding for their websites.

    Hear how they use platforms like WP Engine to assist them with backend DevOps and their experience with tackling the development of an interactive Web TV series.

    Join us as we discuss:


    - Developing and supporting custom processes in WP Engine (7:17)

    - Using cloud-based file sharing for remote operations (14:15)

    - Tackling a new development challenge in the Web TV space (23:09)


    Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:


    - Bitbucket

    - WP Engine

    - The Accidental Wolf

    To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website or search for Cloud and Clear: IT Modernization Out Loud in your favorite podcast player.


    Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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    29 mins
  • Protecting National Security With Cloud-Based Services
    Jun 13 2023

    As remote work continues to be a non-negotiable for many DevOps engineers, cloud-based services, like AWS GovCloud, play a critical role for defense contractors. When government secrets are at stake, software integration platforms like Tangram Flex">Tangram Flex can’t leave anything to chance.

    Gene Erbacher">Gene Erbacher, Tangram’s Information Systems Security Manager, has seen firsthand how a secure cloud strategy can make off-site InfoSec work possible.

    In this episode, Gene gives us an inside peek into IT regulatory compliance for classified projects and dealing with security issues for remote employees.

    Join us as we discuss:


    - Gene’s pivot from active military service to private InfoSec (5:00)

    - Onboarding and user management for off-site engineers (9:12)

    - How cloud computing makes InfoSec remote work possible (15:32)

    Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:


    - Tangram Flex">Tangram Flex

    - Gene Erbacher">Gene Erbacher

    - AWS GovCloud">AWS GovCloud

    - NIST 800-171">NIST 800-171

    To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website or search for Cloud and Clear: IT Modernization Out Loud in your favorite podcast player.


    Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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    24 mins
  • Billion-Dollar Peaks: Cloud Solutions for Extreme Web Traffic
    Jun 6 2023

    A lottery’s website traffic is about as flat as you can imagine during normal business hours. But once those multi-million dollar drawings take place in the evening, the jackpots aren’t the only numbers that are eye-popping.

    When Chris Abate"> Chris Abate, VP of Lottery Operations at Marcus Thomas LLC"> Marcus Thomas LLC, and his team took responsibility for the web properties and user experience of Mega Millions"> Mega Millions, The Ohio Lottery"> The Ohio Lottery, and The New Hampshire Lottery"> The New Hampshire Lottery - they knew they needed cloud solutions that packed a punch.

    Chris shares how the cloud gives lottery websites the edge in handling extreme traffic during peak hours and keeps bad actors from ruining the greatest day ever for winners.

    Join us as we discuss:


    - Engaging customers with a new lottery rewards program (5:46)

    - Security checks and balances to deny malicious coders (10:53)

    - Automating and scaling a major lottery platform in the cloud (20:32)

    Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:


    - Chris Abate">Chris Abate

    - Marcus Thomas LLC">Marcus Thomas LLC

    - Ohio Lottery">Ohio Lottery

    To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website or search for Cloud and Clear: IT Modernization Out Loud in your favorite podcast player.


    Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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    25 mins
  • Cloud-y With a Chance of NIST: Compliance and Cybersecurity in Manufacturing
    May 30 2023

    Brandon Heimann">Brandon Heimann, Information Technology Manager at Hohman Plating">Hohman Plating, is a chief evangelist for backing up data — offsite, onsite, and all over the place.

    Manufacturing cloud-based IT is a big enough monster without having to deal with local drive failures, especially when legacy industrial equipment is involved. When you add compliance-laden government contracts into the mix, Brandon thinks getting away from bare metal is a no-brainer.

    Brandon shares his experiences with IT and cloud computing in heavy manufacturing and navigating NIST and CMMC cybersecurity compliance.

    Join us as we discuss:


    - Using IT to boost efficiencies in legacy industrial infrastructures (6:11)

    - Cybersecurity, NIST compliance scores, and the CMMC (12:08)

    - Preventing disaster with redundant and timely backups (18:01)

    Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:


    - Brandon Heimann">Brandon Heimann

    - Hohman Plating">Hohman Plating

    - Darktrace">Darktrace

    - National Institute of Standards and Technology">National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

    - Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification">Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)

    - PreVeil">PreVeil

    To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website or search for Cloud and Clear: IT Modernization Out Loud in your favorite podcast player.


    Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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    25 mins
  • Crashing Through the Cloud Ceiling: IT Stories From a Former CIO
    May 23 2023

    Former CIO Steve Hangen">Steve Hangen started his IT journey in the days of keying commands into punched cards, so he’s seen it all during the gradual evolution of cloud technologies.

    But when Steve inherited a broken e-commerce cloud-based platform at his last employer, Mikesell’s">Mikesell’s, he knew they needed an outside perspective to help get it back on track.

    Hear how Mike eventually became a believer in cloud services and why smaller businesses shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help in keeping up with fast-moving changes in technology.

    Join us as we discuss:


    - Steve’s early misconceptions of the cloud and what changed (6:46)

    - Why small IT teams shouldn’t try to keep up with change alone (13:21)

    - Calling in help to overhaul a broken cloud-based platform (17:49)


    Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:


    - Steve Hangen">Steve Hangen

    - Mikesell’s">Mikesell’s

    To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website or search for Cloud and Clear: IT Modernization Out Loud in your favorite podcast player.


    Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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    24 mins
  • Keeping the Friday Night Lights On: A Cloud-Based High School Community
    May 16 2023

    When Covid brought the world to a halt, thousands of schools were left scrambling for remote learning alternatives. But the folks at Archbishop Carroll High School">Archbishop Carroll High School in Dayton, Ohio, were already ahead of the curve as each student already had a Chromebook in hand.

    Today, Carroll’s students are back in the classroom. And they’re enjoying a robust network of cloud-based servers that are helping give them a leg up in becoming future leaders in STEM fields.

    Their principal, Matt Sableski, gives us an inside peek into how Carroll’s IT initiatives are preparing their students for a digital world.

    Join us as we discuss:


    - How IT is helping prep students for jobs that don’t exist yet (3:57)

    - Using cloud-based services to protect students online (8:48)

    - When government cloud services fail the stress test (13:56)

    Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:


    - Archbishop Carroll High School">Archbishop Carroll High School

    - GoGuardian">GoGuardian

    To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website or search for Cloud and Clear: IT Modernization Out Loud in your favorite podcast player.


    Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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    19 mins
  • Mega Millions: Squeezing Every Resource in Cloud Computing DevOps
    May 9 2023

    Like many other IT experts who came before him, Eric Wright">Eric Wright started as a keyboard junkie working maintenance windows. Today, the VP of Operations at DataYard">DataYard is keeping his clients’ data safe and secure by working to keep up with the accelerated change in cloud-compute DevOps one day at a time.

    Hear how Eric learned to appreciate the value of proactive data analysis and recovery procedures so he can help his customers scale their businesses to higher heights.

    Join us as we discuss:


    Cloud-compute versus SaaS functionality (5:51)

    Isolating OS processes through containers (12:24)

    Anticipating load management at scale (24:23)

    Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:


    Eric Wright">Eric Wright

    DataYard">DataYard

    Ohio Lottery">Ohio Lottery

    To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website or search for Cloud and Clear: IT Modernization Out Loud in your favorite podcast player.


    Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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    31 mins