Obsidian Systems is spearheading the Docker DevOps meetups or community groups, a trend the company says is beginning to take root in creating awareness around digital tools, specifically software.
Obsidian Systems MD Muggie van Staden says community groups have popped up all over the place and this is evident in Meetup or Slack — the number of new groups changes daily.

He is adamant that community groups is not about sharing company secrets but rather learning how to better utilise a tool or do something different that will produce a better result within a specific environment.

“We see the value in communities coming together and learning from one another. It shouldn’t ever be a sales pitch. It has to be about sharing knowledge with one another, helping each other, assisting each other with whatever woes we have,” says Dean Schaffer, community manager at Obsidian.

At the core of every succesful community group is a desire to share knowledge and solve problems together.

“Within business, this mentality of sharing has in the past been considered counterproductive to meeting the bottom line or staying in a particular position. Our very job security at times balanced on knowing something no one else did. Why would anyone want to share with those reasons?” Schaffer adds.

DevOps has emerged as an industry force to be reckoned with. Obsidian Systems believes DevOps’ overarching ideal is to get people talking and break down silos within an organisation.

“If more folks are part of the “Big Picture” then hopefully there are fewer problems as the solution pool is deepened. Dare I say “DevOps” is another word for community? Community is all about sharing. Community groups are best when everyone gets talking. If I am not learning I am not growing as a person, as an individual and as a contributing member of society,” Schaffer continues.

These meetups, in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, supported by Obsidian, have been organised to discuss and share projects and solutions using the Docker tool set solving real world problems.

“We will expose methods and methodologies to help build systems and developers to be more productive and help businesses to be more competitive in today’s ever-changing technological landscape,” says van Staden.

The success of the Docker meetups has reinforced Obsidian Systems’ view that community groups and their influence will have a profound impact on the quality of software solutions and DevOps going forward.