An Interview with DevOps Industry Award 2021 Winner Erika Danis

DevOps Online · June 16, 2022

Erika Danis, Cloud Capability Lead, KPMG, won the Highly Commended Test Associates DevOps Manager of the Year at the DevOps Industry Awards 2021!

Erika told us what winning the award meant to her and how it had changed her professional situation:

What has changed for you since winning the Award?

Since winning the award, I’ve been promoted within the KPMG CloudOps team. I progressed from a DevOps Lead to a Cloud Capability Lead, where I now manage multiple teams of DevOps engineers across AWS and Azure Cloud providers, and I have more strategic influence on the work those teams are doing for our clients.

How has winning affected your career and your company?

Because my award win was heavily advertised and shared on LinkedIn by people working in this space, I gained a number of new professional connections and my name was far more recognised within the firm, with people outside of my team congratulating me for the achievement. I have also noticed that we have had an influx of candidates wanting to apply for our roles within CloudOps at KPMG, particularly females wanting to get into a career in technology which is fantastic to see.

What was the part of the Awards you’ve enjoyed the most?

I wasn’t physically able to attend as I work remotely from Middlesbrough in the North East, and due to personal commitments, I couldn’t travel down to London for the ceremony. However, Maddie Perrett, a Senior DevOps Engineer on my team, attended on my behalf to collect the award and the team messaged me straight after to let me know that I had won.

Do you have any tips for future participants?

When you submit your entry make sure you tell a story of the tangible impact you’ve had on your team or organisation in a simple and fun way.

Would you participate again and why?

I would definitely participate again because it has had a truly positive impact on my career by expanding my professional network and increasing exposure. However, next time, I’ll not miss out on the party!