Page 1
INSIDE THE MIND OF A SUCCESSFUL PLATFORM ARCHITECTFocusing on, Sustaining and Investing in Platform Success
Steven Willmott, Gartner Application Solutions and Strategies, 8th December 2016, Las Vegas
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/
Page 2
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/
Page 3
What is your deepest darkest fear?
Page 4
How to stay ahead on infrastructure whilst still delivering for the business
Page 5
Answering this challenge is why we build platforms
Page 6
The question is how to actually succeed!
Page 7
Steven Willmott, Former CEO of 3scaleSenior Director and Head of API Infrastructurehttp://www.redhat.com / http://www.3scale.net
Twitter: @njyx
See us at the Red Hat Booth
Page 8
Three Principles for Platform Success
Page 9
Focus : Sustain : Budget
Page 10
#1 Focus on True Value
Page 11
Many initiatives, all urgent, all intersecting, all conflicting
Page 12
Jeff Bezos moment?
https://plus.google.com/+RipRowan/posts/eVeouesvaVX (http://bit.ly/SWGA-B)
Page 13
Rarely see success when platforms are built “for platforms sake”
Page 14
14
Outcomes
Thor Mitchell / Google / Crowdcube
DesirableUndesirable
Expected
Unexpected
Design
Fire Drill Innovation
Prohibited
Page 15
EXAMPLE:MAPS CREDIT UNION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylX3hUeYr-U (http://bit.ly/SWGA-C)
Page 16
Dubious: Deploy APIs Everywhere
Good: APIs for a particular new segment of the business & then
expand
Page 17
Understand the Jeff Bezos moment: change the way you work, not the
infrastructure you have
Page 18
Lesson:
Help move the puck!
Page 19
Focus : Sustain : Budget
Page 20
#1 Focus on True Value#2 Enable rather than Own
Page 22
“Gartner’s Recipe for Disaster”- Jason Bloomberg / Forbes
“Gartner’s Bimodal IT considered harmful”
- Phil Wainwright / Diginomica
“This is akin to adding lipstick to the pig”
- Simon Wardley / CSC
Page 23
Fundamental misunderstanding of Bimodal IT that it was about slowing
down one of the Modes
Page 24
Actually it is about creating stability between the modes
Page 28
Platform TeamPlatform Enablement Team
Page 29
EXAMPLE:KEYBANK
Noahm Schwartz, APIStrat, 2015
Page 30
Encourage deployment but…
Provide Technology Guidance
Impose Stability Requirements
Require Lifecycle Statements
Enforce Documentation
Standards
Enforce Security Standards
In other words ensure stability
http://pages.3scale.net/api-owners-manual-wb.html (http://bitly.com/SWGA-D)
Page 31
Key Principle:
Go beyond 1-NGo to N-N
Page 32
EXAMPLE:SCHIPHOL AIRPORT
Noahm Schwartz, APIStrat, 2015
Page 33
Lesson:
Enable the platform versusowning the platform
Page 34
Focus : Sustain : Budget
Page 35
#1 Focus on true value#2 Enable rather than own#3 How to ask for budget
Page 36
Integration // Containers // APIs
Page 37
Before you rush in...
Page 38
Who are the (true) beneficiaries?
Page 39
Developers? Ops? Line of Business?Which partners? Which Customers?
Page 40
The same dilemma:
Short term projects v’s long term investments
Page 41
Creates Conflict…
Page 42
EXAMPLE:3SCALE
Noahm Schwartz, APIStrat, 2015
Page 43
Lesson:
Don’t ask for a “Grant”Ask for a Tithe
Page 44
EXAMPLE:SIMILAR WEB
Noahm Schwartz, APIStrat, 2015
Page 45
EXAMPLE:FITBIT
Jeremiah Lee, San Francisco, 2016
Page 46
Lesson:
Distribute the Spoils
Page 47
“Grant”: Lottery WinTithe: Health Insurance
Page 50
Focus : Sustain : Budget
Page 51
#1 Help move the puck#2 Enable rather than own
#3 Tithe and distributeBonus: What to Measure?
Page 52
Bad Measures
Number of APIs Number of API Calls
Number of Integrations
Number of Containers Number of Servers Number of Lunch &
Learns
Page 53
Good Measures
Number of AppsSupported
Number of complete Use Cases Number of Users
Dollar Value of Business
Speed of Application
development
Speed of API Deployment
Page 54
How much business value depends on the platform?
Page 55
Focus : Sustain : Budget : Measure
Page 56
How are you feeling?
Page 58
It’s hard to achieve forward motion
Page 59
Virtuous Cycle
Vicious Circle
Page 60
Platform grew over 7 yearsBillions API Calls / Month, 1000s of APIs
Never encountered silver bulletsJust good behaviours
Built scaling, sharding, containers, APIs, …
Defensible advantage!
Page 62
1. Focus on true value2. Enable rather than own3. Tithe and distribute 4. Measure true business value
http://bitly.com/SWGA-{A, B, C, D}
Page 63
63
Cloud
Containers
Microservices
DevOps
RED HAT BRINGS ITALL TOGETHER
Storage
App Delivery
Integration
API Management
Page 64
plus.google.com/+RedHat
linkedin.com/company/red-hat
youtube.com/user/RedHatVideos
facebook.com/redhatinc
twitter.com/RedHatNews
THANK YOU
64
Red Hat BoothExpo Floor
Page 65
ThanksAckowledgements
• Trademarks and Logos remain those of their owners• Graphics primarily from http://www.unsplash.com.
Royalty free art.
The extended Red Hat and 3scale teams as well as customers and analysts.
Content shared under Creative Commons Attribution and Share Alike License:https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/
Additional Information
Page 66
Great Advice from Uncle Bob(Robert C. Martin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSaAMQVq01E&feature=youtu.be&t=6m
● Ensure quality● Stable productivity● Continuous improvement ● Fearless competence● Random Acts of Integration
Kindness
TDD Principles for your Platform