Hi, my name is Dennis Schmalacker.

I’ve spent the last decade writing Python, wiring up Kubernetes clusters, and figuring out how systems break before they do it in production.

Currently at Checkmk, I’m building out the OpenTelemetry integration and improving the plugin infrastructure that engineers rely on to monitor their infrastructure. Observability is a space where the gap between “technically correct” and “actually useful” is enormous — that’s what keeps it interesting.

Before that, I spent 3.5 years at Kaiser+Kraft leading Python development on a Wagtail-based CMS through a full migration from single-tenant to multi-tenant e-commerce architecture. I eventually stepped into an interim Product Owner role, which taught me the most important engineering skill: understanding why something needs to exist before writing a single line of code.

Outside of work, I run a homelab — currently a Dell R730 in a 12U rack, backed by a cluster of HPE Microservers. It’s where I actually learn infrastructure: K3s, Ansible, iPXE network booting, OpenWRT, and far too many hours debugging storage arrays at midnight.

When I’m not in the terminal, I’m usually printing something on my 3D printer or dipping my toes into smarthome tinkering — Home Assistant, Zigbee, ESPHome and the occasional sensor that refuses to behave. I’m also fairly eco-conscious and a sucker for solarpunk: the idea that technology and nature don’t have to fight, but can actually make each other better. Running my homelab on cheap solar power is about as close to that ideal as I get for now.

Experience