This is the web presence of me, Felix, freelance IT professional in the fields of operations and development. This site tries to give an overview of some services I can offer, and insight into the principles that guide my professional approach. For any feedback or open questions, feel free to reach out.
Felix
My name is Felix (he/they). I am a white, able-bodied, mostly neurotypical, gender questioning nonbinary man, socialized cis-heterosexual. Coming from an academic family background in former East Germany, I also have privileges in terms of language, education, and citizenship,
I lived in/around Berlin all my life. I’m a cat and dog person, I like both Star Wars and Star Trek, and enjoy mental but also physical activities.
I studied computer science at TU Berlin, and am old enough to have a diploma to show for it (never got a Master’s). A self-identified nerd, I learned programming at a young age, and enjoy solving problems that we wouldn’t have if computers weren’t so ubiquitous. I’m surprisingly bad at computer games, considering how much of my youth was dedicated to them.
Through my career, I focused mainly on the operations of distributed and complex server systems, for about two decades as a tech employee. But I also never quite lost touch with coding, tinkering with open source tools in various capacities along the way. In 2023, I decided to take the leap and offer my expertise as a freelance professional to progressive teams and worthy causes (at least I hope to be lucky enough to find such partners and clients). I am (for now) incorporated as “Felix Frank Digital Solutions”.
Before the age of the new corona virus, I was fond of showing up at tech conferences, and look forward to getting back to that in the future.
Social Justice
This is one of my most important guiding principles. Based on unjust systems (both internalized and collective), our identities in terms of race, gender, physical and mental ability, etc., have an enormous impact on our access to resources.
The tech industry as a whole is in desperate need of leveling the playing field, and sharing more opportunities with, but also learning from people who are not male, white, cis-hetero, able-bodied etc. As part of this industry, I am in my own process of de-learning, re-learning, and de-constructing the harmful education and socialization that has been normalized in ourselves (body, mind, and culture). It’s a long road with much for me to do yet.
Of course I cannot stand personally responsible for the state of this huge industry, but I try (and encourage others) to act according to responsAbility. In order to contribute to the effort of making tech more accessible, I am offering substantial discounts to organizations that mainly consist of members of marginalized groups. The same applies to projects that benefit such organizations. Whatever role I fill, I seek to re-empower my team members as best I can.
Also, if you are an individual from a marginalized group, and you think I could do anything to help you along your path through the tech field, please feel free to reach out. I’m always happy to find networking opportunities, and ways to lift each other up.
I also love to hear from fellow privileged folks, who are on a similar learning path as me, and would be open to sharing notes and resources. For example, I’m receiving professional support with my own inner work, and would be happy to refer you.
Distributed systems
Many modern software stacks move away from the paradigm of building a systems landscape, and try to rely on managed cloud platforms instead. However, in many contexts, running your own or even third party software requires some IT infrastructure, especially if these tools are a requirement for your business, and not your business itself.
As these systems grow more complex to fit your needs regarding security, availability, scale, or any other factors, it can become challenging to build and operate them in an efficient fashion. I’ve been an expert for creating and running complex server infrastructure through my entire career. Whether your team could benefit from my input during (re-)design of a platform, implementing large clusters efficiently, or even facing challenges from mistakes in earlier project phases, I can help.
You are looking for consulting, a part time addition to your team, or even training for your staff? Feel free reach out. In any role and mode of engagement, re-empowering my team is always a priority for me. I am looking forward to exploring possible modes of cooperating on challenges regarding your complex infrastructure.
Open Source
Most digital business in the modern internet relies on Open Source Software to some extent.
Many very innovative services are built on a mesh of free programs.
Has your business encountered issues or missing features in such tools? Did you need to devise extensive workarounds in this situation? The software in question has no option to buy professional services?
Let me fix it for you. I will write those patches you need, and help getting them merged into the mainline. Run your stack more efficiently. Give back to the Open Source community. (Also, benefit from a discount.)
Systems automation
Whether your software runs on premises or in the cloud, your daily business should not include a lot of manual interaction with the key components.
With more automation comes
- faster workflows
- reduced error potential
- easier auditing of changes
- more fun
- better scalability
Automation has always been near and dear to my heart. I’m happy to consider myself well connected to some very lovely and professional communities in this space, and I’ve been known to dive very deep in automation topics. In 2014, I wrote a literal book on Puppet, the leading configuration management tool at the time. (You probably should not buy my book anymore, it’s rather dated.)
I’m always thrilled to pick up new tools, learn new approaches, and share my process and experience with my team. Helping your team get faster and safer with some simple yet powerful automation would be my great pleasure.
Get in touch
You can send any inquiries to info (at) felix-frank.net.
Bluesky is simply @felix-frank.net. (Legacy Twitter is @felis_rex.)
I’m also on Mastodon occasionally: @ffrank@chaos.social.
You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.