Exclusive Interview with Yancey Spruill, CEO of DigitalOcean

Cloud computing was popular and well-established pre-pandemic as well but it has taken the spotlight as a move to remote working was thrust upon us. And it looks like it's here to stay for a long time. Cloud technologies are moving away from a linear evolution to prepare for an exponential evolution. DigitalOcean simplifies cloud computing so developers and businesses can spend more time building software that changes the world. Analytics Insight has engaged in an exclusive interview with Yancey Spruill, CEO of DigitalOcean

1. Please brief us about the company, its specialization, and the services that it offers?

DigitalOcean simplifies cloud computing so developers and businesses can spend more time building software that changes the world. Founded in 2012 DigitalOcean is headquartered in New York City with data centers worldwide. DigitalOcean combines the power of simplicity, community, open-source, and customer support, so customers can spend less time managing their infrastructure and devote more time to building innovative applications that drive business growth.

We offer a variety of computing, storage, and networking products and solutions that range from simple website hosting and virtual private networks to scalable virtual machines and tools for gaming development, video streaming, and database management — all powered by cloud technology.

2. How is your company helping customers in their businesses through the adoption of technology innovations?

When DigitalOcean launched in 2012, other cloud providers were neglecting software developers and small and medium businesses (SMBs). The prices were too high, and the offerings were unnecessarily complicated. We focused on keeping our products simple and that continues to be our differentiator today. While other cloud providers have focused their energies on large enterprises and legacy companies, we are dedicated to building better tools for developers, SMBs, and startups who want to run and scale applications in the cloud.

In addition to providing a simple yet performant cloud platform, we offer consumption-based pricing that is simple and transparent. We have also focused on building a true community of developers to support them in building the products of the future. Our community site provides comprehensive tutorials and guides for developers learning to work with Linux and those seeking to create complex setups within their infrastructure. We also provide free 24/7 support to all our customers.

3. What is your USP?

The company's offerings are developed with the entrepreneurial spirit in mind, and it is what sets DigitalOcean apart. We enable entrepreneurs around the world with technology that allows them to test an idea, grow that idea to a fully functioning business, then scale the business. We have built a global community of developers and business owners who come together to support each other. Millions of people come to our community for advice and tutorials. When you invest in a community, you create a stickiness that can pay dividends over the long term.

4. How is your company using advanced analytics and big data?

Cloud computing does most of the heavy lifting behind the scenes of application development and delivery. It frees up time for developers and businesses to focus on important things, such as developing the next generation of software that will change the world. The beauty of DigitalOcean is its simplicity to scale, both up and down, so that business owners and developers can utilize and use what they need to easily and affordably.

5. How does DigitalOcean facilitate the transformation of SMBs and startups?

The pandemic has created a new tech ecosystem that has enabled small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to find new ways to adapt and innovate while accelerating a 'digital-first' approach to engaging with customers. DigitalOcean gives developers better software and tools to launch and scale any application in the cloud. By offering the simplest platform, the most transparent pricing, and an elegant user interface, we reduce the complexity, so that the developers can build great software, faster. This way, startups, and SMBs can use our solutions to power their digital transformation projects and bring their business ideas to life. We also support CTOs by providing technical architecture reviews with our developer advocates and solution engineers.

6. What are your growth plans for the next 12 months?

We will continue to focus on building tools SMBs and developers enjoy using and build the most active and engaged community possible. Last year, we announced the acquisition of Nimbella, a serverless platform provider. We're focused on fully integrating the offering and look forward to launching it under the DigitalOcean brand this year. We will also continue to invest in our teams worldwide who work with our customers to understand their systems and help them with their migration to the cloud. Our goal is to empower developers and software companies around the world to build amazing things. Our robust, affordable, and simple infrastructure is making the cloud more accessible than ever. India is poised to innovate in a big way in the next decade, and we want to be there to support every business to grow and succeed.

7. What is the reason that organizations are using IoT/analytics/big data/AI/ML/Big Data Analytics?

These technologies are measuring and reporting data and data streams from billions of sensors and devices worldwide. By minimizing human intervention, the technologies provide organizations with improved transparency, predictability, and fast execution, which helps in reducing the cost of operations. They are benefitting from analyzing large volumes of data to see patterns and trends and draw informed conclusions.

8. How do you see the company and the industry in the future?

The cloud market represents a huge opportunity. Globally, 14 million new companies are created every year. There are 50 million software engineers. Today, those groups spend about USD 50 billion on the cloud. That is expected to double in future years. DigitalOcean is well-positioned to make the most of this opportunity.