Meet NPX 016 – Crescenzo Oliviero
- Name: Crescenzo Oliviero
- NPX Number:016
- Employer: Nutanix
- Blog URL: N/A
- Twitter: @CrexOliviero
- Virtualisation background: started to play with VMware in 2008 for backing it up through proxies… then to architect sizing. I started also playing with Solaris zones in late 2003 that could be considered a virtualisation approach or latest docker ancestor.
- Storage Background:use to work as presale engineer when Sun Microsystems had Hitachi OEM in 2002…, when I saw the first FC cable to a far away storage I thought: how it can be faster than local disks since it is far way? have you heard about data locality?
- Hyper Converged Infrastructure background: started in Nutanix in 2016 I learnt hyper converged architecture, before it was something I knew by reading and competing with it in another company. I understood the value when an enterprise customer told me: I do upgrades during weekends after verifying carefully compatibility matrix, to implement a new project I need at least 3 months to plan how to grow, configure, test and put in production things. Having a bunch of new VMs can take 2 weeks if we meet requirements. These are some aspects Nutanix HCI solves daily.
- Future of HCI and other emerging technologies: Nutanix HCI is the baseline for the next enterprise architecture where users will focalise on services and not following disks, servers, storage, data protection, troubleshooting. Nutanix customer today forgot Storage, is starting to forget VMs with Calm implementation, will think about services, maybe containerised in the future, infrastructure will be invisible. They will run next generation services on a robust platform, for sure not only on premise, but integrating different clouds, managing also network components. Without solid basis, it is not possible to use at maximum level, the emerging technologies arriving on the market. We also have to think about hardware improvements arriving on the market like optane disks, a platform that will not require silos re-creation to best use the latest technology but is able to integrate it within an existing system is another thing to take into account when making choices on HCI infrastructure to run on.
- Value of NPX: having NPX certification is a proof of following a method that allow to design a solution that solve customer pains and then shows a tangible value for customer. This does not mean to be omniscient and know everything, but be able to understand all technologies in a complex customer infrastructure, be able to integrate it with third parties and, in case of a knowledge missing, being able to deepen it and ask to the master experts in that field. An NPX grade project is an assurance of success for both the Customer and Company.
- What made you go for NPX:I’m in the IT industry since 2000, started as technical support engineer and then moved to presale/consultant role in different hardware and software companies. Engaging the NPX journey was for me receiving a proof to be able to architect a complex solution leveraging my knowledge and learn new things. I met NPX#001 (you know who is this guy) just arrived in the company in May 2016, he challenged me about the program, he was right, having certification in 1 year would be quite difficult … I took 2 years but it arrived in May 2018.
- Advise to people looking into the NPX track:I learnt a lot during exam preparation, during the workshop I followed, it is a must, even not trying exam, it is a worth to be part of. NPX trainer will infuse the method, will challenge to think different, will try to move the target (usual customer project indeed). I thought at the biggest project I dealt with, with complications, with integrations with other solutions. Size is not important in this kind of track, it is important to manage all the different aspects and objections: from business to security, from performance to high availability documenting all the possible choices and alternatives. I had to cover all aspect and formalise all in the documentation. this way of working should be a method to apply anytime, not for all projects of course, in this case size matters, but document the most important things any-time, the assumptions, constrains. Doing it for any project is a way to protect customer and us from wrong assumptions, missed constraints.