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Ryan.Paredez
Community Manager

In this edition of our Community Spotlight series, Khalid Rehan shares his career trajectory, knowledge-sharing inspirations, and more. 

— Ryan Paredez, Community Manager

 

In this article…

 

Tell us about a day in the life of Khalid Rehan…

Khalid_Rehan.png

What is your current role, and how did you get involved with this work?

Currently, I support my team members who are involved with Appdynamics customers. Basically, I’m a System Administrator, and I used to work in large-scale data centers as “First Line Support”. And, since I have much experience dealing with different infrastructure types (operating systems and applications), a friend of mine advised me to learn about APM tools—starting with AppDynamics!


What has fed your interest in your work?

Feeling that we are the backbone of the system, and that customers rely on us so much to make sure everything is OK. It feels great when we get positive customer feedback about how AppDynamics helped them resolve their applications’ problems very fast, with minimum downtime.

 

AppD in your work

What first brought you to the AppD Community?

A friend advised me to check the Community out. The idea and aim of the Community itself is really a positive experience. I have maybe three open cases in the Community forums right now. They’re still being discussed—not really solved yet.

 

How do you use AppD in your role?

Mostly, I work on POCs SaaS and on-premises, guided and supported by AppDynamics’ great team all over the globe, especially the teams in Riyadh and Dubai. 

 

What are your top 2 AppDynamics hot tips?

  • Never underestimate an error on your screen: check each one deeply and report if needed.
  • Make sure to cultivate good relationships with the monitored applications and DB teams. Let them know you are there to help them and are on their side.

 

Keeping up with industry news

What’s your best way of keeping up with industry news?

I keep up with industry news on these tech channels, in order:

  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Community Groups on WhatsApp and Telegram which are managed by highly experienced technical engineers in fields like networking, data centers, virtualization, and cybersecurity

 

What have you learned in the past year that you wish you had known when you started your career?

  • To learn about everything in a really detailed way, and to not just focus on a recent problem
  • Learning about databases! Even if I never work as a DB admin, it helps a lot the more I understand
  • And the same goes for other IT branches. It doesn’t have to be too deep—only enough to really understand the needs and use the correct language when talking with other teams
  • It feels like I should have used my spare time to learn more

 

Is there anything you’d like to shout out or elevate?

I did already on the Community!

TOO RIGHT! | Check out Khalid’s profile page to see the topics and conversations he’s engaged in…

 

Life After Hours

What are some of your favorite things to experience outside of work?

I like being with my family and watching CGI and Animation movies.

 

Where do you find inspiration?

I’m mostly inspired by stories of successes that I find on LinkedIn.

 

Insights to Share

What advice would you give someone who is up and coming in your field of work?

  • Learn as much as you can and try everything by yourself.
  • Never let anything stop you. There is always a way to continue the journey and overcome obstacles—just think outside the box.
  • Never engage outside the scope of work. But if you are asked to do so, it must be teamwork, not a one-player responsibility.
  • Keep your superiors always updated, especially about any real problem you face. Their knowing sooner may help, and is better than their learning of the problem late... 
  • Always know your product support channels: they are really your saviors.
  • Be good and kind to all your team members.
  • Never let your ego control you. Yesterday you had nothing, and today you may have something. Always know that there others that know better than you, so respect everyone, and learn from both the younger and elder around you (كَذَٰلِكَ كُنْتُمْ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَمَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ فَتَبَيَّنُوا ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا ﴿٩٤﴾) (You yourselves were like this before, and Allah bestowed favor on you—so investigate. Allah is aware of what you do - 94. Surah an-Nisa)
  • Always know that yesterday is a history,
    tomorrow is a mystery,
    but today is a gift,
    and that is why we call it present (from Kung Fu Panda, Part 1)

Khalid at work.png