My Monolith is Melting - PIPELINE CONF 2015

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager

MY MONOLITH IS MELTING

PIPELINE CONF

March 2015


http://www.flickr.com/photos/kodomut/3667608102/


GOV.UK FIRST TWO WEEKS = 100 RELEASES

https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2012/11/02/regular-releases-reduce-risk/


INSERT BADGER OF DEPLOY


WE DON’T ALL HAVE THE BENEFIT OF STARTING GREENFIELD


ALSO WORKED ON A LOT OF MASSIVE, MONOLITHIC, SYSTEMS


(IT’S NOT LEGACY IT’S VINTAGE)



HOW DO WE MOVE FROM SLOW-MOVING MONOLITHS TO CONTINUOUS

DELIVERY?


WELL, FIRSTLY A CONFESSION


I LIED


“You'll hear about the epic battles with thedreaded CAB (Change Approval Board), thefight to move architecture discussions fromWord documents to the whiteboards, and themyriad smaller skirmishes along the path”


I NEVER MEANT TO START A WAR,I JUST WANTED YOU TO LET ME IN


PUT DOWN YOUR SWORD.YOU ARE NOT A ROMAN GENERAL.


CHANGE IS NOT WAR.

YOU DON’T WIN IF YOU DEFEAT YOUR COLLEAGUES.




MELTING MONOLITHS TAKES CONCERTED EFFORT ON TECHNOLOGY, PROCESS

& CULTURE


LET’S START WITH

PROCESS


TYPICAL PROCESS ISSUES:

- SLOW RELEASES- CHANGE APPROVAL BOARDS

- LOTS OF MANUAL WORK (CONFIG, ENVS, TEST, RELEASE)


HOW DID WE END UP HERE?


http://flick-the-thief.deviantart.com/art/Troll-bridge-138722067

DEV VIEW OF CAB


CAB VIEW OF CAB

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kwl/4229954645/


https://twitter.com/tomgauld/status/571994690289061888


REALITY IS:

CHANGE APPROVAL BOARDS ARE REGRESSION TESTS EXPRESSED IN

PROCESS RATHER THAN CODE


OFTEN THEY ARE A REACTION TO OUR USERS HAVING TO DO OUR

TESTING FOR US – LIVE



HOW HAVE WE FAILED YOU? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS…

- USERS DOING OUR MONITORING & ALERTING - TESTING MANUAL & UNRELIABLE- DEPLOYMENT HARD & MANUAL & SLOW SO CHANGES “BUNDLED”- ENVIRONMENTS HARD TO SET UP & MAINTAIN; LOW FIDELITY



WE NEED TO STOP FIGHTING, AND START WINNING BACK TRUST


FIX TECHNOLOGY FIRST

KEEP RELEASE MGMT/CAB IN PLACE

IT’S YOUR ORG’S SAFETY BLANKET


AUTOMATE TESTING

AUTOMATE TESTING

AUTOMATE TESTING

AUTOMATE TESTING


PLEASE AUTOMATE

YOUR GORRAMTESTING


ATOMIC VERSION CONTROL

INFRA/CONFIG AS CODE

MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO STAND UP HIGH FIDELITY ENVIRONMENTS


REMEMBER ENVIRONMENTS ARE ABOUT MORE THAN JUST CONFIG

FIDELITY = HOW WELL IT REPRESENTS YOUR REAL SYSTEMS

HOW DO YOU REFRESH DATA TOO?


IMPROVE ARCHITECTURE WHENEVER YOU CAN

FREE YOUR DATA

FREE YOUR FUNCTIONALITY


BUILD, REFACTOR, LET PLATFORMS EMERGE

https://medium.com/@postenterprise/the-abuse-of-reuse-96b2e0af01a7


PUT AN EXPIRY DATE ON ANY (NECESSARY) DIRTY HACKS


DON’T WAIT FOR PERMISSION TO IMPROVE THINGS

ADOPT “BOYSCOUT” RULE

BUILD IMPROVEMENT IN


http://xprogramming.com/articles/refactoring-not-on-the-backlog/


REFACTOR YOUR MONOLITH

START CONSUMING APIS INTERNALLY TOO

EAT YOUR OWN DOGFOOD



LOOK FOR STRONGLY COUPLED BITS OF YOUR ARCHITECTURE

MAKE THEM MORE LOOSELY COUPLED (APIS, ETC)



EARN BACK TRUST

IT’S EASY TO MOVE TO RELEASING MORE FREQUENTLY WHEN YOU’VE

MADE RELEASING SAFER & LESS RISKY


BUILD A CULTURE THAT VALUES GETTING NEW FEATURES TO USERS

ANDENSURING THEY HAVE A RELIABLE,

QUALITY EXPERIENCE


WHICH BRINGS US TO CULTURE


SPACE TO BE AWESOME =

+ PURPOSE (Do I believe in WHY?)

+ AUTONOMY (Do I get a say in WHAT?)

+ MASTERY (Am I proud of HOW?)

+ INCLUSION (Do I BELONG HERE?)

- ANY NEGATIVE FACTORS THAT DETRACT


GET FOLKS FOCUSED AROUND THE SAME PURPOSE

HELP THEM HAVE A SAY IN HOW THEY WORK


ENABLE WAYS OF WORKING THAT PEOPLE ARE PROUD OF – BOTH THE

PROCESS & THE PRODUCT

CREATE SPACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN BE THEMSELVES AND

BE SUCCESSFUL


https://www.flickr.com/photos/psd/8451589322/in/set-72157633230231221


TEAMS ARE STRONGEST WHEN THEY HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF SKILLSETS & BACKGROUNDS &

EXPERIENCES


(ON THE OTHER HAND, STOCK PHOTOS ARE FUNNIEST WHEN YOU MAKE EVERYONE JUMP IN THE AIR AND LOOK

UNCOMFORTABLE AND/OR GLEEFULLY TERRIFIED)


CULTURAL CHANGE IS HARD

1) Create a sense of urgency.

2) Get a broad team to give a crap.

3) Paint a picture of the future.

4) Tell people, so they get excited.

5) Give everyone the opportunity

to help (de-centralise).

6) Show it works – quick wins.

7) Keep at it. Even when it’s hard.

8) Anchor change in your culture.


BUT IF WE BELIEVE WE CAN JUST REBUILD EVERYTHING EVERY TIME WE DISCOVER A BETTER WAY OF

DOING THINGS, WELL…




IF IT WORKS, IT’LL KEEP BEING USED.

SYSTEMS OFTEN LIVE LONGER THAN EXPECTED.

BUILD ROBUST SHIT THAT KEEPS GOING & IS MAINTAINABLE.


YOU CAN’T ALWAYS KNOW THE FUTURE USE OF WHAT YOU BUILD


BE A PRO EVERY DAY



Technology

My Monolith is Melting - PIPELINE CONF 2015