Hello, friend.

My name is Ben. I’m an engineering manager with a background in DevOps and Site Reliability Engineering. I’ve been fortunate to work at some great companies and learn from some amazing people. Here’s some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

SRE Teams Are Product Teams

In the fast-paced, dynamic world of software engineering, where I have spent countless hours fine-tuning, debugging, and fortifying systems, one thing has become vividly clear: the landscape is ever-evolving. The traditional notions of job roles and team structures are continually being challenged and reshaped. As we chart these new territories, I find myself transitioning from engineering to product management within my site reliability engineering (SRE) team. This shift, admittedly, may seem unconventional to some....

July 21, 2023 · 4 min · Ben Vilnis

Turning Down the Noise: Unleashing the Power of SLO-Based Alerting for Superior User Experiences

In my previous post, I delved into the concept of alert fatigue and how it can hinder the performance of systems and the productivity of teams, suggesting that less is indeed more when it comes to system alerts. Now it’s time to translate that understanding into a tangible strategy to combat alert fatigue while improving overall user experience. This brings us to the emerging paradigm of Service Level Objective (SLO)-based alerting....

June 1, 2023 · 6 min · Ben Vilnis

Alert Fatigue: Why Less is More

Introduction Picture this: your phone buzzes incessantly, Slack notifications ping non-stop, and your email inbox transforms into a seemingly bottomless vortex of doom. Sound familiar? This stress-inducing phenomenon is known as alert fatigue, and it’s a persistent challenge that engineers and organisations face. With modern software systems growing increasingly complex, staying on top of alerts has become a daunting task that can leave even the most seasoned engineers feeling overwhelmed....

May 9, 2023 · 8 min · Ben Vilnis

Empowering Engineers: How Modern Companies Unleash Problem-Solvers and Outshine Traditional Factory Worker Mindsets

In the fast-paced digital age of today, the engineering landscape and expectations for engineers have undergone significant changes. The approach a company adopts towards engineering can greatly influence both the work experience of engineers and the value they create. After reading the insightful analysis of “How Big Tech Runs Tech Projects and the Curious Absence of Scrum” by Gergely Orosz on his Substack, The Pragmatic Engineer, I felt inspired to elaborate on a few points he highlighted about problem-solvers and factory workers....

April 3, 2023 · 7 min · Ben Vilnis

Embracing the AI Revolution with Caution

Embracing the Future with Caution As we stand on the precipice of a new era of AI-driven advancements, I cannot help but feel a mixture of excitement and trepidation. The recent announcement of GitHub Copilot X, a next-generation AI-powered software development platform that leverages OpenAI’s GPT-4 model to integrate chat and voice interfaces, AI-assisted pull requests, command line integration, and instant documentation answers, is a testament to the incredible potential of AI in reshaping the developer experience and boosting productivity....

March 23, 2023 · 4 min · Ben Vilnis