Alan Shimel is founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of Techstrong Group, a Futurum company, and a member of Futurum's executive leadership team. A technology entrepreneur, media executive and industry commentator, Shimel has spent more than three decades building businesses, communities and media platforms serving enterprise technology professionals, including co-founding StillSecure, a network security company, and the DevOps Institute, a DevOps certification and training body. At Techstrong, he leads a portfolio of media brands including DevOps.com, Security Boulevard, Cloud Native Now, Techstrong AI, Techstrong IT, Digital CxO, Platform Engineering, Techstrong Semi and Techstrong TV, along with a growing portfolio of events, educational programs and digital communities. With more than 25 years of experience in cybersecurity, Shimel is a familiar voice in the space and was an early advocate of the DevOps movement, helping bring DevOps practices into mainstream enterprise technology. His work today spans cybersecurity, DevOps, cloud-native technologies, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and digital transformation, and he hosts popular programs including Techstrong Gang, Shimmy Says and Still Cyber, After All These Years. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics from St. John's University and a Juris Doctor from New York Law School.
Best of 2025: eBPF: The Silent Power Behind Cloud Native’s Next Phase
Let’s start at the beginning. eBPF (extended Berkeley Packet Filter) is a technology built into the Linux kernel that allows sandboxed programs to run safely inside the kernel itself. Originally, it was ...
Kubernetes Isn’t Getting Simpler—The Ecosystem Around It Is Getting Smarter
KubeCon always surfaces the same truth: Kubernetes may be everywhere, but running it well is still a craft. Andy Suderman, who has been deep in infrastructure work since long before Kubernetes had ...
You Can Stop Saying “Cloud,” But You Can’t Take the Cloud Out
Shimmy breaks down why AI hype and agentic rebranding can’t replace the cloud, arguing that despite shifting language, modern AI systems still rely on cloud as their essential backbone ...
The Human Side of Kubernetes: Curiosity, Community and Change
Margaret Dawson, CMO for SUSE, explores her journey in technology and journalism, emphasizing the role of AI in shaping curiosity. She discusses Kubernetes and Rancher’s significance in the tech industry, the importance ...
What I’m Thankful for in Cloud Native This Year: A Community That Keeps Building the Future
Alan reflects on a turbulent but triumphant year in cloud native, celebrating the CNCF and Linux Foundation’s stewardship, Kubernetes’ continued maturity, OpenTelemetry’s breakout moment, open-source collaboration, and the rise of platform engineering—while ...
The Future of Cloud-Native Infrastructure: Standardization Without Lock-In
Himanshu Singh, director of product marketing at VMware by Broadcom, discusses how organizations are redefining their cloud and Kubernetes strategies in an era shaped by AI, data gravity, and rising operational complexity ...
How Cloud-Native Platforms Are Adapting to Today’s Operations-First Mindset
Dilpreet Bindra, Sr. Director of Engineering at VMware by Broadcom, and Alastair Cooke of Tech Field Day unpack how Kubernetes operations are evolving—and why operational efficiency is becoming the defining challenge for ...
Kubernetes at a Crossroads: Hybrid Reality, AI Pressure and Open Source Roots
SUSE’s Margaret Dawson gives a fast-moving tour through the past, present and future of cloud-native computing. Dawson revisits an important reality: containers and isolation mechanisms existed in Linux long before Docker brought ...
Cracks in KubeCon’s Invincibility Shield
To the casual observer walking the polished halls of the Georgia World Congress Center this week, KubeCon North America 2025 looked every bit the unstoppable juggernaut it has always been. The sponsor ...
Runtime Visibility & AI-powered Security in Cloud-Native Environments
Kubernetes and cloud-native platforms have transformed software delivery — but also redefined the attack surface. As threats shift to runtime, visibility and real-time response have become the new security frontline. AI-driven anomaly ...
