Programming without a stack trace: When abstractions become illusions
As the complexity of our platforms increases, we keep looking for better abstractions. Cloud compilers might help, but only if they include one key feature: the stack trace
Architect Elevator Blog
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Architecture
Moving to the Engine Room - For real
When working for a product company, there’s no better place than working on product.
The Quest for Low-Code: 9 paths, some of which actually work
No-code, low-code has become a popular quest. Architects are called in to separate fact from fiction. No French were harmed.
Back from the engine room
Architects dive deep to come back up with new insights. Here’s is what I brought back from the serverless cloud integration engine room.
Would you like architects with your architecture?
How to architect your organization to do architecture with or without architects.
The Architect’s Path (Part 2 - Bookshelf)
Growing an architect is different from growing a system. This bookshelf will help.
The Architect’s Path (Part 1 - Model)
Architecture isn’t linear but we can overlay a useful path for architects to follow.
The Master Doesn’t Choose the Brush (Think Like An Architect, Part 6)
A better brush won’t make you a Leonardo.
Architects Zoom In and Out, See Different Things (Think Like An Architect, Part 5)
Maps don’t show every tree. And that’s OK.
Think Like An Architect Part 4: Architects See Shades of Gray, Look for Balance
Architecture isn’t binary.
Think Like An Architect, Part 3: Architects Look For Causality
A black box isn’t good enough for architects. They want to know how it’s wired together.
Think Like An Architect, Part 2: Architects See More Dimensions
It’s hard to think about volume in a two-dimensional space.
Think Like An Architect, Part 1: Famous Architects Sketch
They let others do the blueprints.
Your most important architecture decisions might be the ones you didn't know you made.
Conscious decision making is a major step towards better architecture.
Is your platform a Fruit Basket or Fruit Salad?
Good platforms are like fruit salads. But some people will want to pick out just their favorite fruit.
Don't get locked up into avoiding lock-in!
Many architects consider lock-in their archenemy. But it’s rarely that simple.
Careful Naming can boost agility.
Giving features rigid names can set a frame of mind that hinders incremental value delivery.
Showing the pirate ship leads to better decision making
Architecture diagrams tend to show all the individual parts rather than illustrating the system’s key purpose. Inverting this not only produces more expressive diagrams, it also improves decision making.
Failure doesn’t respect abstraction.
The key mechanism to tackle ever increasing complexity is abstraction, such as frameworks or interfaces. Some things, however, can’t be abstracted away.
Here’s why enterprise IT is so complex
Enterprise IT is routinely plagued by excessive complexity. It might be subject to the Second Law of Thermodynamics but it’s certainly subject to Gregor’s Law.
The Machine Governator shows no mercy
For governance to remain effective in a high-velocity environment, it needs to be automated. Surprisingly, it also produces more reliable results.
Architecture: Selling Options
How do you explain the value of architecture to business stakeholders? Deferring to the Nobel-prize winning economists Black and Scholes can work surprisingly well.
Cloud
IxC: Infrastructure as Code, from Code, with Code
Today’s cloud automation goes far beyond provisioning servers. Let’s apply architecture models to the latest trends.
Application Architecture as Code
Cloud automation isn’t just about infrastructure anymore. This also affects automation language design.
Cloud Automation à la DDD: From stringly typed to affordances
Domain-driven design very much applies to technical domains. Let’s try it on event-driven cloud systems to see why I am such a big fan of object-oriented automation languages.
I made everything loosely coupled. Will my cloud bill go up?
Loose coupling is an essential property of fine-grained, event-driven systems. However, cloud resources that decouple event producers and consumers incur a run-time cost. How to weigh the trade-offs?
Good abstractions are obvious but difficult to find, even in the cloud
Cloud automation using object-oriented languages gives us the power of abstraction. But those abstractions aren’t easy to come by.
Concerned about Serverless Lock-in? Consider Patterns!
Design patterns have helped us improve software design for decades. In the cloud, they can also reduce our switching cost. That’s magic!
Multi-cloud: From Buzzword to Decision Model
Architects aren’t there to make all decisions. They use models to help others make better decisions, including whether to multi-cloud or not.
9 Proven Poor Ways to Select a Cloud Provider
Cloud is different, so picking a provider also is.
Is Your Cloud Journey Stuck in the Value Gap?
Organizational change is typically slower than technical change and will therefore hold back your cloud journey’s value creation.
Don't build an enterprise non-cloud!
When making cloud enterprise ready, be careful not to throw the cloud baby out with the enterprise bathwater.
Hybrid Cloud: Slicing the Elephant
Enterprises can’t avoid hybrid cloud. Here are eight ways to get there.
Multi Cloud Architecture: Decisions and Options
Multi cloud means different things to different people. A decision model helps bust the buzzwords and show the options clearly.
Why run software you didn’t build?
A lot of modern cloud technology leverages containers. However, a non-trivial portion of enterprise applications don’t run easily in containers. The answer to this conundrum lies in taking a step back and asking a more fundamental questi...
Strategy
Present like a DJ!
Rhythm, Mixing, Transitions, Waveforms, Improvisation (Complex Topics, Part 7)
The Second Curse of Speaking (Complex Topics, Part 6)
A Steady Rhythm Keeps Your Listeners On Track
Making Complex Topics Stick (Part 5: Waveforms)
Weaving two threads into a single presentation.
Making Complex Topics Stick (Part 4: Multiplexing)
Weaving multiple threads into a single presentation.
Making Complex Topics Stick (Part 3: Delivery)
How to overcome the first curse of speaking: linearity.
Making Complex Topics Stick (Part 2: Composition)
A list of ingredients doesn’t make a recipe. You need to know the right dosage.
Making Complex Topics Stick (Part 1: Content)
Ethos, Logos, and Pathos have to be built-in, not tacked on.
Making decisions right, even if they’re not always the right decision.
You don’t always need to be right if you’re well prepared for being wrong.
Always be experimenting
Doing the exact same thing twice is a wasted opportunity.
Listening to CTOs: CTO Round Table
What’s better than talking to CTOs? Listening to CTOs! That’s what our CTO Round Table is for.
Speaking CTO
The 9 commandments of effectively talking to technical executives.
Don’t make your customers play Takeshi’s Castle
When buying a software or hardware product for your enterprise, the future product roadmap is as much a consideration as the current product state. However, this is where some vendors play games with their customers.
Don’t Outsource Thinking
Enterprise IT generally follows a “buy over build” strategy because in most cases it yields lower risk and better economics than doing it yourself. But there are a few things that you should keep to yourself.
Transformation
Debugging Architects
Whether architects must code or not has been much debated. Why not try debugging?
Transformation Agents: An Engagement Model
No one can transform an organization from the outside. But on the inside you’re bound by legacy rules. Catch-22?
Every Constraint is an Opportunity
You can make transformation lemonade from organizational lemons–sweetened up with the right dose of creativity.
Winning the IT Race With Initial D
Once again we can learn about IT strategy and architecture from popular culture: the engine room matters.
Giant Leaps Rarely Happen
Success comes in small dosages.
Lack of Discipline is Agile Failure Mode #1
Slow Chaos isn’t Order.
Conversation stopper: IT Should Become Agile
Finding business value without the business is going to be difficult.
Agile Is the Steering Wheel, Not the Gas Pedal
Hitting the wall faster is unlikely to do you any good.
Agile and Architecture: Friend, not Foe
Agile methods and architecture both thrive in times of uncertainty.
Are IT's biggest decisions its worst?
More steering committees don’t necessarily lead to better decisions.
Should you trust your trusted advisor?
Three plus one questions you should ask before you place trust in someone offering you advice.
Don’t hire a digital hitman
A classic movie recipe has a seemingly law-abiding person hire someone from the underworld to do unpleasant work for them. And it all goes predictably and awfully wrong. Don’t let the same happen in your IT transformation!
You’ll need a clutch to shift gears
When shifting gears, both a car and an organization need a clutch. But careful, it can be a grinder!
Reversing the disablement cycle
Everyone does the right thing, yet nothing much gets done. How to break self-reinforcing bad habits.