World Password Day is another great opportunity for IT Providers and MSPs to educate clients and end users about the importance of good password and cybersecurity habits.
Weak passwords, like “Password1”, or your pet’s name, make it way too easy for cyber criminals to hack into your systems. Strong passwords and good cybersecurity hygiene can help protect end users’ work and business accounts, and these habits can also be applied to personal logins and devices to help everyone stay safe online.
As our digital world keeps evolving, we need to keep up with the latest cybersecurity best practices to keep ourselves and our end users safe. Below are some additional information and resources for World Password Day.
World Password Day is celebrated annually on the first Thursday of May to encourage people to use stronger passwords and secure their online accounts. Intel created World Password Day in 2013 to raise awareness about the role strong passwords play in securing our digital lives.
Strong passwords are important for protecting sensitive information and preventing unauthorized access. For another layer of protection you should also enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on accounts for increased security.
Strong passwords aren’t the only way to secure your data. It’s also important to back up your data and store a copy of it to a secure location as an additional layer of protection.
Use strong passwords – Passwords should be at least 16 characters in length, and a mix of upper-case and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols.
Unique passwords for each account – Don’t reuse the same passwords. If one account gets compromised, the same password can be used to access other accounts.
Consider using passphrases – These are made up of four or more random words, typically longer than a traditional password.
Use a password manager – These act as a secure, digital vault protected by a single, super strong master password. Password managers can generate strong & unique passwords for each account.
Enable multifactor authentication (MFA) – Add an extra layer of security, such as getting a code via text message or email, entering a pin number, or biometrics such as face recognition or fingerprint scanning.
Always back up your data – Regularly back up your critical data to a secure location, either locally or in the cloud. This ensures you have a copy available to restore in case of a security breach or data loss event.
We sat down for a chat with Josh Conant, one of our Software Developers, who has been with the company since July 2022. This piece has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
In college, I majored in biomedical engineering, but I didn't graduate. Life got in the way. And I ended up taking a call center job working tech support for Microsoft. They used to have a free virus and malicious software hotline that you could call. It got to the point where I could just hear what the customer was clicking and I could tell if they clicked on the right thing or the wrong thing. It was very interesting. I got to learn all about viruses and backdoors and Windows. That’s how I started my career in tech.
Tell us more about your journey in tech and how you became a software developer.
After my tech support role at Microsoft, I worked for a company called Computer Nerds, where I went to people's houses and helped them out with their computer. Then I worked as an IT admin for a golf course in Texas where I got my foot in the door for administration work. Then I went to Rackspace, a hosting company, for about six years. I went in as email admin, then became a Linux admin.
While I was a Linux admin, I really got into programming. I was making little PHP websites for support. I also got into Python, was promoted to Linux Engineer, and started teaching Python classes on the side. When I got really into coding, I switched over to software development, and I have been a software dev ever since.
How did starting in IT before becoming a dev shape your outlook?
Starting in IT operations and then moving into software development gives you a really good perspective on using the software before moving over to making software.
It helps you understand how to make people’s lives easier and how your development choices are going to affect the people trying to run and maintain platforms for your software. This allows you to better architect your software to be more resilient and easier to troubleshoot.
In many ways, keeping operations happy is just as important as keeping the end-user happy, all of which leads to more adoption of your software.
I had done some previous work in the storage realm. The low level storage is always fascinating to me, because it's very complex and technical. It's a fascinating problem in an interesting space.
When I was reading about Comet, specifically about deduplication, local deduplication and compression, it sounded like they were going to be in the thick of it and working with the all the hard problems of optimizing for data backups.
I like problem-solving, and love having difficult problems and interesting puzzles to figure out. I love coding and I love coding problems. I love working to make people's lives easier. Helping people out always feels great.
My favorite thing about Comet has to be the people, honestly, the crew is awesome. Josh, our General Manager, is such an approachable leader. He’s very honest and very open, and I really appreciate that. Our CTO, Mason, is just a treasure trove of technical information and expertise. Everyone is very nice and amiable. Everyone is always up for a chat.
Before coming to Comet, I was doing contracting work and was very transitory, working on temporary fixes or doing temporary jobs. I really wanted to get back to what I had loved about Rackspace’s company culture which put friends and family first, and the feeling of working with a good team. That's when I got the job at Comet. I've been grateful to Comet ever since because everyone here is so amazing to work with.
How would you describe the team culture at Comet?
At Comet, from day one, it's felt like a family. Everyone's nice, everyone's open to feedback, and open to helping each other. The culture of openness applies to the whole company. While we have two dev teams, it’s not isolating or siloing. If I talk to anyone on the other dev team, I still have the same great experience, and I appreciate that.
What's the learning and development culture like at Comet?
At Comet it’s great because if there's something you're interested in, and think it will help Comet, they will allow you to pursue it. If I need to take time to research what I'm working on, that's encouraged. I don't have to knock out a ticket as fast as possible. It’s not like at a big corporation.
If you're interested in any part of the code base, and you want to learn more about it, you just tell your Dev Team Lead and they will give you tickets on that area. There’s a tag on tickets called ‘First Projects’, specifically for new devs. If you want to try something new, they don't just throw you in cold turkey, instead they'll give you one of those easier ‘First Projects’ tickets. And whoever is the subject matter expert for a particular area of the code base is always willing to talk and they'll help you get started.
Are you the subject matter expert on specific realms?
Yeah, a couple of them, including Microsoft 365. We've done a massive rewrite on that over the last year to improve the user experience. My expertise is mostly on the backend stuff, specifically Microsoft 365, email reports, and the internal event system. I enjoy working on the more technical stuff, such as our bloom filter, for example. I’m most adept at all the Go (programming language) we use, which is Comet’s foundation. I'm not a TypeScript or PHP expert, but I can do that in a pinch.
How do you find being part of the company when you're a remote team member?
On Wednesdays, we have the ‘Comet Café’ which is a dedicated Slack channel where people can join a call and just talk about anything. We’re encouraged during that time to chat about things that are not work related, to get to know one another better, and just hang out, which is really nice. Or sometimes Josh, our GM, just randomly starts a Comet Café hangout outside of the regular scheduled time, he’s really good at that.
When I first started at Comet I remember Mike Hall, our Support Team Lead, stayed and chatted for quite a while. It is really good to just talk, and to have a casual meeting with your remote work mates with no expectation, because it allows you to bond with people with no pressure.
What advice you would give to an aspiring developer?
My advice would be to just code, even if it's bad code. It's similar to writing, you need to actually do it and keep practicing to get better at it. Coding is the same.
If you’re starting a project, even if you unsure what you're doing, just get started – write some code to get some basic functionality working. Once you have that base, you can build on it. It's much easier to work on something that exists, than to try to figure everything out all at once.
I would also say don't worry about which language you pick when you’re starting out. Skills between languages are easily transferrable. Again, just getting practice writing code is the key.
What are some of your interests and hobbies outside of work?
A lot of my time is spent on family. I have two kids, they’re both in college. And at home, I have my wife, Sheena, and my dog. Outside of work I try to spend as much time with them as possible.
Other than that, I'm still interested in biomedical engineering, which I studied in college. So I tend to read articles about that, specifically, neurological engineering. I’ve also thought about going back to school for electrical engineering. I would love to go back to college. Because even when I was working at Dell EMC, I was taking biology, biochemistry, and biology courses. I love learning, so I try to keep doing that.
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – March 5, 2025 – Comet Backup is pleased to announce it has embarked on a benefit partnership with The ASCII Group for 2025. The ASCII Group is a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs and Solution Providers.
Comet Backup is an all-in-one backup platform built specifically for IT professionals. Designed with IT service providers considerations in mind, our centralized platform makes it easy to manage and protect client data with fast, secure, and versatile backup solutions. Comet Backup empowers MSPs and IT providers to deliver data protection for disaster recovery and business continuity.
By partnering with The ASCII Group, Comet Backup is enhancing its channel program and creating lasting relationships with IT service providers. As a channel-first company, Comet Backup is dedicated to developing backup software and innovative solutions that help MSPs safeguard their clients’ data with confidence.
“Comet Backup is excited to join The ASCII Group and be part of a community that shares our passion for supporting MSPs and the IT channel. At Comet Backup, we’re committed to helping MSPs succeed by developing reliable data protection and backup solutions that keep businesses safe,” shared Josh Flores, General Manager, Comet Backup. “Being part of The ASCII Group allows us to collaborate, share insights, and work together to strengthen MSPs’ ability to serve their communities. We look forward to contributing, learning, and supporting MSPs and IT providers as they navigate the evolving landscape of cybersecurity and data protection.”
“We are delighted to announce a partnership with Comet Backup. By providing an exclusive benefit to ASCII members, Comet Backup is demonstrating their strong commitment to the community,” said Jessie Devine, VP Channel Development, The ASCII Group. To learn more about this benefit and all the ways ASCII helps MSPs grow check out: www.ascii.com.
Comet provides fast, secure and versatile backup software for IT professionals and businesses worldwide, localizing to 15 languages. It enables organizations to secure their data, deliver business continuity and disaster preparedness. Trusted by customers across 120 countries, Comet has been recognized as a “Momentum Leader” by G2 and awarded “Best Customer Support” by Software Advice. Comet is a privately held company based in Christchurch, New Zealand. To learn more, visit www.cometbackup.com and follow Comet Backup on: LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | X
About The ASCII Group, Inc
Founded in 1984, The ASCII Group is the original IT community of the channel, uniting Managed Service Providers (MSPs) across North America. As a vendor-neutral organization, ASCII provides unbiased resources and a collaborative environment to support business growth. Members span the U.S. and Canada, ranging from SMB-focused MSPs to international solution providers. ASCII offers leveraged purchasing programs, education, marketing support, peer networking, and more, complemented by a vibrant ecosystem of technology vendors. Learn more at www.ascii.com.
Introducing our favorite IT Holiday of the year, World Backup Day! Celebrated on March 31st, World Backup Day highlights the importance of backing up and protecting data.
World Backup Day was created in 2011 and started with a post on Reddit where a user wrote about losing their hard drive and wished someone had reminded them about how important it is to back up data.
This commemorative IT Holiday also happens to fall on the day before April Fool’s Day, so consider it an extra reminder to back up important data and devices to avoid becoming a fool to data loss.
World Backup Day is a great reminder to review your backup strategies and to educate your end users and partners on the importance of data backup.
While World Backup Day is observed annually at the end of March, MSPs and IT providers play a critical role in protecting businesses and organisations every day of the year.
In today’s digital age, data backup and data protection is critical for business continuity and risk mitigation to help organizations protect against:
Data loss
Human error
Ransomware
Cybersecurity attacks
Hardware malfunction
System failure
Natural disasters
Having a robust backup solution and solid restore and recovery process will help safeguard against these threats and minimize downtime for your end users and clients.
Having a secure and reliable backup platform as part of your tech stack is essential to MSPs & IT Providers’ backup and disaster recovery (BDR) strategy to maintain business continuity in the event of a security incident.
Here are some of the core features & benefits of Comet Backup:
Easy to use: Comet Backup has an intuitive, easy-to-use web console where you can remotely manage and protect devices. Comet is fast and easy to set up – start running backups and restores in less than 15 minutes.
Versatile storage options: Choose between integrated cloud storage or utilize your own storage, whether that’s an on-prem solution or a S3 compatible storage provider (including AWS, Azure, Wasabi, Backblaze B2 and more). You’re in control of where your data sits.
Fast, efficient chunking technology: Advanced backup algorithm packages data into small blocks for faster uploads and downloads, saving valuable time.
Reliable, Safe & Secure: Data is encrypted during backup, transit, and rest. Comet is also HIPPA and GDPR compliant.
Client-side deduplication: Reduces redundant data, ensuring more efficient storage usage and therefore cost savings.
Incremental forever without full re-uploads: After the initial backup, only changes are uploaded, conserving bandwidth, and accelerating the backup process.
Compression and encryption: Client data is compact for storage efficiency and secured against breaches, ensuring peace of mind.
World Backup Day is a great time to educate and remind your end users and partners of the importance of data backup. Your goal as IT Providers and MSPs is to provide the best support and solutions to give your partners peace of mind and confidence that their businesses’ data is safe and protected.
Comet 25.2.0 Rhea, our latest Quarterly release, brings 11 new features and 14 enhancements, including direct virtual machine restores into Hyper-V and VMware, User Grouping, Single device ownership of Storage Vaults and more.
The full set of changes can be found in the release notes.
This Quarterly release is named after Saturn's moon Rhea. Fun fact: Rhea might have its own ring system, which would make it the only moon in our solar system to have rings.
Join us for our Quarterly webinar on Tuesday 11 March (4pm EST / 1pm PST)! Comet's CTO, Mason will cover all the latest product updates, with a live question-and-answer session at the end.
Your input is important to our decision making at Comet. Direct VM Restore was a highly upvoted request in our Feature Voting system, so we're excited to share this with the Comet community.
You can now restore your Hyper-V and VMware Protected Items directly to a Hyper-V Server without any extra manual steps.
Direct restores into Hyper-V are available from the Comet Management Console and from the Comet Backup desktop app. The following screenshots are from the Comet Management Console.
VMware (vSphere or vCenter) virtual machines can be migrated to Hyper-V using Comet. Simply back up VMware guests using Comet's VMware Protected Item type. Once the guests have been backed up, you will be able to restore the guests using our restore workflows. Comet will automatically convert the guest on the fly at restore time into a format Hyper-V can boot.
You can now restore your Hyper-V and VMware Protected Items directly to a VMware (vSphere or vCenter) without any manual steps necessary.
Direct restores into VMware (vSphere or vCenter) are available from the Comet Management Console and from the Comet Backup desktop app. The following screenshots are from the Comet Management Console.
Similar to our VMware guest migration, you can migrate Hyper-V guests into VMware (vSphere or vCenter) using Comet. All that is required is a backup of the Hyper-V guests using Comet. Then you can use Comet's restore workflow to directly restore the guest into VMware. Comet will automatically convert the guest on the fly at restore time into a format VMware can boot.
New Feature: Disk Image Restores to Hyper-V and VMware
Comet's Disk Image Protected Items can now be restored directly into a Hyper-V or VMware (vSphere or vCenter) Server. This removes any need for manual conversions of VMDK files when restoring a physical Disk Image Protected Item into a virtual environment.
Once a Disk Image Protected Item has been backed up using Comet, you will be able to choose if you'd like to restore the Disk Image directly into Hyper-V or VMware. This is a fantastic improvement for customers who need to restore a physical device as soon as possible while they wait for new physical devices or hardware to arrive.
Disk Image Protected Items can also be migrated into a virtual (Hyper-V or VMware) environment permanently using Comet's new Disk Image restore functionality. This allows customers migrate phyiscal machines into a virtual environment, and continue to protect the machine with our Hyper-V or VMware Protected Item types.
New Feature: Comet Server Roles and Features Renamed
Comet Server Roles were initially named and styled after Windows Server Roles. Customers who have managed or worked with the Windows Server Operating System to manage roles would have been more familiar with this naming style.
To improve the usability of Comet for new and existing partners, all Comet Server Roles have been renamed.
Auth Role has been renamed to Management Console.
Storage Role has been renamed to Storage Gateway.
Constellation Role has been renamed to Cluster Manager.
Software Build Role has been renamed to Backup Agent Downloads (and its settings have been relocated under Management Console).
These changes better reflect the capabilities of what each role does within Comet.
The Comet Management Console has also been updated to reflect these changes, grouping the related side menu pages and settings under each of the new names.
It is now possible to group users in the Comet Management Console. This will allow users belonging to a department, company, cost center, etc. to be grouped logically inside Comet. This makes it easier to find and manage customers belonging to the same group.
Once a user belongs to a group, admins will be able to assign policies to these users in bulk. This means admins will be able to roll out new policies and settings in one go, without having to remember what policy a user should have applied just based on the name of the user.
New Feature: Single Device Ownership Of Storage Vaults
Single device ownership of Storage Vaults is a new user setting to determine whether devices that share the same user account login should back up Protected Items to a shared Storage Vault or isolated Storage Vaults. There are pros and cons of each option:
Pros of shared Storage Vaults: Data from multiple devices stored in a shared Storage Vault can take advantage of Comet's deduplication, reducing overall storage requirements.
Cons of shared Storage Vaults: Devices are able to see and restore all data from the other devices, and it is possible for backups to be delayed or missed on a device due to the Storage Vault being locked for retention jobs.
Pros of isolated Storage Vaults: Devices cannot see or restore data from other devices, and there is no risk of delayed or missed backup jobs due to the Storage Vault being locked.
Cons of isolated Storage Vaults: Backup data will not be deduplicated between devices, increasing overall storage requirements.
To configure isolated Storage Vaults, when configuring a new user account select the "Provision storage vaults automatically ..." option under Storage Vault Provisioning. For existing users, head to the users account page and set the "Automatically create Storage Vaults for newly registered devices" option to a Storage Template.
To configure shared Storage Vaults, when configuring a new user account select the "Provision storage vaults once ..." option under Storage Vault Provisioning. For existing users, head to the users account page and set the "Automatically create Storage Vaults for newly registered devices" option to (none).
This feature gives admins the flexibility to chose how the data for each device in a user is handled. Admins can now chose to prioritise data being deduplicated between devices, or prioritise data not being shared between devices to enforce strict data compliance requirements.
As the world’s largest and most trusted software marketplace, G2 reaches 100 million buyers annually. Its annual Best Software Awards rank the world’s best software companies and products based on authentic, timely reviews from real users.
Receiving this Best Software Award recognition validates Comet Backup’s dedication to developing secure and versatile backup solutions for IT professionals and businesses.
Josh Flores, General Manager at Comet Backup, shared, "At Comet Backup, our community is at the heart of everything we do, and we couldn’t have achieved this without the support of our amazing partners and customers. This award means a lot to us because it reflects our commitment to building the best backup solutions for MSPs and IT providers—helping them protect their clients and businesses with confidence.”
Flores thanked Comet’s partners, saying, “We appreciate you sharing your feedback and helping us grow. Your needs and insights drive our innovation, and we are dedicated to continuously improving, evolving, and delivering backup solutions that make a difference for your teams.”
“The stakes for choosing the right business software are higher than ever,” said Godard Abel, co-founder & CEO at G2. “With over 180,000 software products and services listings and 2.8 million verified user reviews in the G2 marketplace, we’re proud to help companies navigate these critical choices with insights rooted in authentic customer feedback. The 2025 Best Software Award winners represent the very best in the industry, standing out for their exceptional performance and customer satisfaction. Congratulations to this year’s honorees!”
G2’s 2025 Best Software Awards feature dozens of lists, ranking software vendors and products using G2’s proprietary algorithm based on G2’s verified user reviews and publicly available market presence data. To be eligible for the Best Software Awards, a software company or product must have received at least one approved review during the 2024 calendar year and appear on a G2 Grid®. Scores reflect only data from reviews submitted during this evaluation period.
About Comet Backup
Comet provides fast, secure and versatile backup software for IT professionals and businesses worldwide, localizing to 15 languages. It enables organizations to secure their data, deliver business continuity and disaster preparedness. Trusted by customers across 120 countries, Comet has been recognized as a “Momentum Leader” by G2 and awarded “Best Customer Support” by Software Advice. Comet is a privately held company based in Christchurch, New Zealand. To learn more, visit www.cometbackup.com and follow Comet Backup on: LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | X
About G2
G2 is the world's largest and most trusted software marketplace. More than 100 million people annually — including employees at all Fortune 500 companies — use G2 to make smarter software decisions based on authentic peer reviews. Thousands of software and services companies of all sizes partner with G2 to build their reputation and grow their business — including Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoom, and Adobe. To learn more about where you go for software, visit www.g2.com and follow us on X and LinkedIn.
We sat down for a chat with Alex Robinson from our Sales Team. Alex has been with the company since October 2023. This piece has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
The biggest difference that we're making for people is that we substantially streamline the data protection process for organizations, making it easier for people to set up and run backups.
A lot of people I talk to on calls say that their current backup systems have multiple disparate components or they are using several different backup systems to meet all their needs.
With Comet, you have a management console that has the flexibility to do whatever you want from within it. I’ve gotten feedback from people saying that with Comet they can consolidate all their backups into a single platform, and that it is simple to use.
What can an IT professional expect when they book a call with you?
I walk prospective customers through a high level overview of the product. I like to focus on understanding their backup requirements and how Comet can meet those requirements. Then I go over how our pricing works.
Often people are coming from other vendors who have more complicated licensing models. I find people are frequently pleasantly surprised that a conversation about Comet’s pricing plans only takes five minutes.
If they don’t have a free trial set up yet, I’ll help them get that going. Or if they’re ready to begin testing or deployment, I can book them in with our onboarding or technical team.
The goal is always for an MSP or an IT team to be up and running backups as quickly as possible to see how easy the product is to work with.
Basically, I'm solving a problem for someone or meeting a need that someone has for their business. I really enjoy helping people work through that.
Because my background is in account management and customer success (I actually managed a camera store for many years), cultivating a long term relationship is very important to me. So that’s always how I approach talking to potential partners.
What happens if Comet Backup isn’t the right solution for the problem they’re trying to solve?
I’m always up front and honest with customers and will tell them, “I don’t think Comet is the right fit for you.” I'm not trying to push people into buying something they don't need. I would rather they find the right solution for what they’re trying to achieve.
I wanted to be sure I was working for a company that’s actually constantly improving the product for customers and innovating and truly adding value when we release updates to the software. Comet is actively building the product and pushing it forward, which is really important to me.
#1 Run your backups regularly. And verify that your backups are configured correctly and are working as intended. Everyone talks about having backups, but the key is – are you checking the reporting around your backups on a regular basis? Have you configured the backup reports and are you actually following up on them?
#2 Are you doing test restores on things occasionally, and verifying the data is there? Don’t just set it and forget it. Set it and actively monitor your backups.
#3 Familiarize yourself with the recovery process. Because when you need to do a recovery, you almost always need to do it in a hurry. Make sure you know how to do it, how long it's going to take, and what's involved in the recovery process.
What's your favorite thing about working at Comet?
I love that the Comet team actually listens to the feedback we get from customers and prospects. So many companies claim to do that, but in reality they don’t. Comet is very open to listening and then the dev team prioritizes improving that functionality and building new features people would like to see in the software.
I appreciate the open channels of communication throughout the company. There aren’t any layers of bureaucracy, so to speak. You can talk to anyone about anything. And they will really take that customer feedback to heart.
How would you describe the team culture at Comet?
My favorite thing about working here is definitely how collaborative the team is, and that you can ask anyone for help. Especially when you're coming into a technical product like Comet, although I’ve previously worked in software and tech for a long time, there’s always a learning curve involved with learning about products in a new industry. So it’s been really helpful that everyone, including the dev teams and support team, are willing to help out with the technical learning curve.
Were there certain things that attracted you to work at Comet?
I was actively looking for a role that wasn't a nine-to-five job, something with more flexibility. When I saw the hours were early, that had huge appeal. I like to start early and finish early so I can do school pickup and spend time with my family.
What are some of your other interests or hobbies outside of work?
Most of my time is taken up with my family and kids, and the farm animals. I've got sheep, a miniature horse, ducks, chickens, turkeys, geese, and a dog. So that takes up most of my time outside of work.
National Clean Out Your Computer Day was started in 2000 as an initiative of the Institute for Business Technology and falls on the second Monday in February.
The event promotes taking time out of your day to do some basic housekeeping on your computer, such as backing up your computer, organizing your files and folders, updating software, and removing unused files.
Consider it an early start to spring cleaning. Just like any other cleaning or tidying up task, don’t get overwhelmed by trying to do it all at once, break it down into manageable chunks and just start with something easy, like deleting your folder of screenshots.
Before you delete any files, it’s a good idea to make sure you have a backup of your data, just in case!
And don’t forget about wiping the outside of your device, cleaning the screen and keyboard (say goodbye to fingerprints and keyboard crumbs).
Clean Out Your Computer Day for IT Providers & MSPs
IT Providers and MSPs can use Clean Out Your Computer Day to remind end users to create positive digital habits and walk them through how to perform a digital declutter. Below are some tips to show your clients and end users how to observe Clean Out Your Computer Day.
National #CleanOutYourComputerDay is another reminder to help us create good digital and cyber hygiene habits. Cleaning up and tidying our personal and work computers can help us:
Keep organized – making everything easier to find which will ultimately save time over the coming year
Make our computers run faster – by deleting unnecessary files and uninstalling unused applications
Give us peace of mind – by making sure our important files are properly saved and backed up, either locally or to the cloud, or both.
Below is a checklist and some additional references and resources about Clean Out Your Computer Day.
We sat down for a chat with Rhane Mercado, one of our Software Developers who has graduated from our Support/Junior Developer pathway, and has been with the company since January 2023. This piece has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
When I went to my first ever computer science class at university, I fell in love. It was math, and logic, and all this stuff that I understood and craved to learn. I really enjoy the problem solving aspect of it.
After that, I knew I wanted it to be my main focus, so I switched my major from environmental science to computer science and pretty much fell in love from there.
Before I graduated from University of Waikato, I was applying for jobs and I saw the Support/Junior Dev role at Comet. I checked out the company’s website and thought backup software could be interesting. In university you don’t really get introduced to backup software so it was something new.
Then when I had my interview with Josh (Comet’s General Manager), it was really eye opening, because a lot of companies say ‘we’re like family, we’re really cool, we get along’ etc. But five minutes into the interview, I was like ‘I like this dude, I like his vibe, the company does sound cool, and I would like to work for somebody like him.’
Everyone is so willing to tell you about the technology. Everyone is so passionate about everything. Everyone loves to give good feedback, and also everyone can take feedback.
The best thing is that you don't feel bad about asking questions. It's really been great, especially as a junior dev, to feel comfortable asking for help if you don’t know something. Even if you make a mistake, it’s okay, you learn from it and you don’t feel bad about it.
How would you describe the team culture at Comet?
It's great! The culture at Comet has been wonderful since I've started, everyone from the non-technical team and the dev teams have been really friendly. It’s a safe place where you feel comfortable asking questions and asking for help. And no matter how closely you work with someone or not, everyone across the company is always up for a friendly chat.
What do you enjoy about CometCon, our bi annual internal conference?
You get time to look at what everyone else is working on, and you get to understand the product a lot more. Especially as a junior dev, compared to some of the other developers who have been in the industry for ten years, it’s a great opportunity to learn. CometCon is awesome because there’s more interaction between the two dev teams, and it’s cool to see what the other team is working on.
I really enjoy the technical talks from Mason, our CTO, because just looking at the code, it’s hard to understand, but when Mason explains his point of view, everything makes a lot more sense.
What does a typical day and week look like for you as a developer?
A typical day is pretty much say hello to everyone, and then you start working on the git ticket that you’ve picked up. At 10am, we have our team stand up meeting, each dev talks about what you worked on the previous day, and what you’re tackling today, then you start working on that ticket.
Sometimes through the support team a problem will pop up, and the dev team leader might ask you to look into the issue. So you might have to put your current dev project aside to work on a bug fix that’s more pressing.
On Thursdays we have team reviews, and Mason (Comet's CTO) and Callum (Comet's Product Engineering Manager) both jump on the call, and we show off what we've been working on for the past few days.
What’s the working schedule and flexibility like at Comet?
When I was working at the head office, I would start early in the morning, around 7 or 7:30am and then I'd finish work around 3:45pm-4pm, and I'd have the afternoon to myself.
When I moved back to Tauranga and started working remotely, I had other things on in the morning, so I shifted my start time a bit later, so it’s nice that we have that flexibility. There are team members who choose to start early and there are team members who choose to start later, so it feels like there’s always someone around you can talk to on Slack.
You're the third person to complete the support/junior dev to developer pathway. What was it like working for support before becoming a full-time developer?
Before coming into the support team, I had never worked in support before, so the first month I was just learning and asking lots of questions. The team was so helpful and patient while I got my bearings.
The beautiful thing about the support/junior developer pathway was that I got to see and experience Comet from a customer point of view. I got to see how everything fits together first before looking at the code.
Understanding all the different parts was really informative. So after a year of doing the support role and then becoming a developer and coming to the code, it was much easier for me to find certain things, and then understand why certain things are how they are.
Now as a developer, I’m able to make changes and add things to the software to make it better for the customer. It’s fun.
I love solving a problem. It motivates me. When I’ve been staring at a problem for a good 30 minutes, or an hour, or half a day, and it clicks and I finally understand it, and I code it and it works – that’s the best feeling when you solve a problem. I really love it.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a developer?
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and expect that failure is part of the learning process. Try new things, and take more risks. Don’t be too harsh on yourself if you don’t know something.
Before coming to Comet, I was always scared to fail, but now working here, everyone is so supportive and helpful. I feel safe enough here to take risks and make mistakes. That’s a really powerful feeling.
What keeps you interested and inspired in the field?
Software is never stagnant. It’s always improving. There’s always something new. It’s never boring, every single day you learn something new. There’s not one day that I’ve gone to work and been like ‘I knew everything today’. I don’t get bored, ever, there’s aways something new.
What are some of your interests or hobbies outside of work?
For work, we’re looking at our computers all day, so on the weekends and during my downtime I like to do things that don’t involve looking at a screen.
I love being outside, looking at the landscapes and mountains, going for a walk around the estuary and getting some fresh air.
Recently I’ve taken up boxing to do something physically demanding. I go to the 6:30am morning classes, they run for about an hour and it’s a nice way to start the day.
I also love to read. Reading is like my escape, it’s like you’re in a whole different world. Murder-mysteries are my go-to. It’s the satisfaction of putting the pieces together and solving the mystery, and sometimes there are curveballs that you just don’t expect.
Rice! There's been one week in my entire life when I didn't eat rice because I was in camp, but every single week of my life I've eaten rice. You can't have a complete meal without rice.
Do you have any favorite recipes you like to cook to go with rice?
We have a dish in the Philippines called sinigang, it's a sour and savory soup. Another dish is chicken adobo, which is soy sauce and vinegar mixed with milk. And it's so good, it’s one of my favorites.
IT Providers and MSPs can use Data Privacy Week as an opportunity to teach your clients about their data privacy and to remind end users to double check the information they are sharing on their apps and devices.
We’ve put together some information and resources to help you educate your end users.
Data is collected everyday – from your computer, smartphone, smartwatch, and pretty much every other internet-connected device. All of your online activity generates a trail of data.
Data Privacy Week acts as a reminder to double check and update the settings on your apps, accounts and connected devices to decide how this data is collected and used.
Even the tech titans like Apple are bowing to the importance of data privacy as evidenced by their 2020 decision to roll out the Apple App Tracking Transparency feature to iOS 14.5. Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature allows users to choose whether an app can track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites for advertising targeting. The impact of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature upended the mobile ad industry, which largely relies on user data.
With the emergence of AI (artificial intelligence) and the ever-changing landscape of technology and cybersecurity, we expect to see more laws and regulations around data privacy, following the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018 across Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in 2019 in the US.
But complying with regulations and relying on the tech industry to design better privacy controls isn’t enough. It’s important to proactively protect yourself, your clients and your company from unnecessary data collection.
The 2025 theme for Data Privacy Week is ‘Take Control of your Data’. Here are some easy tips and reminders from the NCA to help you manage your data privacy:
Know the trade-off between privacy and convenience – does each app or account need access to certain data (such as your contacts or photos or camera)?
Adjust privacy settings to your comfort level. Audit your apps, accounts, and double check the privacy and security settings on your devices.
Protect your data with several layers of security, including using secure passwords and multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Install updates – as annoying as is to take time to update your software, it is important because updates help patch security flaws, deploy bug fixes, add new features, and help keep your devices running smoothly.
