April Edwards Interview
Picture of April Edwards
April is a Senior Cloud Developer Advocate and DevOps practice lead at Microsoft specializing in application transformation and DevOps ways of working. Her focus is working on Microsoft Azure to take customers on a journey from legacy technology, to serverless and containers, where code comes first, while enabling them to take full advantage of DevOps. April was previously a cloud consultant and solution architect for various partners in the UK and brings her years of experience in helping customers plan their journey. In April’s spare time she spends time outdoors hiking, skiing or scuba diving. She is also a triathlete competing in Ironman and Half Ironman triathlons.
April is well known and active within the tech community. She is easily approachable and always willing to help. You can contact April via her social media handles documented towards the end of this interview. Let’s move on and find out more about April.
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April Edwards Interview
Tell us about yourself?
My name is April Edwards! I am a Senior Cloud Developer Advocate and DevOps Practice Lead at Microsoft. I started my career in Ops, then moved into development, so DevOps became a natural flow for me. I focus on Infrastructure as Code and pretty much anything in Azure, especially around App Transformation.
I have been living in the UK for over 9 years, but originally grew up on the east coast of the US. While I love automation, writing code and working with the community, when I’m not at work I spend my time outdoors doing triathlons, scuba diving or skiing.
How did you get started in Tech?
That’s not an easy story. Basically, my high school in the US required 2 years of computer classes (they specialized in Computer Arts and Sciences). In year 1 I was bored, my parents saw that as a good sign that I should be moved into a more advanced class. I took my A+ cert off the back of that class and then dabbled in other areas: VB Programming, graphic design, etc.
When I went to university, Computer Science wasn’t a big thing in the US. I studied Applied Mathematics and Psychology. I graduated and needed a job before heading to medical school. I applied to about 100 jobs in laboratories trying to get a work/study gig (they also paid minimum wage). I applied to 1 tech job and got the job! I worked on my Masters’ degree and worked in IT. I loved it. I fit in, I loved the people and then I decided to forget medical school and stay in tech. The rest is history!
What is your greatest achievement whilst working in Tech?
Wow, I don’t even know. Honestly, I hit a great moment and think ‘I’ve peaked’ and then it keeps getting even better. I am loving what I am doing and I’ll do it for as long as I can.
Most recently, I hosted Build live in the UK, that was amazing to be on the stage and getting to interview the amazing MVPs here in the UK. I was so inspired by what they were doing, but I don’t feel like that was a ‘techy’ moment.
Actually, a few weeks ago, I was giving a keynote at the PowerShell Summit in the US. I was hanging out with Jeffrey Snover, Jason Helmick, Sydney Smith and the amazing PowerShell team. Jeffrey agreed to do my intro onto the stage. This is a guy that taught me PowerShell, never once did I think that I’d be working along side him, not call him a friend. Jeffrey gave an unprompted and off the cuff intro that contained the nicest thing that ANYONE has ever said about me (even my mother). I gave my keynote and walked off stage, completely in awe at what just happened. Jeffrey intro’d me onto stage, the guy who taught me PowerShell and his technology enabled me to do what I do. It’s humbling, amazing and all the things that I don’t even have words for to even begin to describe how I felt.
How did you get involved with Microsoft Azure?
Microsoft 365 (then known as Office 365) was the ‘gateway drug’ for me. The company I was working for at the time was migrating from on-prem Exchange 2010 to O365. I was really hesitant, then completely relieved when I no longer had to deal with weekly outages.
In 2013, I was working on a customer project and they had just completed a migration to O365 and they loved it. In looking at the next phase of their project I said, ‘Let’s move your infrastructure into Azure.’ My first dabble into Azure was a customer production environment into the cloud, and it went pretty well.
From then on I was hooked!
What is DevOps?
At Microsoft we define it as ‘the union of people, process and products to enable continuous delivery of value to your end users.’ My colleague Donovan Brown wrote that, and I think it’s a perfect definition and starting point when thinking of DevOps.
What are the benefits of DevOps?
DevOps identifies and resolves bottlenecks in the flow of work. It helps to bring us into new ways of thinking, working and communicating. The end result should be the ability to resolve those bottlenecks and allow us to deliver faster, be more innovative and reduce human error.
What is the difference between DevOps and Azure DevOps?
Azure DevOps is a tool that we offer at Microsoft, it delivers using any code to any platform, not just Azure. DevOps is really a practice and a change in the ways we work.
Is it true that teams at Microsoft use Azure DevOps daily?
YES! We use it throughout the organization and on our engineering teams. When I was in engineering we used it to deliver EVERY customer project. Also, the product groups use it including the Windows team AND the Xbox Team. I recently did a series on The DevOps Lab showing how the Xbox team users DevOps. Check it out here.
Should all companies implement a DevOps culture? Is DevOps for everyone?
Everyone should be included in the DevOps process and it is 100% part of the culture of any company. Some companies will adopt it at different levels. There is so much benefit that can be derived. Agile is cool, waterfall is bad.
For an organisation to be successful, are there DevOps best practices that should be followed?
There is a lot an organization has to think about. First and foremost, is the culture change.
Could you provide some insights into DevOps Culture and DevOps tooling?
There is a team from within Microsoft that I have been working with, called the DevOps Dojo. They deliver DevOps to our global customers and have documented their practices here.
The culture change is the HARDEST part, and it’s about 80% of your battle. You have to change everyone’s way of thinking. Allow for a growth mindset, foster a culture of learning, and make every bit of code/infrastructure/etc production ready from day 1 (even if it isn’t going into prod, if you involve everyone, your code should be ready for prod).
For organisations wanting to learn more about Azure DevOps, where is the best place to get started?
The DevOps Lab
Azure DevOps Hands on Labs
Azure DevOps Learning Path on Microsoft Learn
Start for free using Azure DevOps
Azure DevOps Blog
You recently launched a new Azure User Group (Azure Cloud Native), what does this group involve?
We wanted to create a global user group all about Azure Cloud Native technology. It’s pretty much what it says on the tin. We wanted to create a global community of people that want to learn and focus on cloud native tech. It’s a huge area of focus and we’ve been fortunate to have some amazing community members involved.
You’re currently a Hashicorp Ambassador. What is this and what does this involve?
I have just been renewed for my 3rd year and I am really appreciative for getting voted again as a contributor to the community. Hashi Ambassadors are anyone that contribute to Hashicorp’s products, not just Terraform. I happen to work mostly with Terraform, so I create content, write blogs and contribute code to various projects to make the technology better for the community.
What other community initiatives are you involved with?
I love collaborating with the amazing Microsoft MVPs that are located here in the UK and EMEA. I try to bring them on as guests to the DevOps Lab to share their wealth of knowledge.
I do have a project brewing (to be launched in September 2022) with some amazing MVPs
I am currently raising money for Girls Who Code – you can donate here: https://aka.ms/MSBuild2022Donate to encourage and enable the next generation.
I also volunteer in some other non-tech ventures where I can give back to people that really need it. I love seeing the smile you put on someone’s face when you’ve made their day.
What’s next in your Tech journey?
Watch this space!
Do you have any final words of wisdom?
Never, ever, give up.
The best advice I was given in my career was from the late and amazing Abel Wang, ‘You do you.’ Every single day, I do me, I am my authentic self.
End of interview
April Edwards
Website: AZ April
Twitter: @TheAprilEdwards
LinkedIn: April Edwards
GitHub: scubaninja
