Ask an F5er- AMA with guest Shaun Gouws

I really want to take the time to thank everyone who joined and participated. I had a lot of fun doing this and really hope you'll join for the next AMA! 

I'll actually go back a bit more than just the SDM journey. I was born and raised in South Africa, which is relevant because there was a severe lack of opportunity.

Back in 2007 I moved to the UK on a whim and found a job as a part-time contractor on the IT helpdesk in the UK, eventually to be made a full-time contractor in the role - mostly, setting up laptops, plugging in cables and just a general dog's body.

Through this I met some of the network engineers and found what they did fascinating (my first corporate job was with F5 btw), so I pursued a few mentors in this space, who helped me find the collateral I needed to hone my skills, and learn how to be a network engineer. 6 months later I passed an interview, was given the job. I said yes to everything, ended up helping some of the account teams onsite, which was an unusual thing to do as an NSE, but I had the goal of becoming an Sollution Engineer (SE) in mind, which I found success after about 4 years in the network support role in Chertsey, UK.

I applied for an SE role twice before I got it and for 4.5 years worked in the London office as a territory SE before leaving for Canada, which is where I am now. There were no open roles for SE's here and so I had to pursue a couple other companies for around 6 years before finding open roles here at F5 again. I had a mentor here, who happens to be an SE director, who recognised that my focus was customers and urged me to apply for the role to learn a bit more. I have never looked back since. 

What drives me in this role, is that it's always dynamic. My favourite thing in business is building relationships and this is 100% what we do as SDMs, and the biggest part of why I love my job so much.

As to what experience was most useful? All of it really. As an NSE in support, you are required to learnt o troubleshoot and communicate thorough some difficult situations. As an SE, the skills you learn in handling meetings, prospects, building relationships, handling challenges and creating solutions are invaluable to the SDM role.

good question! can I tag on? :) 
... If your career had a theme song, what would it be and why?

That would be a statement from Simon Sinek, if I had to choose. "People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it."

This does NOT only apply to sales or even business, rather it is a philosophy I hold dear. Being able to understand what your purpose is, allows you to communicate it effectively. I've always struggled with the idea of being asked to do something and not understanding the "why". In fact, I actively challenge anyone who asks me to complete something and is unable to explain why it is important. 

This "why" is what inspires trust, loyalty, and emotional connection. That said something I have adopted fairly recently is to always say "yes" and figure out the details later... This is more personal to me as I try to grown in my own career, but there you go 🤠

My previous comment was removed somehow, but I would have to say Lord of the Rings Trilogy, purely because I grew up reading the books and that Tolkien was South African. Maybe a little biased 😉

Might take a few beers... and i want to preface this response with: No animals were injured, nor was I affected emotionally by this event.

One of my customers had a site down, which for those perhaps not in this domain means one of their core appliications was no longer working, directlt affecting revenue, which for large customers can be millions of dollars for every moment of downtime, so it gets heated at times. This particular event had all hands on deck, across multiple timezones, starting in EMEA, then to North America and ended being resolved by our PE team in APCJ. 

I joined the call with the customer and engineering team at 4PM EST. We had setup 4 hour check-ins and by our 1st check-in call I had a very angry VP yealling and cursing (not at me, just out of frustration). We didn't have a resolution or even much progress at that stage. At the pinacle of that exchange my wife walked in to grab something from my office and heard all of this go down. Since she couldn't speak to me in the room, she decided to text me this. "Are you alright?" It made me realise that I had developed the ability to only speak when necessary and not take things personally. 

We continued to check in periodically and one of my favourite things that happened was that the product engineer had identified the problem and was working on a fix in real time, and by 4am we had the issue resolved in theory and it just needed testing - what I really apprecaited about all of this focus was that the product engineer allowed me to stay on a call with him while he worked and he explained what he was doing every step of the way. 

It was an incredible experience for me to see how his brain worked, the calculations, troubleshooting, testing was just amazing and it showed me just how hard it is to support customers as well as we do. So whilst I was tired, the "mentoring experience" I got there was invaluable.

We all have war stories in the SDM world... just the nature of the role. I encourage anyone who knows a Service Delivery Manager to buy them a beer and ask the same question. 

Erm, no comment? :)

I feel like this is a dangerous question... We have our leadership in the Enhanced Services Organisation that believe that we help the customer first and foremost, and apologise for any missteps later. Obviously there are limiits to what we would do but that is the philosophy. 

I don't think I can answer this one honestly here, as we do have NDAs with all of our customers and I worry that a response might be too close to home. I can only apologise to you on this...

Develop strong communication skills, focus on building relationships as well one should prioritize problem solving and customer advocacy, to name a few things.

The role itself leans toward project and service management, it requires some technical knowledge within your domain and relies heavily on leadership and collaboration skills.

If you know someone experienced as a Service Delivery Manager or similar, I encourage you to connect and learn the nuances of the role. A good mentor can offer guidance, share real-life challenges from the field, and provide insights that only come with experience.

Final thoughts? Becoming an SDM is an exciting journey, as it combines technical expertise, customer success, leadership, and problem-solving into one dynamic role. Start by mastering the foundational skills and processes, and over time, focus on developing a strategic mindset. Aspiring SDMs should be ready to demonstrate ownership, accountability, and a passion for delivering value—not just services.

The best advice I can give? Stay curious, stay adaptable, and always prioritize the customer. Success in this role is all about enabling others to thrive while driving meaningful outcomes.

Hi Melissa, and hello to the DevCentral Community as well! 

A day as a Service Delivery Manager at F5 is dynamic and centered around ensuring the seamless delivery of F5’s services while building strong customer relationships. My day typically involves balancing technical expertise, strategic planning, and customer advocacy to meet both business and operational goals.

Firstly, I act as the primary point of contact for our customers—proactively communicating to understand their evolving needs and challenges. Whether it’s participating in kickoff calls, hosting regular touchpoints, or conducting service reviews, I ensure our solutions align with their objectives while delivering measurable value.

I also focus on orchestrating collaboration between cross-functional teams, including support engineers, account managers, and professional services, to guarantee successful service delivery. This means closely monitoring deliverables, triaging escalations for critical incidents, and managing service-level agreements (SLAs) to maintain the highest levels of performance and uptime for our customers.

Problem-solving and continuous improvement are key aspects of the role. I prioritize identifying opportunities to enhance our processes, implementing automation and efficiency improvements where possible, and leveraging data-driven approaches to proactively address potential bottlenecks. Keeping up with the latest innovations from F5's portfolio is also crucial so that I can act as a trusted advisor in recommending tailored solutions to clients.

Lastly, as an SDM, customer satisfaction is at the core of everything I do. I strive to foster trust and long-term partnerships by not only resolving immediate challenges but also demonstrating a deep commitment to helping customers achieve their strategic goals and maximize their investments with F5.

In short, no two days are the same, but my goal remains constant: to be my customer's trusted advisor, advocate and ensure their success within the scope of F5 services and beyond.