From Technician to DevOps Entrepreneur
Stavros Calimoso has built a successful career and launched his own DevOps and platform engineering consultancy, thedevopsconsultant.io, from a lifelong love of IT and a pressing need he saw in the industry. Using the lessons he’s learned and leveraging the satisfaction of creating a business driven by excellence, he hopes to inspire others to find personal fulfillment by pursuing their professional dreams.
Stavros’ interest in IT began, like many in his field, at 9 or 10 playing video games and fixing computers. “I had to learn and troubleshoot, and that sparked my curiosity about the intricacies of computers,” he said. As a teenager he helped friends fix their computer issues, learning from articles and online resources. This self taught work inspired him to earn his first certification, CompTiA A+. “It helped me grow my computer troubleshooting skills and validated that what I was doing was ‘best practice’.”
A Young Professional Start
Stavros started at age 18 as a part-time network specialist installing switches, routers, Wi-Fi equipment and CCTV. He also branched into IT training when the company he was working for as an IT consultant needed backup instructors.
In his early 20s he was an IT consultant for Key IT Group, which was acquired by PwC Malta, then moved on to an online content moderation company, Besedo, as a systems engineer working in automation. “That was my first real opportunity to work with automation where it actually mattered,” Stavros said.
He took his first role as an IT Automation Specialist at Betclic, part of the Everest Group in France. After that role, he quickly started moving into DevOps & Platform engineering.
Certifying His Kubernetes Skills
Stavros started his Kubernetes certification journey while working in his next position at Gaming Innovation Group, one of the leading B2B providers in the iGaming industry. “There I discovered my love for Kubernetes, containers, and anything within the DevOps world,” said Stavros. He started with the Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) and then earned his Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA).
“We were at the point where rather than just bootstrapping, we needed to maintain at scale and make sure that all our case clusters were up to spec,” Stavros explained. “Beyond the credential itself, the CKA provides both a solid theoretical foundation and hands-on practical experience. That’s what makes it so valuable to me. Unlike many other certifications in the industry, it emphasizes real, practical work, which I find both challenging and rewarding.”
Being His Own Boss
After years of working in high-performance engineering environments in the iGaming industry, Stavros realized there was a consistent gap in scalable and reliable DevOps expertise in the iGaming industry, especially for fast-moving departments and teams.
“Starting my own DevOps consultancy firm, thedevopsconsultant.io wasn’t part of an original master plan,” he said. “It really evolved naturally over the course of my career. What began as ad-hoc consulting turned into a full-fledged business as demand grew and I saw the opportunity to build something on my own terms, focused on technical excellence, trust, and long-term value.” He has been his own boss since 2022, and launched the thedevopsconsultant.io brand in 2025.
It was after he launched thedevopsconsultant.io that he decided to earn his Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS) certification. “It was quite challenging, but also very rewarding and fulfilling,” he said. “Kubernetes isn’t something you can master overnight. It takes time, patience and technical excellence.
“I decided to earn the CKS because a good portion of my work is focused on Kubernetes, and making sure that whatever is being built is done in a secure manner per the industry’s best practices is key to delivering the best results for my clients. It also reassures my clients and partners that what is being built follows best practice and more importantly, best security practice, which is super important in this day and age.”
Certifications are very important to his business serving the iGaming industry where a small mistake can cost thousands in gross gaming revenue, per second. All of the consultants he engages are certified experts in their fields. His advice to other IT professionals is that while certifications don’t mean you actually know everything, they help get you in the door. “Whether you have someone who is interviewing you, or you have a potential client, the certification could be the differentiating factor,” he stated. “Certifications essentially formalize your expertise, boost visibility and are always a benefit – always.”
Stavros’ future certification plans include renewing his current Kubernetes certifications and earning the remaining Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA) and Kubernetes and Cloud Native Security Associate (KCSA) certifications to become a Kubestronaut. He’s also interested in becoming a Golden Kubestronaut.
Stavros will continue to scale his business with a focus on maintaining a very high level of quality. He also wants to inspire others to consider striking out on their own.
“There are lots of engineers who are locked in the day-to-day grind of climbing the corporate ladder, which I understand because I’ve been there,” he said. “But doing your own thing, even fractionally at the start, can drive a lot of value. Even if you don’t know how to go about acquiring clients or lack confidence, there are always ways of upskilling yourself and, importantly, tapping into your networks. It’s just a really small added effort needed to get out of your shell and expose yourself to the wonderful world of entrepreneurship.”
Stavros Calimoso
CKAD, CKA, CKS
Managing Director, thedevopsconsultant.io
