Dan Neff

Cloud Operations Architect

Cloud Architecture
AWS, Azure, High Availability, Fault Tolerance, Disaster Recovery, Scale
DevOps
CI/CD, Release Management, Infrastructure as Code, Git, SVN, CVS
Infrastructure
Linux (Ubuntu/CentOS/RHEL), Apache, Nginx, Kubernetes
Programming
Python, JavaScript, Perl, Bash
Databases
MySQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL

Bachelor of Science | 2018 - 2019

Computer Science

Machine learning, Systems Architecture, Data structures, Logic, Information Security, Programming

92 quarter units towards BA | 1987 - 1990

Literature

Creative Writing, Journalism, Screenwriting

Adobe | San Jose, CA | 2024 – Present

Leads Adobe's generative AI operational onboarding creating the AI use-case definition, creating the AI Tools Radar, standardizing AI tech reviews, and defining the Vendor AI onboarding process.
Leads Adobe's developer and engineering tools procurement and maintains the Adobe Technology Radar.
Key technical "podium" at Adobe, hosting multiple Developer, Cloud Arch, Principle, and third-party events on key technical topics.

Adobe | San Jose, CA | 2018 – 2024

Co-chair, Adobe Tech Summit. First all-remote summit with over 7000 global attendees.
Adobe representative on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Strategic Customer Advisory Board (2017-2024).
Led Adobe-wide AWS operational support engagement.
Created the "Java Strategy" working group, defining and successfully funding a five-year strategic roadmap for company-wide OpenJDK Java adoption.
Led the "Secure Cloud Development" working group, defining public cloud code governance requirements and working with vendors to resolve technical gaps.
Co-chaired the 'DevOps Challenges' program, leading 50+ volunteers, delivering an event-wide scoreboard, co-developing a machine-learning "Hack the Bracket" workshop, and authoring two sessions for the 2019 Adobe Tech Summit (~3400 participants).
Authored the "User Generated Code Security" framework for securing services hosting user-generated code.
Chair/host for Adobe Cloud Architecture Council, Adobe Developer Seminars, and Kubernetes for Developers meetup group (San Jose).
"Day One" operations lead for Mergers & Acquisitions onboarding - Marketo, Tube Mogul.

Adobe | San Jose, CA | 2015 – 2018

Co-authored and evangelized the Technical Investment Guidelines (TIG) program to help simplify and reduce technical diversity, evolving into a technical champion/guild program supporting procurement and early POC projects.
Defined the first company-wide Azure security policy to kickstart development.
Drove Azure identity/security engagement (MSI, AAD) to achieve go-to-market goals for key product teams.
Defined and funded the first round of company-wide Azure certification training, which expanded into a formally staffed company-wide program.
Created a case study model for developing service level objectives, increasing actionable recommendations by 80% over previous methods.

Adobe | San Jose, CA | 2009 – 2014

Created infrastructure for Creative SDK frameworks supporting the Line, Photoshop Mix, and Sketch mobile applications.
Drove formal adoption of Git, successfully piloting GitHub:Enterprise from a small team to 4000+ users.
Introduced monitoring, deploy automation, and a checklist framework for Photoshop.com.
Led migration to Amazon Web Services, supporting 4 teams and implementing monitoring, logging, alerting, and deployment solutions.
Created an iOS build system using Amazon Web Services for over-the-air distribution, supporting 8 product teams and over 1000 users.
Created autoprovisioning infrastructure via Chef for MongoDB servers in AWS.
Automated Capistrano deploys of dozens of projects to 9 integrated environments, creating a hands-free pre-production experience.
Defined iOS release/credentialing procedure for Adobe and served as the primary technical contact for new teams or codesigning issues.
Documented and evangelized best practices for AWS, Android Marketplace, and iOS.
Fostered cloud skill development by co-sponsoring operations summits and cross-training operations teams globally.

Zazzle | Redwood City, CA | 2005 – 2009

Created MSI packaging for server deployments using WiX.
Re-organized the codebase to reduce development time and code complexity.
Responsible for packaging and deployment to all production servers.
Implemented an rsync-like "pull" deploy architecture for Cygwin-free MS Servers.

Facebook | Palo Alto, CA | 2005

Introduced the first source control system, migrating existing dev/release processes without downtime.
Created a unique release process to support Facebook's development culture using PHP, Python, and Apache.
Implemented single sign-on credentialing and persistent home directories across 700 systems via LDAP/Automount.
Maintained and upgraded the system imaging system, supporting multiple OS revisions and hardware solutions.
Installed and configured colocation systems—installed, cabled, and imaged up to 1 rack (30 machines) per day.
Tuned PHP/Apache for high-traffic load situations, allowing for 'hot' file changes.

Friendster | Mountain View, CA | 2003 – 2005

Maintained development environment and engineering resources.
Created RPM packaging scripts for all development projects.
Responsible for all deployments to QA and production environments.
Served as the primary operational contact for all integration partners, including Six Apart, SMS integrations, and Eurekster.

DemandTec Incorporated | San Mateo, CA | 2001 – 2003

Designed and implemented the build/release process and bug resolution model for every product.
Developed custom Bugzilla, CVS, Bonsai, Tinderbox, and PostNuke integration.
Developed CGI/PHP web pages to automate lab status and display system information.
Designed tools to support remote command-line installations on Windows machines.
Administered all engineering support tools, including CVS, QA Lab, and Bugzilla.
Developed initial QA test plans, regression suites, and hired the QA team.
Installed and configured a lab of 45 machines and required applications, including AIX, Windows, Linux, DB2, SAS, and Hyperion.