Moving from Slow Monoliths to Continuous Delivery

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 the
dreaded CAB (Change Approval Board), the
fight to move architecture discussions from
Word documents to the whiteboards, and the
myriad 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
GORRAM
TESTING

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
AND
ENSURING 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

Moving from Slow Monoliths to Continuous Delivery

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