Raynet GmbH, Europe´s leading provider of software packaging and application lifecycle management solutions, wants to warmly welcome Bob Kelly in the Raynet Team. Learn more about new colleague in the following interview. From now on, Bob Kelly is helping to steer the direction of Raynet's product strategy.
Bob Kelly built a reputation in the IT Pro community by authoring papers, books and videos, by speaking at many events around the world, but especially by establishing the AppDeploy online community (now known as ITNinja). After Bob's recent move to Raynet, we caught up with him to ask some questions at the App Manage Event in Utrecht where he was presenting...
So you just left Dell, can you give us a quick recap of what your focus was there? Why did you leave?
Well, for the past 10 years, I've been with Dell KACE and picked up some great experience and skills along the way. Focusing primarily on Product Management, I became Scrum certified and excelled and enjoyed it to the extent that I eventually went on to train others at various areas of the company on the processes and related tools.
A couple years ago here at App Manage Event, I managed to deliver a session that brought my application deployment and product management skills together by showing how one could employ Scrum methodology to streamline packaging efforts.
My focus in recent years has really been more around building a strong roadmap [for KACE products] through market analysis, research and lots of time engaging with Sales and customers. This is something I really enjoy, but I have also missed the more technical role I had previously as a systems architect specializing in deployment projects.
My leaving Dell was largely due to a desire to find a new challenge where I could play a more significant role in the company's strategy.
What made you decide to join Raynet?
I really wanted to find a larger role at a smaller company where I felt I could do the most good. I looked around for a while, and stopped looking when I found Raynet.
Raynet has a great portfolio and as I meet more people in the company, I am increasingly impressed. I love that the software Raynet offers evolved from tools created by the company’s own services efforts. Raynet has always had a reputation for services like packaging and software asset management, and it built the tools it needed to be successful, from RayFlow which is a highly configurable workflow solution to the individual tools needed to get the work done. They have gotten very far without a strong product management presence and so I see an excellent opportunity to take what is great and make it greater by helping to steer the direction of Raynet's product strategy.
And most importantly, Raynet has been evolving a concept for a package store that I feel can really be disruptive to the market. It is every Product Manager’s dream to find a role where they can lead a product that could have this kind of impact so naturally I jumped at the opportunity. It really is the perfect place for me to be where my technical background, my community background and my product management background can all be leveraged together for maximum impact.
What kinds of changes should we expect to see?
I'm not coming in to make any seeping changes, as I said the portfolio is very strong.
I think some portfolio rationalization work may be necessary to ensure a focus on what we do best. We’ll move more toward focusing on suites of products and less on the individual components that make them up to simplify messaging.
The Packaging Suite is particularly impressive with many features I don’t think many realize exist. When Wise Package Studio left the market, it left a hole that the Packaging Suite fills perfectly (and it is even better in many areas). Somehow it is not a well known solution, so this would be an obvious thing I’d like to change.
Raynet also has strong offerings around inventory and asset management, both from a product and services perspective. I’ll be focusing more on the packaging suite, but there is an obvious connection between software inventory/discovery and software packaging/deployment.
Connecting well to both of these pillars is the product that will initially be my primary focus and that is the Package Store. A community driven repository of packages addressing all possible deployment options for every software title that exists in a way that is easy to consume.
I’ll be focusing more broadly to engage with customers, to understand where they see a need for improvements, enhancements or new capabilities across the portfolio.
The Packaging Store sounds very impressive. Can you tell us more?
This Package Store has been a passion project for Raynet owner Ragip Aydin for a couple of years and the team has recently made some significant advancements. The notion of engaging the community to contribute to the store is really the game-changing aspect that can make the dream a reality, but there are many challenges to pulling it off. I’m encouraged that Ragip and the team are willing to attack each obstacle in order to see it through. How should the community contribute? What should be their reward for doing so? How can we ensure the highest security and quality? The end goal has so much potential that these and other challenges are not seen as road blocks, but perhaps speed bumps that will be navigated and overcome.
What will become of ITNinja?
I feel I left it in a good place. It had evolved to the point where the community was mostly able to run itself. The site was coded from the ground up and evolved to the extent that key members like Steve Malaglowicz (aka SMal.tmcc), Ian Northwood (aka VBScab), Dunnpy and others have been carrying the bulk of the load in terms of community management and contribution.
It is still the leading place to go to exchange tips on software deployment, but is also a strong aspect of KACE's culture and I expect there would be many upset customers if it were to be taken down. In fact, deployment tips are contextually integrated within their management product (the K1000 Systems Management Appliance) making it even more difficult to eliminate. For these reasons, I don't see ITNinja going anywhere.
I actually see opportunities for the Package Store and ITNinja to connect and be stronger together in the future.
Bob Kelly built a reputation in the IT Pro community by authoring papers, books and videos, by speaking at many events around the world, but especially by establishing the AppDeploy online community (now known as ITNinja). After Bob's recent move to Raynet, we caught up with him to ask some questions at the App Manage Event in Utrecht where he was presenting...
So you just left Dell, can you give us a quick recap of what your focus was there? Why did you leave?
Well, for the past 10 years, I've been with Dell KACE and picked up some great experience and skills along the way. Focusing primarily on Product Management, I became Scrum certified and excelled and enjoyed it to the extent that I eventually went on to train others at various areas of the company on the processes and related tools.
A couple years ago here at App Manage Event, I managed to deliver a session that brought my application deployment and product management skills together by showing how one could employ Scrum methodology to streamline packaging efforts.
My focus in recent years has really been more around building a strong roadmap [for KACE products] through market analysis, research and lots of time engaging with Sales and customers. This is something I really enjoy, but I have also missed the more technical role I had previously as a systems architect specializing in deployment projects.
My leaving Dell was largely due to a desire to find a new challenge where I could play a more significant role in the company's strategy.
What made you decide to join Raynet?
I really wanted to find a larger role at a smaller company where I felt I could do the most good. I looked around for a while, and stopped looking when I found Raynet.
Raynet has a great portfolio and as I meet more people in the company, I am increasingly impressed. I love that the software Raynet offers evolved from tools created by the company’s own services efforts. Raynet has always had a reputation for services like packaging and software asset management, and it built the tools it needed to be successful, from RayFlow which is a highly configurable workflow solution to the individual tools needed to get the work done. They have gotten very far without a strong product management presence and so I see an excellent opportunity to take what is great and make it greater by helping to steer the direction of Raynet's product strategy.
And most importantly, Raynet has been evolving a concept for a package store that I feel can really be disruptive to the market. It is every Product Manager’s dream to find a role where they can lead a product that could have this kind of impact so naturally I jumped at the opportunity. It really is the perfect place for me to be where my technical background, my community background and my product management background can all be leveraged together for maximum impact.
What kinds of changes should we expect to see?
I'm not coming in to make any seeping changes, as I said the portfolio is very strong.
I think some portfolio rationalization work may be necessary to ensure a focus on what we do best. We’ll move more toward focusing on suites of products and less on the individual components that make them up to simplify messaging.
The Packaging Suite is particularly impressive with many features I don’t think many realize exist. When Wise Package Studio left the market, it left a hole that the Packaging Suite fills perfectly (and it is even better in many areas). Somehow it is not a well known solution, so this would be an obvious thing I’d like to change.
Raynet also has strong offerings around inventory and asset management, both from a product and services perspective. I’ll be focusing more on the packaging suite, but there is an obvious connection between software inventory/discovery and software packaging/deployment.
Connecting well to both of these pillars is the product that will initially be my primary focus and that is the Package Store. A community driven repository of packages addressing all possible deployment options for every software title that exists in a way that is easy to consume.
I’ll be focusing more broadly to engage with customers, to understand where they see a need for improvements, enhancements or new capabilities across the portfolio.
The Packaging Store sounds very impressive. Can you tell us more?
This Package Store has been a passion project for Raynet owner Ragip Aydin for a couple of years and the team has recently made some significant advancements. The notion of engaging the community to contribute to the store is really the game-changing aspect that can make the dream a reality, but there are many challenges to pulling it off. I’m encouraged that Ragip and the team are willing to attack each obstacle in order to see it through. How should the community contribute? What should be their reward for doing so? How can we ensure the highest security and quality? The end goal has so much potential that these and other challenges are not seen as road blocks, but perhaps speed bumps that will be navigated and overcome.
What will become of ITNinja?
I feel I left it in a good place. It had evolved to the point where the community was mostly able to run itself. The site was coded from the ground up and evolved to the extent that key members like Steve Malaglowicz (aka SMal.tmcc), Ian Northwood (aka VBScab), Dunnpy and others have been carrying the bulk of the load in terms of community management and contribution.
It is still the leading place to go to exchange tips on software deployment, but is also a strong aspect of KACE's culture and I expect there would be many upset customers if it were to be taken down. In fact, deployment tips are contextually integrated within their management product (the K1000 Systems Management Appliance) making it even more difficult to eliminate. For these reasons, I don't see ITNinja going anywhere.
I actually see opportunities for the Package Store and ITNinja to connect and be stronger together in the future.
