LMSUG 2015 "The Business Behind Microservices: Organisational, Architectural and Operational Challenges"

The Business Behind MICRoservices: OrganisationAL, architectural and Operational Challenges

Daniel Bryant @danielbryantuk

OpenCredo / Container Solu7ons London

Tonight – Microservices…

•  … not for every organisa7on/project?

•  …macro organisa7onal and people impact

•  Collaborate more (and beGer)

•  Apply lightweight process to drive change

03/06/15 @danielbryantuk

Who Am I?

•  London Java Community Associate

•  Adopt OpenJDK and JSR

•  InfoQ Editor and DZone MVB


•  OpenCredo / Container Solu7ons ü  Agile, CI/CD, DevOps ü  Microservices and cloud ü  Docker, Mesos and Kubernetes

Disclaimer

Any resemblance to existing projects

(whether overrunning or over-budget)

is purely Coincidental...


1. Divided companies vs connected companies…


Gray’s Model of Companies •  Divided Companies –  Tradi7onal ‘enterprise’ (machine analogy) –  Command and control, specialised, division of labour –  Predictable in stable environments –  Classical SOA?

•  Connected Companies – Hipsters and unicorns (biological analogy) – Autonomous, fractal, service-‐focused – Adap7ve in uncertain environments – Microservices?


Connected Companies

•  Startups – Searching for a business model

•  Established companies – Amazon – Spo7fy – Neblix – Etsy


So, are microservices always the best fit?


No… Microservices for Speed(?)

skillsmaGer.com/skillscasts/6143-‐microservices-‐for-‐speed

HOT OFF THE PRESS!! mar7nfowler.com/bliki/

MonolithFirst.html


No… Architectural/Design Skills

“If you can't build a [well-‐structured] monolith, what makes you think microservices are the answer?”

Simon Brown (bit.ly/1n7D0vp)


No… Opera7onal Maturity


So, what does a connected company / microservice organisa7on

look like?


2. Conway was telling the truth... Deal with it!


How Do CommiGees Invent?

“organizaCons which design systems ... are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communicaCon structures of these organizaCons”

-‐ Melvin Conway, 1968


Stereotypical Silos...

Dev QA Ops

Hand-‐off delays Hand-‐off delays

Slow feedback Slow feedback

Lack of cohesion, shared understanding and joint accountability

Front-‐end Database

Middleware 03/06/15 @danielbryantuk


Cross-‐func7onal Teams

•  Spo7fy (bit.ly/1C46ZKo) – Culture

•  Amazon (bit.ly/1F3Dgkm) – Communica7on

•  Gilt (gi.lt/1rgyWvO) – Strategic alignment


Spo7fy


Killer Performance Indicators

•  Shared goal semng is key!

•  KPIs, OKR, CSF… WAT??

•  Build, measure, learn – Plan, do, check, act – Observe, orient, decide, act – The scien7fic method…


3. All Technology problems are people problems


‘Architecture’ – Not a dirty word

•  Technical leadership (bit.ly/1EUwpLl)

•  Communica7on (bit.ly/1Ia3u8o)

•  Promote shared understanding

•  ‘Just enough’ up front design


Microservices… Macro Team Dynamics

•  Microservice Prerequisites (bit.ly/1wIjY58) – Rapid provisioning – Basic monitoring – Rapid applica7on deployment

•  In a nutshell… – Agile – DevOps – CI/CD


Share the Pain…


“Dev-‐on-‐call”

An occasional spike to the head is a good thing…

…metaphorically speaking

•  You write it, you run it –  Accountability –  Shared responsibility –  Communica7on


Microservices… New Technology?

“I will postpone using this shiny new framework un6l my peers have validated the proposed benefits with rigorous scien6fic experiments”

-‐ Said by no programmer

…ever


Raible’s Comparison Matrix

MaG Raible comparison matrix (bit.ly/OxUzad)


So, we’ve looked at the business, organisa7onal

structure, and people aspects…. …how do we actually implement this change?


4. Change management without Management double-speak


Change Management is Essen7al

•  Fair process – Engagement – Explana7on – Expecta7on

•  Leading change – Transforma7on is a process – Create a coali7on, and a vision – Communicate, empower, plan, consolidate


A Look into My Toolbox

•  (Over-‐)communicate vision –  Engage, explain, expecta7ons (7mescale + KPIs)

•  Workshops –  Empower and support champions

•  “Bikesheds”

•  Take the team pulse regularly…


A Look into My Toolbox


A Look into My Toolbox •  MoSCoW

•  RASCI –  Responsible – Accountable –  Support –  Collaborate –  Informed

•  RAG status


Some common themes…


Leadership – Oten Undervalued

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things”

-‐  Peter Drucker


Behavioural Economics

Psychological, social, cogniCve and emoConal factors that affect economic decisions…


In summary…


The Business Behind Microservices

•  Check your organisa7on can benefit from using microservices (connected companies)

•  Cross-‐func7onal goal-‐oriented teams FTW

•  Agile, DevOps, CI/CD are prerequisites

•  Lightweight processes help with change


THANKS...

@danielbryantuk

daniel.bryant@container-‐solu7ons.com

@OpenCredo / @containersolu7


My Other Resources •  My ar7cles:

–  hGps://www.voxxed.com/blog/2015/01/understanding-‐the-‐business-‐behind-‐microservices-‐recommended-‐reading-‐part-‐one/

–  hGp://java.dzone.com/ar7cles/introducing-‐dzone-‐guide-‐cloud (Cloud DHARMA guidelines) –  hGp://www.dzone.com/research/guide-‐to-‐enterprise-‐integra7on (Enterprise MSA & Decomposi7on)

•  Videos I men7oned: –  hGps://www.parleys.com/tutorial/thinking-‐fast-‐slow-‐sotware-‐development –  hGps://skillsmaGer.com/skillscasts/5938-‐developing-‐java-‐services-‐for-‐the-‐cloud –  hGps://www.parleys.com/tutorial/moving-‐devops-‐mode-‐easy-‐hard-‐just-‐plain-‐terrifying

•  My InfoQ news (Cloud, microservices, and container tech) –  hGp://www.infoq.com/author/Daniel-‐Bryant

•  Other books –  hGp://www.amazon.co.uk/Working-‐Effec7vely-‐Legacy-‐Robert-‐Mar7n/dp/0131177052 –  hGp://www.amazon.co.uk/Implemen7ng-‐Domain-‐Driven-‐Design-‐Vaughn-‐Vernon/dp/0321834577
