About the authors

Josh Diakun is an IT operations and information security specialist with over 15 years of experience managing and architecting enterprise-grade IT environments and security programs. He has spent the last 10 years specializing in the Splunk platform being recognize locally and globally for his expertise. Josh is a founding partner of Discovered Intelligence, a multi-award winning Splunk services company. Through Discovered Intelligence, Josh works with the most recognizable businesses worldwide helping them to achieve their IT operations, security and compliance goals.

Thank you to my co-authors, Derek Mock and Paul Johnson, for their endless effort and creativity in writing this book. Thank you to Jordan Crombie and Peter Maoloni, the path I am on stems from their support and enablement. My wife, Rachel, thank you for supporting me and making sure I slept. To Denyce and Jessika, your continued support means so much, and to my late father, John, my efforts will always be in your memory.

Paul has over 15 year’s data intelligence experience in the areas of information security, operations and compliance. He is passionate about helping businesses gain intelligence and insight from their large data at scale. Paul has award winning Splunk expertise and is a founding partner of Discovered Intelligence; a company known for its quality of Splunk service delivery. He previously worked for a Fortune 10 company, leading global IT risk intelligence initiatives.

I would like to thank my fellow authors, Josh Diakun and Derek Mock, for their support and collaborative efforts in writing this third edition of the book. Thanks guys for drowning in screenshots and giving up nights, days, and weekends to get it completed! I would also like to thank my wife, Stacey, for her continued support.

Derek Mock is a software developer and architect, with expertise in IT operations and cloud technologies. He has over 20 years experience developing, integrating, and operating large enterprise grade deployments and SaaS applications. Derek is a founding partner of Discovered Intelligence and had previously leveraged Splunk in a managed services company as a core tool for delivering key operational intelligence. Derek is a co-founder of the Splunk Toronto User Group and lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

I could not have asked for better co-authors than Josh Diakun and Paul Johnson, whose tireless efforts over many late nights brought this book into being. I would also like to thank Dave Penny, for all his support in my professional life. Finally, thanks to my partner Alison, and my children, Sarah and James, for cheering me on as I wrote and for always making sure I had enough coffee.