Continuous modernization -- maintaining long-lived federal systems
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The federal government maintains some IT systems that are over 50 years old and replaces others with ground-up rewrites after 5 years. There are always trade-offs to be made, but some approaches better fit the uniquely long-lived missions that are served by federal IT systems. At a certain point, a whole-sale rewrite is the best option for replacing the stale, decaying software that leads to major headaches and eventual catastrophe. Big rewrites have big risks and big failures. Because of the stability and enduring mandates of the federal government, long-term investments in IT systems pay off and give room for smart maintenance strategies. Rather than engaging in an intense modernization effort following by years of minimal maintenance, a better alternative often is modernizing a system continuously, balancing operations, maintenance, and renovation. Ideally you can improve, update, and upgrade the software system one piece at a time while it continues to operate, avoiding feature freezes and scary cut-overs. Slides from presentation given at the NDIA Agile in Government Summit 2019: https://ndia.dtic.mil/2019/agile/2019agile.html
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Continuous modernization -- maintaining long-lived federal systems
- 1. excella.com | @excellaco Continuous Modernization Maintaining Long-Lived Federal Systems | Dane Weber 571.289.0000 | dane.weber@excella.com
- 2. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Federal IT systems include critical enterprise functions: • System of record • Implementation of mandate • Accomplishing the mission These frequently evolve over time, but rarely go away.
- 3. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Federal IT systems include critical enterprise functions: • System of record • Implementation of mandate • Accomplishing the mission These frequently evolve over time, but rarely go away.
- 4. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Federal IT systems include critical enterprise functions: • System of record • Implementation of mandate • Accomplishing the mission These frequently evolve over time, but rarely go away.
- 5. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems
- 6. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems
- 7. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems
- 8. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems
- 9. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems
- 10. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Federal systems serve uniquely long-lived missions. Short-term thinking often leads to risks and waste that have long-term consequences.
- 11. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Federal systems serve uniquely long-lived missions. Short-term thinking often leads to risks and waste that have long-term consequences.
- 12. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems
- 13. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems
- 14. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems
- 15. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Goals for critical enterprise functions: • Cost-effective • Reliable • Extensible
- 16. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Goals for critical enterprise functions: • Cost-effective • Dependable • Extensible
- 17. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Goals for critical enterprise functions: • Cost-effective • Dependable • Extensible
- 18. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Goals for critical enterprise functions: • Cost-effective • Dependable • Extensible
- 19. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Goals for critical enterprise functions: • Cost-effective • Dependable • Extensible
- 20. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Goals for critical enterprise functions: • Cost-effective • Dependable • Extensible
- 21. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Goals for critical enterprise functions: • Cost-effective • Dependable • Extensible
- 22. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Goals for critical enterprise functions: • Cost-effective • Dependable • Extensible
- 23. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems Goals for critical enterprise functions: • Cost-effective • Dependable • Extensible
- 24. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems What makes legacy systems so expensive, unreliable, and fragile? Technical Debt
- 25. excella.com | @excellaco Long-Lived Federal IT Systems What makes legacy systems so expensive, unreliable, and fragile? Technical Debt
- 26. excella.com | @excellaco Technical debt is a metaphor for the shortcuts, onerous designs, and outdated technology that make modifying the system difficult and risky. Like financial debt it compounds and accumulates over time and has ongoing costs until it is paid off. Technical Debt
- 27. excella.com | @excellaco Technical debt is a metaphor for the shortcuts, onerous designs, and outdated technology that make modifying the system difficult and risky. Like financial debt it compounds and accumulates over time and has ongoing costs until it is paid off. Technical Debt
- 28. excella.com | @excellaco Technical debt is a metaphor for the shortcuts, onerous designs, and outdated technology that make modifying the system difficult and risky. Like financial debt it compounds and accumulates over time and has ongoing costs until it is paid off. Technical Debt
- 29. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt
- 30. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt
- 31. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt
- 32. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt
- 33. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt
- 34. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt
- 35. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt
- 36. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt
- 37. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt
- 38. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt
- 39. excella.com | @excellaco Technical debt is worse than financial debt. • Not fungible; unique to the system. • Cannot outrun; must fix or replace. • Does not have predictable costs. It is compounding risk. Technical Debt
- 40. excella.com | @excellaco Technical debt is worse than financial debt. • Not fungible; unique to the system. • Cannot outrun; must fix or replace. • Does not have predictable costs. It is compounding risk. Technical Debt
- 41. excella.com | @excellaco Technical debt is worse than financial debt. • Not fungible; unique to the system. • Cannot outrun; must fix or replace. • Does not have predictable costs. It is compounding risk. Technical Debt
- 42. excella.com | @excellaco Technical debt is worse than financial debt. • Not fungible; unique to the system. • Cannot outrun; must fix or replace. • Does not have predictable costs. It is compounding risk. Technical Debt
- 43. excella.com | @excellaco Technical debt is worse than financial debt. • Not fungible; unique to the system. • Cannot outrun; must fix or replace. • Does not have predictable costs. It is compounding risk. Technical Debt
- 44. excella.com | @excellaco Legacy System Legacy Modernization Modernization Modern System
- 45. excella.com | @excellaco The bad old system full of technical debt. Legacy System Legacy Modernization Modernization Modern System
- 46. excella.com | @excellaco The bad old system full of technical debt. Legacy System Legacy Modernization Modernization The replacement that will make all of our dreams come true. Modern System
- 47. excella.com | @excellaco The bad old system full of technical debt. Legacy System Legacy Modernization Modernization The replacement that will make all of our dreams come true. Modern System
- 48. excella.com | @excellaco The bad old system full of technical debt. Legacy System Legacy Modernization Modernization The replacement that will make all of our dreams come true. Modern System
- 49. excella.com | @excellaco Legacy Modernization
- 50. excella.com | @excellaco “Product” is a problematic metaphor Trucks, pens, laptops, and code?
- 52. excella.com | @excellaco The Promise of Agile Delivery
- 58. excella.com | @excellaco The Problem of Modernization
- 74. excella.com | @excellaco Dirty Secret: The modernization was “rushed”
- 79. excella.com | @excellaco Every Legacy System was once “Modern” Congratulations! We just built another legacy system.
- 80. excella.com | @excellaco Instead: Maintain and Renovate
- 93. excella.com | @excellaco Another Metaphor: Your Home Does it really need to be demolished?
- 94. excella.com | @excellaco The “Home” Metaphor
- 95. excella.com | @excellaco • Long-term investment • In daily use • Needs maintenance • Renovate as needed • Make it safe to renovate with girders, braces, shoring, & jacks The “Home” Metaphor
- 96. excella.com | @excellaco It is one thing to build a new house, but to build a new house in the same exact spot? The “Home” Metaphor
- 97. excella.com | @excellaco The “Home” Metaphor
- 98. excella.com | @excellaco The “Home” Metaphor This is critical to the enterprise. Moving out for a year is a costly and risky option. Live On-Site
- 99. excella.com | @excellaco The “Home” Metaphor This is critical to the enterprise. Moving out for a year is a costly and risky option. Live On-Site Maintain Prevention over cure. Don’t save money now at the risk of catastrophe later.
- 100. excella.com | @excellaco The “Home” Metaphor This is critical to the enterprise. Moving out for a year is a costly and risky option. Live On-Site Maintain Drastic changes may include remodeling, additions, and major retrofitting. Renovate Prevention over cure. Don’t save money now at the risk of catastrophe later.
- 101. excella.com | @excellaco Demolition and rebuilding may be the right option, although usually because of unaddressed deterioration. The “Home” Metaphor
- 102. excella.com | @excellaco Demolition and rebuilding may be the right option, although usually because of unaddressed deterioration. The “Home” Metaphor
- 103. excella.com | @excellaco Demolition and rebuilding may be the right option, although usually because of unaddressed deterioration. The “Home” Metaphor
- 104. excella.com | @excellaco How to maintain and renovate
- 105. excella.com | @excellaco Maintain & Renovate
- 106. excella.com | @excellaco Maintain & Renovate Treat long-lived Federal IT systems like homes. Avoid demolition and rebuilding. Pay down technical debt. Steadily invest in modernizing the system.
- 107. excella.com | @excellaco Maintain & Renovate Treat long-lived Federal IT systems like homes. Avoid demolition and rebuilding. Pay down technical debt. Steadily invest in modernizing the system.
- 108. excella.com | @excellaco Maintain & Renovate Treat long-lived Federal IT systems like homes. Avoid demolition and rebuilding. Pay down technical debt. Steadily invest in modernizing the system.
- 109. excella.com | @excellaco Maintain & Renovate Treat long-lived Federal IT systems like homes. Avoid demolition and rebuilding. Pay down technical debt. Steadily invest in modernizing the system.
- 110. excella.com | @excellaco Maintain & Renovate Treat long-lived Federal IT systems like homes. Avoid demolition and rebuilding. Pay down technical debt. Steadily invest in modernizing the system.
- 111. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt is a huge topic. • Lack of process or understanding • Tightly-coupled components • Lack of a test suite • Lack of documentation • Lack of collaboration • Parallel development • Delayed refactoring • Lack of alignment to standards • Lack of knowledge • Lack of ownership • Poor technological leadership “As an evolving program is continually changed, its complexity, reflecting deteriorating structure, increases unless work is done to maintain or reduce it.” — Meir Manny Lehman, 1980 Reduce Technical Debt
- 112. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt is a huge topic. • Lack of process or understanding • Tightly-coupled components • Lack of a test suite • Lack of documentation • Lack of collaboration • Parallel development • Delayed refactoring • Lack of alignment to standards • Lack of knowledge • Lack of ownership • Poor technological leadership “As an evolving program is continually changed, its complexity, reflecting deteriorating structure, increases unless work is done to maintain or reduce it.” — Meir Manny Lehman, 1980 Reduce Technical Debt
- 113. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt is a huge topic. • Lack of process or understanding • Tightly-coupled components • Lack of a test suite • Lack of documentation • Lack of collaboration • Parallel development • Delayed refactoring • Lack of alignment to standards • Lack of knowledge • Lack of ownership • Poor technological leadership “As an evolving program is continually changed, its complexity, reflecting deteriorating structure, increases unless work is done to maintain or reduce it.” — Meir Manny Lehman, 1980 Reduce Technical Debt
- 114. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt is a huge topic. • Lack of process or understanding • Tightly-coupled components • Lack of a test suite • Lack of documentation • Lack of collaboration • Parallel development • Delayed refactoring • Lack of alignment to standards • Lack of knowledge • Lack of ownership • Poor technological leadership “As an evolving program is continually changed, its complexity, reflecting deteriorating structure, increases unless work is done to maintain or reduce it.” — Meir Manny Lehman, 1980 Reduce Technical Debt
- 115. excella.com | @excellaco Technical Debt is a huge topic. • Lack of process or understanding • Tightly-coupled components • Lack of a test suite • Lack of documentation • Lack of collaboration • Parallel development • Delayed refactoring • Lack of alignment to standards • Lack of knowledge • Lack of ownership • Poor technological leadership “As an evolving program is continually changed, its complexity, reflecting deteriorating structure, increases unless work is done to maintain or reduce it.” — Meir Manny Lehman, 1980 Reduce Technical Debt
- 116. excella.com | @excellaco Reduce Technical Debt Stop the bleeding Create time and space Ensure safety
- 117. excella.com | @excellaco Stop the Bleeding
- 118. excella.com | @excellaco • Every piece of work should result in equal or reduced technical debt. • Boy Scout Rule: leave it better than you found it. • Refactor as you go. • Fix defects ASAP. Stop the Bleeding
- 119. excella.com | @excellaco • Every piece of work should result in equal or reduced technical debt. • Boy Scout Rule: leave it better than you found it. • Refactor as you go. • Fix defects ASAP. Stop the Bleeding
- 120. excella.com | @excellaco • Every piece of work should result in equal or reduced technical debt. • Boy Scout Rule: leave it better than you found it. • Refactor as you go. • Fix defects ASAP. Stop the Bleeding
- 121. excella.com | @excellaco • Every piece of work should result in equal or reduced technical debt. • Boy Scout Rule: leave it better than you found it. • Refactor as you go. • Fix defects ASAP. Stop the Bleeding
- 122. excella.com | @excellaco Zero Defects: fix all known defects before adding functionality. Stop the Bleeding
- 123. excella.com | @excellaco • Software development teams usually feel pressure to deliver new functionality rapidly, both explicit and implicit. • Paying down technical debt, including major re- writes, should be supported, rewarded, and celebrated. • Educate stakeholders about the effort: these systems are long-term investments. Create Time and Space
- 124. excella.com | @excellaco • Software development teams usually feel pressure to deliver new functionality rapidly, both explicit and implicit. • Paying down technical debt, including major re- writes, should be supported, rewarded, and celebrated. • Educate stakeholders about the effort: these systems are long-term investments. Create Time and Space
- 125. excella.com | @excellaco • Software development teams usually feel pressure to deliver new functionality rapidly, both explicit and implicit. • Paying down technical debt, including major re- writes, should be supported, rewarded, and celebrated. • Educate stakeholders about the effort: these systems are long-term investments. Create Time and Space
- 126. excella.com | @excellaco • Software development teams usually feel pressure to deliver new functionality rapidly, both explicit and implicit. • Paying down technical debt, including major re- writes, should be supported, rewarded, and celebrated. • Educate stakeholders about the effort: these systems are long-term investments. Create Time and Space
- 127. excella.com | @excellaco Adding test coverage, applying updates, and rewriting portions of the code should be celebrated as much as adding new functionality. • Metrics that emphasize adding functionality, such as the usual velocity charts, are dangerous. • Imagine if bridge infrastructure was only measured by number of miles added! Create Time and Space
- 128. excella.com | @excellaco • Adding test coverage, applying updates, and rewriting portions of the code should be celebrated as much as adding new functionality. • Metrics that emphasize adding functionality, such as the usual velocity charts, are dangerous. • Imagine if bridge infrastructure was only measured by number of miles added! Create Time and Space
- 129. excella.com | @excellaco • Adding test coverage, applying updates, and rewriting portions of the code should be celebrated as much as adding new functionality. • Metrics that emphasize adding functionality, such as the usual velocity charts, are dangerous. • Imagine if bridge infrastructure was only measured by number of miles added! Create Time and Space
- 130. excella.com | @excellaco • Adding test coverage, applying updates, and rewriting portions of the code should be celebrated as much as adding new functionality. • Metrics that emphasize adding functionality, such as the usual velocity charts, are dangerous. • Imagine if bridge infrastructure was only measured by number of miles added! Create Time and Space
- 131. excella.com | @excellaco Adding test coverage, applying updates, and rewriting portions of the code should be celebrated as much as adding new functionality. Metrics that emphasize adding functionality, such as the usual velocity charts, are dangerous. • Imagine if bridge infrastructure was only measured by number of miles added! Create Time and Space
- 132. excella.com | @excellaco • Imagine if bridge infrastructure was only measured by number of miles added! If you target a metric, you will likely improve it, although at some cost elsewhere. I want to drive on bridges where the key metric is on-time inspection and maintenance. Create Time and Space
- 133. excella.com | @excellaco • Imagine if bridge infrastructure was only measured by number of miles added! • If you target a metric, you will likely improve it, although at some cost elsewhere. I want to drive on bridges where the key metric is on-time inspection and maintenance. Create Time and Space
- 134. excella.com | @excellaco • Imagine if bridge infrastructure was only measured by number of miles added! • If you target a metric, you will likely improve it, although at some cost elsewhere. • I want to drive on bridges where the key metric is on-time inspection and maintenance. Create Time and Space
- 135. excella.com | @excellaco How can we support software caretakers as they maintain the system and do high-quality work, but produce less new functionality? Just do it. Inspect the code and create metrics around maintenance to be done. Set aside time & capacity for maintenance. Track maintenance and refactors the same as PBIs/User Stories/etc. Create Time and Space
- 136. excella.com | @excellaco How can we support software caretakers as they maintain the system and do high-quality work, but produce less new functionality? • Just do it. Set aside time & capacity for maintenance. Track maintenance and refactors the same as PBIs/User Stories/etc. Inspect the code and create metrics around maintenance to be done. Create Time and Space
- 137. excella.com | @excellaco How can we support software caretakers as they maintain the system and do high-quality work, but produce less new functionality? • Just do it. • Set aside time & capacity for maintenance. Track maintenance and refactors the same as PBIs/User Stories/etc. Inspect the code and create metrics around maintenance to be done. Create Time and Space
- 138. excella.com | @excellaco How can we support software caretakers as they maintain the system and do high-quality work, but produce less new functionality? • Just do it. • Set aside time & capacity for maintenance. • Track maintenance and refactors the same as PBIs/User Stories/etc. Inspect the code and create metrics around maintenance to be done. Create Time and Space
- 139. excella.com | @excellaco How can we support software caretakers as they maintain the system and do high-quality work, but produce less new functionality? • Just do it. • Set aside time & capacity for maintenance. • Track maintenance and refactors the same as PBIs/User Stories/etc. • Inspect the code and create metrics around maintenance to be done. Create Time and Space
- 140. excella.com | @excellaco Create Time and Space
- 141. excella.com | @excellaco Psychological safety: re-writes can be risky. Risks can be reduced in many ways. Learn about them and use what makes sense. Testing, especially automated testing, is huge. Blue/green deployments & shadowing (running new code in parallel with the old) can be even more effective. Ensure Safety
- 142. excella.com | @excellaco • Psychological safety: re-writes can be risky. Risks can be reduced in many ways. Learn about them and use what makes sense. Testing, especially automated testing, is huge. Blue/green deployments & shadowing (running new code in parallel with the old) can be even more effective. Ensure Safety
- 143. excella.com | @excellaco • Psychological safety: re-writes can be risky. • Risks can be reduced in many ways. Learn about them and use what makes sense. Testing, especially automated testing, is huge. Blue/green deployments & shadowing (running new code in parallel with the old) can be even more effective. Ensure Safety
- 144. excella.com | @excellaco • Psychological safety: re-writes can be risky. • Risks can be reduced in many ways. Learn about them and use what makes sense. • Testing, especially automated testing, is huge. Blue/green deployments & shadowing (running new code in parallel with the old) can be even more effective. Ensure Safety
- 145. excella.com | @excellaco • Psychological safety: re-writes can be risky. • Risks can be reduced in many ways. Learn about them and use what makes sense. • Testing, especially automated testing, is huge. • Blue/green deployments & shadowing (running new code in parallel with the old) can be even more effective. Ensure Safety
- 146. excella.com | @excellaco Automated Tests! Automated tests pay off over time and make future changes safer. Ensure Safety
- 147. excella.com | @excellaco Automated Tests! Automated tests pay off over time and make future changes safer. Ensure Safety
- 148. excella.com | @excellaco Automated Tests! Automated tests pay off over time and make future changes safer. Ensure Safety
- 149. excella.com | @excellaco Automated Tests! Automated tests pay off over time and make future changes safer. Ensure Safety
- 150. excella.com | @excellaco Automated Tests! Test system behavior, interfaces, and new code. Ensure Safety
- 151. excella.com | @excellaco Automated Tests! Test system behavior, interfaces, and new code. Ensure Safety
- 152. excella.com | @excellaco Automated Tests! Test system behavior, interfaces, and new code. Ensure Safety
- 153. excella.com | @excellaco Automated Tests! Test system behavior, interfaces, and new code. Ensure Safety
- 154. excella.com | @excellaco Automated Tests! Test system behavior, interfaces, and new code. Ensure Safety
- 155. excella.com | @excellaco Automated Tests! Test system behavior, interfaces, and new code. Ensure Safety
- 156. excella.com | @excellaco Blue/green deployments Ensure Safety
- 157. excella.com | @excellaco Blue/green deployments Ensure Safety
- 158. excella.com | @excellaco Blue/green deployments Ensure Safety
- 159. excella.com | @excellaco Blue/green deployments Ensure Safety
- 160. excella.com | @excellaco Shadowing (Transform & Eliminate) Ensure Safety
- 161. excella.com | @excellaco Shadowing (Transform & Eliminate) Ensure Safety
- 162. excella.com | @excellaco Shadowing (Transform & Eliminate) Ensure Safety
- 163. excella.com | @excellaco Shadowing (Transform & Eliminate) Ensure Safety
- 164. excella.com | @excellaco Shadowing (Transform & Eliminate) Ensure Safety
- 165. excella.com | @excellaco Shadowing (Transform & Eliminate) Ensure Safety
- 166. excella.com | @excellaco Further reading: The “strangler vine” pattern Agile engineering The world of DevOps Ensure Safety
- 167. excella.com | @excellaco Further reading: • The “strangler vine” pattern Agile engineering The world of DevOps Ensure Safety
- 168. excella.com | @excellaco Further reading: • The “strangler vine” pattern • Agile engineering The world of DevOps Ensure Safety
- 169. excella.com | @excellaco Further reading: • The “strangler vine” pattern • Agile engineering • The world of DevOps Ensure Safety
- 171. excella.com | @excellaco Continuous Modernization
- 172. excella.com | @excellaco Continuous Modernization Treat long-lived Federal IT systems like homes. Avoid demolition and rebuilding. Pay down technical debt. Steadily invest in modernizing the system.
- 173. excella.com | @excellaco Continuous Modernization Treat long-lived Federal IT systems like homes. Avoid demolition and rebuilding. Pay down technical debt. Steadily invest in modernizing the system.
- 174. excella.com | @excellaco Continuous Modernization Treat long-lived Federal IT systems like homes. Avoid demolition and rebuilding. Pay down technical debt. Steadily invest in modernizing the system.
- 175. excella.com | @excellaco Continuous Modernization Treat long-lived Federal IT systems like homes. Avoid demolition and rebuilding. Pay down technical debt. Steadily invest in modernizing the system.
- 176. excella.com | @excellaco Never Stop Modernizing! DO IT CONTINUOUSLY