All Software Architecture, All the Time
June 10-13, 2019
San Jose, CA
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When two-pizza teams plan a banquet: Lightweight architecture governance

Jonny LeRoy (ThoughtWorks)
3:55pm–4:40pm Thursday, June 13, 2019
Application architecture, DevOps & Continuous Delivery, Enterprise architecture
 Location: 210 C/G
Secondary topics:  Anti-Pattern, Best Practice, Overview
Average rating: ****.
(4.29, 7 ratings)
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Who is this presentation for?

  • Technical decision makers

Level

Intermediate

Prerequisite knowledge

  • Familiarity with the difficulties in keeping multiple fast-moving delivery teams aware of and aligned to organizational goals and risks

What you'll learn

  • Learn how to manage cross-cutting organizational risks without constraining the autonomy of fast-moving delivery teams

Description

Organizations are shifting from centralized control and planning to adaptive approaches focusing on time to market, delegated autonomy, and freedom to experiment. In this new world of two-pizza teams organized around microservices, there are two common failure modes: the first is hierarchical command and control from ivory-tower architects with strict lists of approved tools and rigorous control gates for design reviews at various stages; at the opposite end of the spectrum is chaos with every team doing whatever they want and close to zero governance.

Jonny LeRoy explores the Goldilocks zone that makes sure organizational risks and opportunities are handled while still giving teams as much autonomy as possible within those constraints. He draws on ThoughtWorks’s recent client experience to delve into some of the strategies and approaches for creating the Goldilocks zone of lightweight governance: automating compliance, focusing on vision, principles and constraints, enrolling gatekeepers as collaborators, paved roads and the pit of success, tech radar as a lightweight governance tool, and ADRs for visibility. He also touches on how to help architects become comfortable with evolution, the org design implications, how to be responsive to skill levels on teams, and how to think about innovation zones.

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Jonny LeRoy

ThoughtWorks

Jonny LeRoy is head of technology in North America at ThoughtWorks, where he’s responsible for championing and progressing the company’s brand as an outstanding technology organization for its clients, employees, and the industry at large. Jonny is tasked with expanding the surface area of new technology offerings and capabilities that ThoughtWorks can bring to the market while maintaining and progressing the culture and craft that lies at the company’s core. He championed the introduction of mobile and IoT capabilities into the business and is currently shepherding the embedding of security thinking and practices into the software delivery culture. He’s a vociferous participant in framing and progressing ThoughtWorks’s technology strategy, with particular focus on ensuring that the wider societal consequences of technological progress are factored in. A technology generalist with expertise in helping organizations become more effective at using software to their strategic advantage, Jonny has advised clients across many sectors on architecture, delivery, collaboration, innovation, and organizational design. He started as a software developer, but during his 13 years at ThoughtWorks, he’s played delivery, advisory, commercial, and operational roles. Previously, Jonny was a founder and CTO of a successful UK startup. A self-taught technologist, Jonny draws on his diverse intellectual background, which includes studying ancient languages and philosophy at university and training as a lawyer.