We Already Have Nice Things, Use Them!

An alarming number of companies are using custom tools to provide functionality readily provided by standard, and frequently open source, tools in the systems administrator's toolbox. From deploying servers to services, and maintenance throughout the life of a deployment, there is much to be gained by using an industry standard, and there are very few instances when something entirely custom is actually required.

This talk will delineate the most painful pitfalls of rolling your own tooling. It will also walk through the rare scenarios where custom solutions are acceptable and the best way to approach the process of writing and maintaining these projects.