​As a startup ecosystem, the Netherlands is growing rapidly and is a great place for startups from every sector imaginable. Startups created over 109,000 jobs for people in the Netherlands and 25,000 of those were created in the last three years. With Europe's answer to Silicon Valley - the vibrant and energetic Dutch capital Amsterdam - spearheading this growth, the figures from the technology sector become more and more impressive. ​It's all about the Tech...According to a new report from Dealroom, Amsterdam’s tech companies account for 14% of local jobs, equal to roughly 77,000 positions. Between December 2016 and December 2019, home-grown tech outfits continuously added more jobs than any other sector. Dutch-founded tech companies are responsible for 43,000 jobs while international companies, including Tesla and Netflix, are linked to 34,000 positions.Whilst Amsterdam boasts headline names and multiple tech unicorns including Adyen & Takeaway.com (let's not forget to now add Mollie & MessageBird to the growing list), I found it interesting to discover that 57% of new startup jobs in the past 3 years were created by companies less than 5 years old. There are over 2,700 startups in Amsterdam — that’s 1.1 per 1,000 inhabitants. I think it's fair to say that with the diverse international culture, true sense of community & wealth of passionate technologists and entrepreneurs, this figure will almost certainly keep climbing. ​Amsterdam is now 3rd fastest-growing European City in the global tech EcoSystem Behind London and Stockholm, Amsterdam holds off Paris and Berlin to take bronze in Europe as it reaches a value of a whopping €73 Billion. Not only this, but it has now reached an overall rank of 12th in the global listings of startup ecosystems. When you then add in to the mix the growing number of global tech giants that are choosing Amsterdam to launch their new base of operations, I can only help but feel this valuation can only go up, and the growth shows no signs of slowing down whatsoever. Amsterdam has some tricks up it's sleeve to keep attracting talented techies, too. The 30% ruling for Ex-pats (a tax reduction to attract highly skilled professionals from abroad) means developers are financially better off just by living and working in the Netherlands. Couple this with a multi-cultural English speaking environment and a very strong attitude toward work-life balance, and you get an ideal mix to draw thousands of new faces to the canals of the Dutch capital every single year.​The only way is up.To conclude, our beloved Amsterdam is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to technology & growth across the entire spectrum. The few stats I've quoted above barely scratch the surface in demonstrating how frighteningly fast Amsterdam & the Dutch tech ecosystem continue to grow. A city of such great diversity, high standards set by fierce competition, and a constant stream of impressive innovations make a perfect storm for business & tech people to thrive. The ambition has no limits & this will keep things exciting for years to come!​TL;DR - Amsterdam is a total monster in both the European, and global tech economy. And well, that's absolutely great.

​Some programmers still struggle to identify the extent of code reviews' value and their place within a team's workflow. However, as Devops Engineers are ultimately responsible for any production issue - surely, they are ultimately responsible for all code reviews?How does a DevOps Engineer fit into the Development process?A Devops Engineer must sit above software developers, system operators (SysOps) and other production IT staff to oversee code releases and deployments.A DevOps Engineer needs to know how to manage the IT infrastructure that supports software code in dedicated, multi-tenant or hybrid -cloud environments. They might have to provision resources, select an appropriate deployment model, or direct testing protocol to validate each release and monitor performance after release. Tasks might include test data preparation, results analysis, problem troubleshooting and issue communication back to the software developers.What’s wrong with developers performing code reviews?Developers who try to fit code reviews within an existing workflow just slow production down. However, one organised by the DevOps Engineer will maximise the efficiency out of every code review.How can a Devops Engineer do things differently?The Devops Engineer should approach the software development life cycle with frequent, incremental changes to code versions, which means frequent deployment and testing regimens 📈. Although DevOps Engineers rarely code from scratch, they must understand the basics of software development languages and be familiar with the development tools used to create new code or update existing code.A DevOps Engineer works with development staff to tackle the necessary coding whilst scripting solutions to connect various application elements, such as APIs, libraries and software development kits (SDK's). Code reviews organised and managed by the Devops Engineer allows Developers to carry on with their job efficiently whilst at the same time enabling a team’s integration with other components such as SQL data management or messaging tools that development teams need to run the software release on production infrastructure​In summary, by ensuring the Code Review process is handled by a DevOps Engineer the productivity of your development process will be far more efficient.Do you agree?

​A few tips I've been given by my Network (Part 1)​I often hear from clients and candidates about customers who've fallen into a trap of knocking up big bills from not using AWS services correctly:https://www.theinformation.com/articles/aws-customers-rack-up-hefty-bills-for-moving-dataI asked my Network for some tips and general advice that I could share with anyone trying to avoid these nasty surprises.1: Shutdown Unused AWS ResourcesBy using AWS OpWorks and Elastic Beanstalk to allow developers to quickly deploy and redeploy applications, they can do so with consistency, without worrying about how this affects the infrastructure 🏢Obviously, ensure these development environments are shut down at the end of the working day and at the weekends.2: Use the Right Storage ClassThere are 5 tiers of Amazon S3 object storage available, which one works best for your means?Amazon S3 Standard- A general-purpose solution - As part of the AWS Free Usage Tier, a user will get 5 GB of Amazon S3 storage, 20,000 Get Requests, 2,000 Put Requests, and 15 GB of data transfer out each month. Beyond this, the first 50 TB per Month will be$0.023 per GB. The next 450 TB per month will be$0.022 per GB. Over 500 TB the price per month will be$0.021 per GB.Amazon S3 Infrequent Access (IA)- Best used for data used less frequently but requires the same resiliency as the standard storage class. However, this can be retrieved rapidly when needed but charged a retrieval fee of $0.01 per GB.Amazon S3 One Zone Infrequent Access is an even less expensive option since the data is only stored in a single availability zone with less resiliency. As a result, One-Zone IA is a great option for storing secondary backups.Amazon Glacier is designed for data that is retained for long term storage, such as backups or cold data. Two main options are bulk retrievals (that take 5–12 hours to restore) and faster retrievals, more expensive expedited retrievals that can take 1–5 minutes It might be an option to introduce object lifecycle management that automatically transitions data between the storage classes. For instance, you can automatically move your data from S3 Standard to IA after 30 days, archive data to Glacier after 90 days or set up a delete policy to expire specific objects after 180 days.3. Select the Right Instance TypeTo maximize your workloads while minimizing your spend, consider your specific use case:What is the type of processing unit and amount of memory required?Optimize the instance resource that results in the delivery of price performance for the priceAt least twice a year, assess your choice of instances to ensure they match the reality of your workload Tagging your instance is not only best practice but the cost per hour of running systems can be monitored in real-time: these results can drive the development team to optimize costs. To enforce discipline on tagging using tools like open-source tools like Cloud Custodian can automatically stop any instance without a Tag.​Do you have any other tips to help reduce the cost of AWS usage? Feel free to email me - Gerry.Darley@Foxtekrs.com.Thanks,Gerry

​It's a very common piece of advice to give to candidates for them to'do their research'before an interview in order to prepare, but sometimes this can be a little vague and candidates don't know where to start when preparing for an initial interview with a new company. Here's a pretty comprehensive list of the research you should do beforehand to prepare for & give yourself the best chance when introducing yourself to a potential new employer:Researching the company itselfThe best place to start is with a company's website - from here you can gain a good understanding of what the company does, how they operate & the company's culture. You can use it as a way to understand the different sectors & locations they operate in, the size of the company and more. Once you've checked out the main website of the company, check for a careers page to find out more about different benefits the company offer & investigate what they feel sets them apart from their competitors.After diving into the direct sources of information about the company, it's time to think a little further outside of the box. Using tools such as Glassdoor to check employee reviews, Googling them to find out news & articles of the company, will all formulate an extensive amount of knowledge in order to answer questions around what a company does & what you know about them.Also, it's a great way to generate a list of questions around parts of the company you wish to know more about, and ultimately shows you've gone above & beyond to prepare and show your interest in your potential new employer.Understand the job role and responsibilitiesEnsure you read the job specification carefully, to avoid any surprises in an interview. Identify in the experience section where you feel you're strongest & where you feel you may be able to improve. Knowing these points allows you to display your strengths when questioned about your previous experience, whilst allowing you to be honest when asked about things you feel less confident with - interviewers always appreciate this honesty, as long as you show you're willing to apply yourself and learn new things!You want to be leaving the interview with as much clarity as possible about what working for a new company looks like, so here's a perfect chance to ask those questions and build a true opinion on how this position will affect your career.Know your interviewersUltimately a huge part of any interview process is your interviewers judging how well you will fit with your potential new colleagues & team-mates. No connection in an interview? Often this will be the quickest way to an unsuccessful outcome. You can have all of the knowledge and experience required for a role, but if the people you speak to can't get along with you or connect with you, you won't get very far.The best way to avoid this is to research the people you're meeting. Here, Linkedin is your friend. Investigating a hiring manager's previous career path, mutual connections, interests & activity allows you to get an indication of the kind of individual they are. It may be that you both have a contact in common, both work with similar technologies or you see something on their profile that you're also interested in - all of these things are hidden gems in an interview to build a relationship & get bonus points with an interviewer. Remember, 'culture fit' is something tested in one way or another in almost every interview, so showing you're a match will go a long way in a company's decision-making process.Understand the logisticsThis one seems a little obvious, but definitely worth a mention. Know the location for the interview, be clear of your route & ensure you leave plenty of time to get to your destination without risk of being late! Always check the address for a company's office & understand what the journey entails, as this could be a route you follow many times in the future if you receive an offer and join the company!Establish why you're interested & what you likeLast but definitely not least, it's important to have a good idea in your head WHY you're interested in the company you're interviewing with. Maybe it's the technologies they work with? Maybe it's the sector they operate in? Maybe it's the growth opportunities & culture of the company? There's many different reasons why a company might interest you, but it's super important to identify these so you can really express your interest, passion & curiosity in the interview itself.Above all, following these tips & ensuring you prepare thoroughly for any interview will give you the best chance, whilst also allowing you to gain as much knowledge about a potential new employer as possible and make informed decisions on companies you speak with.In summary; Ask intelligent questions & give educated answers for the best chance moving forward!Good luck :)