Various pieces of things fail from time to time. Anything we own ultimately quits working, from cars, machines, and a zipper in your jacket, to – especially, in the IT industry - computers. We often find ourselves discarding and replacing them with new ones, however, there's another solution worth exploring. The art of fixing.
Learning how to fix things is the experience that stays with you forever. Even more, it comes in handy when it comes to everyday life. It helps you save a lot of time that you’re going to waste either waiting for someone/something or money you need to pay others.
Fixing attitude and repair skills can be converted to many other areas, like in Islam’s case, who is not only fixing computers but also looking for different solutions how to solve issues and improve observability in customers’ environments. And sometimes investing in one good tool and using help from trusted experts can help to fix many things, like when using Dynatrace with all its resources. 😉
Keep reading to learn more about @islam_zidan and his philosophy of life.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Can you share some details about your past? What is your story, and how it happened that you decided to work in the IT / APM area?
I grew up in Egypt with a passion for electronics and computers. I used to spend my time reading and discovering how PC work and how to build a custom PC 😊 this passion led me to study electronics and information technology after high school. After graduation, I joined ZTE as a data center support engineer, gained my CCNA and CCNP certificates, then moved to Ericsson as an IP Backbone engineer, a member of a team responsible for core routers and switches in one of the biggest ISPs in Egypt.
In 2015, I accepted the challenge and moved to the software world. I joined a Dynatrace partner in Egypt to support Dynatrace DCRUM, BSM (legacy Dynatrace products 😊), then AppMon and OneAgent. I have been promoted to SME and then Solution architect, Delivering Dynatrace products, educating and helping customers to use Dynatrace products and get the most out of it as per their use case.
Can you tell us a little bit about your professional life? Where do you work, and what do you do in your job? And how does Dynatrace fit into the picture?
Now, as a solution architect in Your Compass - Dynatrace Partner in the UAE. We design, implement, and deliver Dynatrace observability and AIOPS to strategic customers in UAE and the Middle East, providing the right knowledge and training for customers’ operations and support teams to make the most use of Dynatrace.
In Your Compass, we encourage continuous learning and training, to be always ready to work with new technologies and overcome challenges. 😎
What was the biggest challenge Dynatrace helped you to overcome?
The main challenge was to extend Dynatrace monitoring and capabilities to cover business insights. Customers started to rely on Dynatrace to achieve their SLOs, monitor users’ interactions with marketing campaigns and resulting business errors.
Starting from the beginning (BSM, DCRUM, AppMon, and Oneagent) we always faced challenges in technologies and customer needs which are covered and solved by Dynatrace continuous updates. Now, after 8 years in the Dynatrace world, we have knowledge about most of the modern technologies in the market and the best use cases for each one.
What brought you to our Community? What made you stay? What best advice can you give someone who just started using Community?
Initially, I used the Community to search for answers to my questions, but after some time…
My advice to newcomers is to expand their Dynatrace knowledge by viewing product ideas, questions, and possible solutions for them. Also, don’t be shy to ask a question or post a reply. Every question and reply will help someone 😊. And don’t forget that the Community content is one of the main sources of knowledge for Dynatrace certifications. 😉
Tell us something about you that most people don’t know. What is your biggest joy or passion in life?
We usually have a busy Dynatrace life, so every personal moment is very valuable. I do enjoy family time, spending time with my daughter, traveling, workout, video games, learning other languages, and… building PCs 😊. In addition to that, I have high soldering skills, so just give me any faulty electronic board and consider it done. 😂
What’s one thing on your bucket list? Your dream?
My nearest one is Dynatrace Master Certification. Then, I am planning to go deeper into the security world.
Personally, I hope I can achieve a fluency level in French and Dutch by the end of 2025 and make a far east trip. I already visited Bali once so the next stop will be Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Islam, having people like you on the Community is making this place better for everyone. We appreciate your efforts so keep going, as by helping someone, in some way, on a higher level we’re helping… ourselves. 😊
11 Comments
