DevOps mentor. Homelab tinkerer. Patient teacher.
My name is Jürgen Brüder: Senior IT Consultant and trainer at Infralovers, and the first IBM HashiCorp Authorized Instructor for Terraform and Vault in DACH.
I work with teams to build infrastructure that scales without drowning in complexity.
About
The Consultant Who Still Runs a Homelab
After co-founding a SaaS startup as CTO and successfully exiting, I could have stayed in the startup world. Instead, I became obsessed with a different question:
How do you build infrastructure that scales without drowning in complexity?
For 15+ years, I've been answering that question for large enterprises in regulated environments and critical infrastructure. I specialize in HashiCorp tools (first authorized instructor for both Vault and Terraform in the DACH region), but my real expertise is helping teams adopt DevOps practices that work in reality, not just in demos.
I've delivered 150+ training courses.
Teaching forces clarity. I focus on practical concepts and the problems teams actually run into, so they can use what they learn right away.
I've been on both sides.
Startup pressure taught pragmatism. Enterprise scale taught governance. I help teams move fast without losing reliability.
I commit to long-term projects.
I don't just deliver a workshop and disappear. I like multi-year engagements where we improve systems iteratively, build internal capabilites, and hand over ownership cleanly.
I validate everything in my own homelab first.
If I recommend a tool or pattern, I've already tested it under real constraints, hit the sharp edges, and understood its limitations.
Music
By night, I am also the guitarist for Heathen Foray. I have been making music for more than 25 years, have released 6 studio albums and played 100+ shows. I am proudly endorsed by Solar Guitars and DR Strings.
Expertise
How I Help Organizations Build Better Infrastructure
Enterprise Infrastructure Consulting
I design cloud-native infrastructure that teams can actually maintain. Understanding your constraints, your capabilities, and building solutions that solve real problems without creating new ones. Cost efficient and secure!
Technical Training That Sticks
From half-day workshops to multi-week enterprise programs, I focus on understanding over memorization. Teaching concepts and best-practices so teams can apply what they learn immediately.
Technical Mentoring
For teams navigating complex infrastructure transitions, implementing new tools, adopting new practices, or facing decisions without clear answers. Think of it as having an architect on call to review your approach and catch issues early.
The Tools I Know Deeply
These are the tools I've used in production, taught extensively, and understand at the level where I can debug the weird edge cases and explain the tradeoffs:
Infrastructure as Code
Terraform (Authorized Instructor) • Ansible • Chef/CINC
HashiCorp Stack
Vault (Authorized Instructor) • Nomad • Consul • Waypoint
Container Orchestration
Kubernetes • OpenShift • K3s • Docker • Podman
Cloud Platforms
AWS • Azure • GCP • Hetzner Cloud
Security
Mondoo • Chef Compliance
CI/CD
GitLab • GitHub • Jenkins • CircleCI
GitOps
ArgoCD • FluxCD
Observability
Prometheus • Grafana • ELK Stack • Loki • Beszel • Uptime Kuma
Artificial Intelligence
Claude Code • OpenCode • N8N • Local LLMs
I evaluate tools based on three questions: Does it solve a real problem? Can your team actually maintain it? Will it still make sense in two years? Hype doesn't impress me. Working systems do.
Credentials
Why Organizations Trust Me With Their Infrastructure
IBM HashiCorp Authorized Instructor
First in DACH Region for Both Vault & Terraform (2022)
Being selected as IBM HashiCorp's first authorized instructor in the German-speaking region for both Vault and Terraform wasn't just about passing tests, it was about demonstrating deep product knowledge, proven teaching ability, and trusted relationships. This credential means I'm not just using these tools: I'm representing IBM HashiCorp in how I teach them.
Long-Term Client Relationships
The best proof of expertise isn't certifications, it's whether clients keep coming back. For NDA reasons, the company names where anonymized:
Major European Telecommunications Provider
12 consecutive years training and consulting for one of Europe's largest telecommunications companies. From architecting OpenStack clusters to developing their DevOps curriculum to implementing Kubernetes infrastructure.
Critical Maritime Infrastructure Provider
Transformed container port infrastructure from bash scripts to professional configuration management with CINC. They are now shipping real containers with IT containers. Multi-year relationships exist because you deliver results, not promises.
European Banking Institution
Terraform training and infrastructure modernization. Financial institutions don't hire consultants who just know tools: They hire people they trust with secure, compliant systems.
Global Media & Entertainment Company
Led multi-cloud migration from on-premise to AWS and GCP, modernized CI/CD pipelines, and implemented IBM HashiCorp Terraform. Built up an internal IT team that eventually took over: The best sign of a consulting project done right.
Testimonials
What Customers Say
Feedback from course participants
Jürgen absolutely nailed the speed of the course, his comments out of the slide deck are on-point and addressed all the questions me (and the class as far as I can tell) had. I really liked his humour, he kept me engaged all time. Jürgen you are in my top 3 of favourite trainers ever, great job for a 3 days course!
- Gianfranco, Italy
Clear and understandable way of transferring the information. And also a very funny guy!
- Danny, United Kingdom
Very very good instructor.
- Vlad, Poland
Great enthusiasm, extra content and knowledgeable. Thanks for answering all my questions.
- Darren, United Kingdom
Contact
Let's Connect
I'm always interested in conversations with people working on interesting infrastructure challenges. Whether you're evaluating tools, navigating a Kubernetes migration, building a DevOps practice, or just want to discuss infrastructure philosophy: I'm happy to connect.
Prefer email? hello@juergenbrueder.com