As we unravel the differences between DevOps and SREs (Site Reliability Engineers), Beth sheds light on the origins and practices behind these two distinct approaches. We also discuss the significance of SLIs (Service Level Indicators), SLOs (Service Level Objectives), and SLAs in ensuring the stability and reliability of large-scale web operations.

Join us as we navigate the complexities of modern operations and gain valuable insights and recommendations from Beth, a seasoned SRE engineer and Operations manager. Stay tuned for an enlightening conversation on SLAs in our quest to modernize your applications and thrive in the digital business revolution. Let's dive in!



Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• STOSA - Single Team Oriented Service Architecture
• Lee Atchison Website and Content
• Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly Media

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to...]]>Welcome back to another episode of Modern Digital Business! In today's episode, we delve deeper into the world of modern operations with our special guest, Beth Long. We explore the essential role of service level agreements (SLAs) in managing complex, multi-service modern applications.

As we unravel the differences between DevOps and SREs (Site Reliability Engineers), Beth sheds light on the origins and practices behind these two distinct approaches. We also discuss the significance of SLIs (Service Level Indicators), SLOs (Service Level Objectives), and SLAs in ensuring the stability and reliability of large-scale web operations.

Join us as we navigate the complexities of modern operations and gain valuable insights and recommendations from Beth, a seasoned SRE engineer and Operations manager. Stay tuned for an enlightening conversation on SLAs in our quest to modernize your applications and thrive in the digital business revolution. Let's dive in!



Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• STOSA - Single Team Oriented Service Architecture
• Lee Atchison Website and Content
• Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly Media

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe.

Take a look at Lee's many books, courses, and articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Looking to modernize your application organization?

Check out Architecting for Scale. Currently in it's second edition, this book, written by Lee Atchison, and published by O'Reilly Media, will help you build high scale, highly available web applications, or modernize your existing applications. Check it out! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.com or other retailers.

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe here to catch each new episode as it becomes available.

Want more from Lee? Click here to sign up for our newsletter. You'll receive information about new episodes, new articles, new books, and courses from Lee. Don't worry, we won't send you spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Mentioned in this episode:

Architecting for Scale

What does it take to operate a modern organization running a modern digital application? Read more in my O’Reilly Media book Architecting for Scale, now in its second edition. Go to: leeatchison.com/books or mdb.fm/afs.

Architecting for Scale

---

First, there was DevOps. Then, ModernOps and CloudOps. Now, there is ScaryOps.

Welcome to the special Halloween Edition of the Modern Digital Business podcast. In this episode, the 3 Scariest Mistakes Companies Make in the Cloud.

It's time to turn our attention to scary things…scary movies, scary TV shows, scary home decorations, scary costumes.

But when it comes to working with customers and clients on their cloud projects, sometimes I get quite scared…and not in a good way.

Working with customers and clients on their cloud projects, what they do can be down right scary. 

I get scared when I hear stories about how a company is preparing to migrate to the cloud incorrectly, or when someone shares a misguided plan about how their organization is going to use the cloud once it is fully migrated. I sometimes hear stories that downright chill me to the bone.

Don’t make yourself the central character in one of these horror tales. Instead, avoid these scariest mistakes that companies make in the cloud.

Here is the countdown of the three scariest mistakes you can make in your cloud migration.

Today on Modern Digital Business.

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe.

Take a look at Lee's many books, courses, and articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Looking to modernize your application organization?

Check out Architecting for Scale. Currently in it's second edition, this book, written by Lee Atchison, and published by O'Reilly Media, will help you build high scale, highly available web applications, or modernize your existing applications. Check it out! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.com or other retailers.

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe here to catch each new episode as it becomes available.

Want more from Lee? This episode was well received last Halloween when it debuted. In case you missed it, how about a dose of ScaryOps? Here are my 3 scariest mistakes that companies make in the cloud.

---

First, there was DevOps. Then, ModernOps and CloudOps. Now, there is ScaryOps.

Welcome to the special Halloween Edition of the Modern Digital Business podcast. In this episode, the 3 Scariest Mistakes Companies Make in the Cloud.

It's time to turn our attention to scary things…scary movies, scary TV shows, scary home decorations, scary costumes.

But when it comes to working with customers and clients on their cloud projects, sometimes I get quite scared…and not in a good way.

Working with customers and clients on their cloud projects, what they do can be down right scary. 

I get scared when I hear stories about how a company is preparing to migrate to the cloud incorrectly, or when someone shares a misguided plan about how their organization is going to use the cloud once it is fully migrated. I sometimes hear stories that downright chill me to the bone.

Don’t make yourself the central character in one of these horror tales. Instead, avoid these scariest mistakes that companies make in the cloud.

Here is the countdown of the three scariest mistakes you can make in your cloud migration.

Today on Modern Digital Business.

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe.

Take a look at Lee's many books, courses, and articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Looking to modernize your application organization?

Check out Architecting for Scale. Currently in it's second edition, this book, written by Lee Atchison, and published by O'Reilly Media, will help you build high scale, highly available web applications, or modernize your existing applications. Check it out! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.com or other retailers.

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe here to catch each new episode as it becomes available.

Want more from Lee? Click here to sign up for our newsletter. You'll receive information about new episodes, new articles, new books, and courses from Lee. Don't worry, we won't send you spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.



Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe.

Take a look at Lee's many books, courses, and articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Looking to modernize your application organization?

Check out Architecting for Scale. Currently in it's second edition, this book, written by Lee Atchison, and published by O'Reilly Media, will help you build high scale, highly available web applications, or modernize your existing applications. Check it out! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.com or other retailers.

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe here to catch each new episode as it becomes available.

Want more from Lee? Click here to sign up for our newsletter. You'll receive information about new episodes, new articles, new books, and courses from Lee. Don't worry, we won't send you spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Mentioned in this episode:

Architecting for Scale

What does it take to operate a modern organization running a modern digital application? Read more in my O’Reilly Media book Architecting for Scale, now in its second edition. Go to: leeatchison.com/books or mdb.fm/afs.

Architecting for Scale

Clips

The Importance of Limiting Access: "Security best practices specify that engineers, both developers and IT operations, personnel, should have as little access as possible to the production application and its infrastructure."

Permission Escalation: "Permission escalation is a process of giving an on call engineer temporary increased system access during an emergency. This increased access typically comes with increased scrutiny."

Preventing Malicious Activities: "All of this ensures that a rogue engineer can't perform malicious activities on the site, including access customer private data inappropriately and cause damage to the system or the business."

"Balancing Security and Access: Giving engineers unrestricted access to everything... is just not safe and is just not good business practice."

----



Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly Media

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in...]]> In today's episode, "Don't Give Special Access," we tackle a crucial question: how can we grant developers and operations engineers the necessary access to our applications without compromising customer data or violating business processes?

Clips

The Importance of Limiting Access: "Security best practices specify that engineers, both developers and IT operations, personnel, should have as little access as possible to the production application and its infrastructure."

Permission Escalation: "Permission escalation is a process of giving an on call engineer temporary increased system access during an emergency. This increased access typically comes with increased scrutiny."

Preventing Malicious Activities: "All of this ensures that a rogue engineer can't perform malicious activities on the site, including access customer private data inappropriately and cause damage to the system or the business."

"Balancing Security and Access: Giving engineers unrestricted access to everything... is just not safe and is just not good business practice."

----



Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly Media

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe.

Take a look at Lee's many books, courses, and articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Looking to modernize your application organization?

Check out Architecting for Scale. Currently in it's second edition, this book, written by Lee Atchison, and published by O'Reilly Media, will help you build high scale, highly available web applications, or modernize your existing applications. Check it out! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.com or other retailers.

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe here to catch each new episode as it becomes available.

Want more from Lee? Click here to sign up for our newsletter. You'll receive information about new episodes, new articles, new books, and courses from Lee. Don't worry, we won't send you spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Mentioned in this episode:

Architecting for Scale

What does it take to operate a modern organization running a modern digital application? Read more in my O’Reilly Media book Architecting for Scale, now in its second edition. Go to: leeatchison.com/books or mdb.fm/afs.

Architecting for Scale

Cloud architecture goes beyond traditional software architecture, requiring a deep understanding of the unique capabilities and benefits offered by cloud computing. As businesses increasingly migrate their operations to the cloud, it is crucial for cloud architects to have the expertise to leverage the power of public cloud offerings and create scalable, highly available, and secure applications.

Certifications have become a benchmark for true cloud architects, providing tangible proof of their ability to architect and build cloud applications. We'll explore the certifications offered by major cloud vendors and how they have become a "right of passage" in this field.

Moreover, we'll unveil the vital role that cloud architects play in bridging the gap between development and operations, and how their expertise in operational responsibilities is crucial for success in the cloud.

Security has long been a concern for cloud computing, but we will discover how cloud vendors have addressed these concerns and provided robust security features to ensure the safety of applications in the public cloud.

Join us as we delve into the world of cloud architecture, uncovering the skills required to build modern, cloud-native applications using microservices, containers, and Kubernetes. We'll also explore the importance of automation in cloud-based applications and how it streamlines operations, making them scalable and efficient.

Get ready to expand your knowledge and gain valuable insights into the skills every cloud architect needs. Tune in to this episode of Modern Digital Business, because in the world of cloud architecture, staying ahead is the key to success.

Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to Welcome to another episode of Modern Digital Business, where we dive into the world of cloud architecture and explore the essential skills required to thrive in this dynamic field. In today's episode, we will uncover the five key skills that all cloud architects must possess to effectively build and operate applications in the cloud.

Cloud architecture goes beyond traditional software architecture, requiring a deep understanding of the unique capabilities and benefits offered by cloud computing. As businesses increasingly migrate their operations to the cloud, it is crucial for cloud architects to have the expertise to leverage the power of public cloud offerings and create scalable, highly available, and secure applications.

Certifications have become a benchmark for true cloud architects, providing tangible proof of their ability to architect and build cloud applications. We'll explore the certifications offered by major cloud vendors and how they have become a "right of passage" in this field.

Moreover, we'll unveil the vital role that cloud architects play in bridging the gap between development and operations, and how their expertise in operational responsibilities is crucial for success in the cloud.

Security has long been a concern for cloud computing, but we will discover how cloud vendors have addressed these concerns and provided robust security features to ensure the safety of applications in the public cloud.

Join us as we delve into the world of cloud architecture, uncovering the skills required to build modern, cloud-native applications using microservices, containers, and Kubernetes. We'll also explore the importance of automation in cloud-based applications and how it streamlines operations, making them scalable and efficient.

Get ready to expand your knowledge and gain valuable insights into the skills every cloud architect needs. Tune in to this episode of Modern Digital Business, because in the world of cloud architecture, staying ahead is the key to success.

Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• Lee Atchison Website and Content
• Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly Media

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe.

Take a look at Lee's many books, courses, and articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Looking to modernize your application organization?

Check out Architecting for Scale. Currently in it's second edition, this book, written by Lee Atchison, and published by O'Reilly Media, will help you build high scale, highly available web applications, or modernize your existing applications. Check it out! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.com or other retailers.

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe here to catch each new episode as it becomes available.

Want more from Lee? Click here to sign up for our newsletter. You'll receive information about new episodes, new articles, new books, and courses from Lee. Don't worry, we won't send you spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Mentioned in this episode:

Architecting for Scale

What does it take to operate a modern organization running a modern digital application? Read more in my O’Reilly Media book Architecting for Scale, now in its second edition. Go to: leeatchison.com/books or mdb.fm/afs.

Architecting for Scale

LinkedIn Learning Courses

Are you looking to become an architect? Or perhaps are you looking to learn how to drive your organization towards better utilization of the cloud? Are you you looking for ways to help you utilize a Cloud Center of Excellence in your organization? I have a whole series of cloud and architecture courses available on LinkedIn Learning. For more information, please go to leeatchison.com/courses or mdb.fm/courses.

Courses by Lee Atchison

They discuss the importance of defining service boundaries and how data is considered part of the service in the Stosa model. They emphasize the need for services to own their data and for data sharing to occur through documented APIs. They also highlight the challenges of scaling and separating services when a central database is still used by many service companies.

They explore the mindset shift from development teams to product teams and how reorganizing responsibilities based on business requirements can help determine the needed skill sets. They stress the value of allowing individual teams to make decisions, even if they may seem suboptimal globally, and the importance of assessing whether teams have the necessary tools to fulfill their business responsibilities.

Lee & Beth emphasize the need to strike a balance between optimization at the organizational level and individual service level and draw parallels to microeconomics and macroeconomics. They view having different technology choices among teams as an opportunity for solution dynamics and influence.

They also tackle how to prepare a small organization for future growth and division, providing insights on thinking of oneself as a big company and building applications with multiple services and connections in mind from the start.

Key Topics

Topics covered in this audio session:

- Introduction to STOSA (single team-oriented service architecture)

- Makeup of healthy STOSA organizations

- Defining service boundaries in separation service models

- Data as part of the service in STOSA and Goldilocks models

- Ownership and sharing of data through documented APIs

- Challenges with central databases in scaling and separating services

- Importance of smaller, younger companies setting up data systems early on

- The right skill set within an organization

- Change in mindset from development teams to product teams

- Reorganizing responsibilities based on business requirements

- Autonomy and hiring decisions for teams

Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of On this episode of Modern Digital Business, host Lee Atchison continues his conversation with guest Beth Long about Stosa, or single team-oriented service architecture. In this episode, they delve into the makeup of healthy Stosa organizations and provide actionable insights and recommendations for business technology leaders and small business innovators in the digital business revolution.

They discuss the importance of defining service boundaries and how data is considered part of the service in the Stosa model. They emphasize the need for services to own their data and for data sharing to occur through documented APIs. They also highlight the challenges of scaling and separating services when a central database is still used by many service companies.

They explore the mindset shift from development teams to product teams and how reorganizing responsibilities based on business requirements can help determine the needed skill sets. They stress the value of allowing individual teams to make decisions, even if they may seem suboptimal globally, and the importance of assessing whether teams have the necessary tools to fulfill their business responsibilities.

Lee & Beth emphasize the need to strike a balance between optimization at the organizational level and individual service level and draw parallels to microeconomics and macroeconomics. They view having different technology choices among teams as an opportunity for solution dynamics and influence.

They also tackle how to prepare a small organization for future growth and division, providing insights on thinking of oneself as a big company and building applications with multiple services and connections in mind from the start.

Key Topics

Topics covered in this audio session:

- Introduction to STOSA (single team-oriented service architecture)

- Makeup of healthy STOSA organizations

- Defining service boundaries in separation service models

- Data as part of the service in STOSA and Goldilocks models

- Ownership and sharing of data through documented APIs

- Challenges with central databases in scaling and separating services

- Importance of smaller, younger companies setting up data systems early on

- The right skill set within an organization

- Change in mindset from development teams to product teams

- Reorganizing responsibilities based on business requirements

- Autonomy and hiring decisions for teams

Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• STOSA - Single Team Oriented Service Architecture
• Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly Media

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe.

Take a look at Lee's many books, courses, and articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Looking to modernize your application organization?

Check out Architecting for Scale. Currently in it's second edition, this book, written by Lee Atchison, and published by O'Reilly Media, will help you build high scale, highly available web applications, or modernize your existing applications. Check it out! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.com or other retailers.

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe here to catch each new episode as it becomes available.

Want more from Lee? Click here to sign up for our newsletter. You'll receive information about new episodes, new articles, new books, and courses from Lee. Don't worry, we won't send you spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Mentioned in this episode:

Business Breakthrough 3.0

With a combined 60 years of business and technology experience, experts Lee Atchison and Ken Gavranovic provide a no-nonsense, step-by-step methodology to clarify how your company actually operates in order to uncover the entrenched patterns that are holding you back. They explain that leading by gut instinct will keep you spinning in circles, while putting your key business data to work will help you grow a thriving organization. Based on the author's experience working with hundreds of leaders around the world, the Business Breakthrough 3.0 approach not only leverages the universal motivational drivers embedded in every person, but uses data to identify what's working and what's not within your company. Business Breakthrough 3.0 involves five distinct processes: 1. Establishing and actively embracing a company mission, vision, and set of core values 2. Using a formal critical-thinking framework to organize how your company makes decisions 3. Understanding what to measure and knowing how to use the data correctly Optimizing your organizational structure to drive successful actions 5. Leveraging a market growth strategy for sales success. Business Breakthrough 3.0 is the ultimate guide to overcoming entrenched patterns and building a highly profitable organization that attracts and retains people who truly love their jobs.

Business Breakthrough 3.0

Atchison Academy

What do 100,000 of your peers have in common? They've all boosted their skill set and career prospects by taking one of my online courses. https://mdb.fm/courses

LinkedIn Learning Courses

Are you looking to become an architect? Or perhaps are you looking to learn how to drive your organization towards better utilization of the cloud? Are you you looking for ways to help you utilize a Cloud Center of Excellence in your organization? I have a whole series of cloud and architecture courses available on LinkedIn Learning. For more information, please go to leeatchison.com/courses or mdb.fm/courses.

Courses by Lee Atchison

This is part 1 of a two part discussion with Beth Long, an operations manager for New Relic, and Jeli.io. She is passionate about the concept of STOSA, which was first introduced in Lee Atchison's highly popular book, Architecting for Scale.

Lee and Beth switch roles for a bit, with Beth interviewing Lee on these and related topics.

Clips/Quotes

"Stosa: Stosa or single team oriented service Architecture is an important guiding principle for organizations that have development teams that own and manage applications that are composed of multiple services."

— Lee Atchison 00:00:00

Accountability and Ownership in Service-Based Architectures: "Each service needs to have a team that owns that service 100%, all aspects of that service. And it's a one to end relationship...but each of those services has exactly one team owner...that ownership has to be well understood throughout the organization, well known, well documented..."

— Lee Atchison 00:03:30

The Impact of Clear Visibility on Company Culture: "And that kind of culture tends to arise when there's confusion and frustration. And that's a byproduct of not knowing where the problems are and not understanding. And so when you have that clear visibility, you can reduce that tendency because now you know what's happening and where and why, and you can actually get traction on the problem."

— Beth Long 00:12:33

The Challenges of Meeting SLAs in Cloud Services: "If I had a requirement that I couldn't meet with my dependencies requirements, it was my responsibility to get creative, to find a solution. Whether that was caching running instances to attach later or whatever it was, it was my responsibility to solve that problem. I could do that by getting creative. I could do that by negotiating with my partners to have better or different SLAs available to me."

— Lee Atchison 00:13:16

Ownership and Boundaries: "If an organization has a microservices architecture and the boundaries have become fuzzy over time, they should be cautious when dividing up ownership and making it a single team. There are rules of thumb that they can think about to avoid complications."

— Beth Long 00:17:36

"Shared Tooling and Service Responsibility: Even though those teams own services that are shared in terms of their usage, but they still own a service and they're still responsible for that service and they're still responsible."

— Beth Long 00:23:02

Management Attitudes Towards Internal Customers: "There's this kind of this attitude that if we're doing work for our internal customers, like, we should be doing as little of that as possible. And that always frustrated me because I thought, no, this is the inner workings of a body."

— Beth Long On this episode of Modern Digital Business, we dive into the world of ModernOps and talk STOSA (Single Team Oriented Service Architecture) with Beth Long.

This is part 1 of a two part discussion with Beth Long, an operations manager for New Relic, and Jeli.io. She is passionate about the concept of STOSA, which was first introduced in Lee Atchison's highly popular book, Architecting for Scale.

Lee and Beth switch roles for a bit, with Beth interviewing Lee on these and related topics.

Clips/Quotes

"Stosa: Stosa or single team oriented service Architecture is an important guiding principle for organizations that have development teams that own and manage applications that are composed of multiple services."

— Lee Atchison 00:00:00

Accountability and Ownership in Service-Based Architectures: "Each service needs to have a team that owns that service 100%, all aspects of that service. And it's a one to end relationship...but each of those services has exactly one team owner...that ownership has to be well understood throughout the organization, well known, well documented..."

— Lee Atchison 00:03:30

The Impact of Clear Visibility on Company Culture: "And that kind of culture tends to arise when there's confusion and frustration. And that's a byproduct of not knowing where the problems are and not understanding. And so when you have that clear visibility, you can reduce that tendency because now you know what's happening and where and why, and you can actually get traction on the problem."

— Beth Long 00:12:33

The Challenges of Meeting SLAs in Cloud Services: "If I had a requirement that I couldn't meet with my dependencies requirements, it was my responsibility to get creative, to find a solution. Whether that was caching running instances to attach later or whatever it was, it was my responsibility to solve that problem. I could do that by getting creative. I could do that by negotiating with my partners to have better or different SLAs available to me."

— Lee Atchison 00:13:16

Ownership and Boundaries: "If an organization has a microservices architecture and the boundaries have become fuzzy over time, they should be cautious when dividing up ownership and making it a single team. There are rules of thumb that they can think about to avoid complications."

— Beth Long 00:17:36

"Shared Tooling and Service Responsibility: Even though those teams own services that are shared in terms of their usage, but they still own a service and they're still responsible for that service and they're still responsible."

— Beth Long 00:23:02

Management Attitudes Towards Internal Customers: "There's this kind of this attitude that if we're doing work for our internal customers, like, we should be doing as little of that as possible. And that always frustrated me because I thought, no, this is the inner workings of a body."

— Beth Long 00:24:49

"Stosa and the Human Body: There's so many systems that have to work together and they're self-dependent on each other for them to work together."

— Lee Atchison 00:25:35

Questions and Answers

1. What is STOSA?

Answer: STOSA stands for Single Team Oriented Service Architecture. It is a management model for organizations with development teams that manage applications composed of multiple services.

2. What are the key principles of STOSA?

Answer: The key principles of STOSA include ownership, self-contained services, clear APIs and SLAs, accountability, efficient problem resolution, and optimization of scalability and availability for cloud-native applications.

3. How does STOSA support internal customers?

Answer: STOSA emphasizes actively supporting internal customers by assigning development teams to specific services and making them responsible for all aspects of managing those services, from development to deployment to problem-solving.

4. How does STOSA handle service failures and accountability?

Answer: STOSA emphasizes individual responsibility for services, even if dependencies are failing. It encourages individuals to identify the problem's source, establish SLAs, and proactively fix issues to meet customer expectations.

5. Are shared services allowed in STOSA?

Answer: Shared services are acceptable in STOSA, but the service owner remains responsible for the deployment outcome. They can subcontract deployment work to shared teams, but they are still accountable.

6. How does STOSA handle ownership of shared tools?

Answer: In STOSA, the responsibility for a useful shared tool lies with the tool owner. Central teams can exist and provide useful tools, but service owners retain ownership and responsible metrics should reflect customer satisfaction.

7. What is the role of internal customers in STOSA?

Answer: Internal customers are considered equally important as external customers in STOSA. Meeting the needs of internal customers is crucial, as they play a significant role in meeting the needs of external customers.

8. How does STOSA promote organizational scalability and availability?

Answer: STOSA aims to create an organization that can scale without availability, deployment, and scaling issues. It provides guiding principles and practical ideas to achieve this goal.

9. How did the speaker handle SLA issues with Elastic Beanstalk?

Answer: The speaker faced SLA challenges with Elastic Beanstalk due to the performance of underlying systems. They implemented creative solutions, such as using a pool of pre-running EC2 instances, caching, and negotiating with partners, to meet SLAs.

10. Where can listeners find more information about STOSA?

Answer: Listeners can visit stosa.org to explore the criteria and details of the STOSA philosophy. They can also find books, courses, and articles on the speaker's website for further learning.



Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• STOSA - Single Team Oriented Service Architecture
• Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly Media

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe.

Take a look at Lee's many books, courses, and articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Looking to modernize your application organization?

Check out Architecting for Scale. Currently in it's second edition, this book, written by Lee Atchison, and published by O'Reilly Media, will help you build high scale, highly available web applications, or modernize your existing applications. Check it out! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.com or other retailers.

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe here to catch each new episode as it becomes available.

Want more from Lee? Click here to sign up for our newsletter. You'll receive information about new episodes, new articles, new books, and courses from Lee. Don't worry, we won't send you spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Mentioned in this episode:

LinkedIn Learning Courses

Are you looking to become an architect? Or perhaps are you looking to learn how to drive your organization towards better utilization of the cloud? Are you you looking for ways to help you utilize a Cloud Center of Excellence in your organization? I have a whole series of cloud and architecture courses available on LinkedIn Learning. For more information, please go to leeatchison.com/courses or mdb.fm/courses.

Courses by Lee Atchison

Atchison Academy

What do 100,000 of your peers have in common? They've all boosted their skill set and career prospects by taking one of my online courses. https://mdb.fm/courses

Business Breakthrough 3.0

With a combined 60 years of business and technology experience, experts Lee Atchison and Ken Gavranovic provide a no-nonsense, step-by-step methodology to clarify how your company actually operates in order to uncover the entrenched patterns that are holding you back. They explain that leading by gut instinct will keep you spinning in circles, while putting your key business data to work will help you grow a thriving organization. Based on the author's experience working with hundreds of leaders around the world, the Business Breakthrough 3.0 approach not only leverages the universal motivational drivers embedded in every person, but uses data to identify what's working and what's not within your company. Business Breakthrough 3.0 involves five distinct processes: 1. Establishing and actively embracing a company mission, vision, and set of core values 2. Using a formal critical-thinking framework to organize how your company makes decisions 3. Understanding what to measure and knowing how to use the data correctly Optimizing your organizational structure to drive successful actions 5. Leveraging a market growth strategy for sales success. Business Breakthrough 3.0 is the ultimate guide to overcoming entrenched patterns and building a highly profitable organization that attracts and retains people who truly love their jobs.

Business Breakthrough 3.0

Key Topics

(powered by CastMagic)

I. Introduction

- Discussing the topic of low code platforms

- Purpose of the podcast in providing actionable insights for business technology leaders and innovators

II. Low Code Platforms and Complexity Reduction

- Low code platforms help reduce complexity by allowing developers to focus on business logic

- Developers can handle low-level tasks themselves through standardized code and software reuse

- Increasing use of standardized coding and reusable software decreases the size and number of custom components

III. Abstraction Techniques in Low Code and High Level Programming Languages

- Abstraction techniques have a long history of reducing complexity and improving reliability

- High-level programming languages and frameworks offer abstraction techniques to reduce complexity

- Low code platforms employ similar techniques to reduce complexity and improve ease of use

IV. Artificial Intelligence and Low Code Platforms

- AI-enabled coding platforms may introduce more unknown and untested code into applications, potentially increasing overall complexity

- Despite some potential drawbacks, AI solutions for low code are becoming more popular

- Low code is receiving a lot of attention and discussion in the software development industry

V. Debates about the Pros and Cons of Low Code

- Developers are debating whether low code increases or decreases application development complexity and security risks

- Some developers express concerns about the security implications of low code technologies

- Low code can help developers build faster and more efficiently, but it does come with some risks

Questions & Answers

(Powered by CastMagic)

1. What is low code and how does it relate to application development complexity?

Answer: Low code platforms allow developers to focus on business logic and handle low-level tasks through standardized code and software reuse. This reduces complexity by decreasing the size and number of custom components and lessening the rate of change in the software.

2. Can low code increase application development security risks?

Answer: Some developers express concerns about the security implications of low code technologies, as it introduces more unknown and untested code into applications.

3. How do abstraction techniques such as those found in high-level programming languages and frameworks reduce complexity and improve reliability?

Answer: Abstraction techniques reduce complexity by enabling developers to work at a higher level of abstraction, which reduces the cognitive load and enables more focused and efficient development.

4. What are the main benefits of using low code platforms for application development?

Answer: Low code platforms allow for faster development, reduced complexity, and improved productivity, as well as the ability to focus on business logic and handle low-level tasks.

5. What are some of the potential drawbacks of using low]]>On this episode of Modern Digital Business, we dive into the development world and discuss the complexity that comes with low-code platforms. Host Lee Atchison helps unpack the ongoing debate surrounding low code development tools. We explore how standardized coding and software reuse can reduce custom components, decrease change rates, and lower complexity. Additionally, Lee touches on AI enabled coding platforms and their potential introduction of untested code into applications. He also discusses the concerns raised by developers about the security implications of low-code. Stay tuned for a thought-provoking conversation that will help you navigate low-code platforms and their impact on the modern digital business world.

Key Topics

(powered by CastMagic)

I. Introduction

- Discussing the topic of low code platforms

- Purpose of the podcast in providing actionable insights for business technology leaders and innovators

II. Low Code Platforms and Complexity Reduction

- Low code platforms help reduce complexity by allowing developers to focus on business logic

- Developers can handle low-level tasks themselves through standardized code and software reuse

- Increasing use of standardized coding and reusable software decreases the size and number of custom components

III. Abstraction Techniques in Low Code and High Level Programming Languages

- Abstraction techniques have a long history of reducing complexity and improving reliability

- High-level programming languages and frameworks offer abstraction techniques to reduce complexity

- Low code platforms employ similar techniques to reduce complexity and improve ease of use

IV. Artificial Intelligence and Low Code Platforms

- AI-enabled coding platforms may introduce more unknown and untested code into applications, potentially increasing overall complexity

- Despite some potential drawbacks, AI solutions for low code are becoming more popular

- Low code is receiving a lot of attention and discussion in the software development industry

V. Debates about the Pros and Cons of Low Code

- Developers are debating whether low code increases or decreases application development complexity and security risks

- Some developers express concerns about the security implications of low code technologies

- Low code can help developers build faster and more efficiently, but it does come with some risks

Questions & Answers

(Powered by CastMagic)

1. What is low code and how does it relate to application development complexity?

Answer: Low code platforms allow developers to focus on business logic and handle low-level tasks through standardized code and software reuse. This reduces complexity by decreasing the size and number of custom components and lessening the rate of change in the software.

2. Can low code increase application development security risks?

Answer: Some developers express concerns about the security implications of low code technologies, as it introduces more unknown and untested code into applications.

3. How do abstraction techniques such as those found in high-level programming languages and frameworks reduce complexity and improve reliability?

Answer: Abstraction techniques reduce complexity by enabling developers to work at a higher level of abstraction, which reduces the cognitive load and enables more focused and efficient development.

4. What are the main benefits of using low code platforms for application development?

Answer: Low code platforms allow for faster development, reduced complexity, and improved productivity, as well as the ability to focus on business logic and handle low-level tasks.

5. What are some of the potential drawbacks of using low code platforms?

Answer: Some developers express concerns about the potential security and reliability risks of introducing more unknown and untested code into applications.

6. What are some of the most popular low code platforms currently available?

Answer: Some of the most popular low code platforms include Microsoft Power Apps, Salesforce Lightning Platform, and Zoho Creator.

7. How do AI-enabled coding platforms differ from traditional low code platforms?

Answer: AI-enabled coding platforms use machine learning algorithms to analyze code and provide suggestions for improvement, which can increase efficiency but also introduce additional complexity and potential security risks.

8. How can businesses determine if a low code platform is right for their application development needs?

Answer: Businesses should assess their development goals and consider the benefits and potential drawbacks of low code platforms before deciding whether to use one.

9. What are some best practices for using low code platforms to minimize security risks?

Answer: Best practices include using secure coding practices, achieving a deep understanding of the platform being used, and performing robust testing at all stages of the development process.

10. What is the future of low code platforms in software development?

Answer: Low code platforms are likely to continue to evolve and become more sophisticated, with the potential to revolutionize the development process for small and large businesses alike. However, it is important to also consider potential security risks and approach low code platforms with caution in order to minimize any potential harm to digital business operations.

Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• Does low code make applications overly complex? | InfoWorld
• Overcoming IT Complexity - Lee Atchison & Ken Gavranovic
• Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly Media

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe.

Take a look at Lee's many books, courses, and articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Looking to modernize your application organization?

Check out Architecting for Scale. Currently in it's second edition, this book, written by Lee Atchison, and published by O'Reilly Media, will help you build high scale, highly available web applications, or modernize your existing applications. Check it out! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.com or other retailers.

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe here to catch each new episode as it becomes available.

Want more from Lee? Click here to sign up for our newsletter. You'll receive information about new episodes, new articles, new books, and courses from Lee. Don't worry, we won't send you spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Mentioned in this episode:

Business Breakthrough 3.0

With a combined 60 years of business and technology experience, experts Lee Atchison and Ken Gavranovic provide a no-nonsense, step-by-step methodology to clarify how your company actually operates in order to uncover the entrenched patterns that are holding you back. They explain that leading by gut instinct will keep you spinning in circles, while putting your key business data to work will help you grow a thriving organization. Based on the author's experience working with hundreds of leaders around the world, the Business Breakthrough 3.0 approach not only leverages the universal motivational drivers embedded in every person, but uses data to identify what's working and what's not within your company. Business Breakthrough 3.0 involves five distinct processes: 1. Establishing and actively embracing a company mission, vision, and set of core values 2. Using a formal critical-thinking framework to organize how your company makes decisions 3. Understanding what to measure and knowing how to use the data correctly Optimizing your organizational structure to drive successful actions 5. Leveraging a market growth strategy for sales success. Business Breakthrough 3.0 is the ultimate guide to overcoming entrenched patterns and building a highly profitable organization that attracts and retains people who truly love their jobs.

Business Breakthrough 3.0

Atchison Academy

What do 100,000 of your peers have in common? They've all boosted their skill set and career prospects by taking one of my online courses. https://mdb.fm/courses

Architecting for Scale

What does it take to operate a modern organization running a modern digital application? Read more in my O’Reilly Media book Architecting for Scale, now in its second edition. Go to: leeatchison.com/books or mdb.fm/afs.

Architecting for Scale

Modern Digital Business offers actionable insights and recommendations to make managing your digital business easier.

Questions & Answers

(powered by CastMagic)

1. What is a CI/CD system, and why is it important for modern application deployment?

Answer: A CI/CD system is a standard for modern application deployment. It stands for Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment. It ensures that the code is regularly integrated and tested, and any issues that arise are quickly fixed, which leads to faster and more reliable software delivery.

2. Why should configurations be included in the deployment pipeline along with code?

Answer: Configurations are as important as source code when it comes to application deployment. Including configurations in the deployment pipeline ensures that they are consistent with the code, and any changes made to the code are reflected in the configurations. This helps to avoid errors and maintain proper functionality.

3. What is the importance of consistency of variables and macros across the system?

Answer: Consistency of variables and macros across the system is crucial as it helps in maintaining the desired behavior of the application. Inconsistencies can cause unpredictable results, which can lead to errors and security vulnerabilities.

4. How does automation ensure consistency and accountability in managing configurations?

Answer: Automation ensures that the process of managing configurations is consistent and accountable by making sure that changes are made through predefined processes that are easy to track and audit. This helps to avoid errors and improves the overall quality of configuration management.

5. Why should configurations be treated with the same level of discipline as source code?

Answer: Configurations are valuable assets of an application, and any errors can lead to detrimental effects on the application. Treating configurations with the same level of discipline as source code can help to avoid these errors, improve the application's reliability, and reduce the likelihood of security vulnerabilities.

6. What is the best way to store configurations in a cloud-native environment?

Answer: Configurations can be stored with the system or component that requires the information, or it may be unknown and unmanaged. However, it is best to keep a single source of truth for all configurations to reduce complexity associated with multiple copies of the same or nearly the same configuration.

7. How can we reduce the complexity of configurations in modern cloud-native applications?

Answer: Shared, centralized templatized configurations can reduce complexity in modern cloud-native applications. This ensures that all configurations are consistent, and any updates can be made to all components in a system simultaneously.

8. What is the risk of not having a single master copy for configuration management?

Answer: If there is not a single master copy for configuration management, it can lead to errors and security vulnerabilities. This is because there is no accountability, and untracked configurations can be used.

9. Why should configuration be deployed using automated systems in a manner equivalent to how software is deployed?

Answer: Automating the deployment process for configuration files can help ensure that similar configuration files are maintained in the same way, and change drift is avoided....]]>On this episode of Modern Digital Business, we dive into the complexities of managing configurations in modern cloud-native applications. Hosted by Lee Atchison, we explore the best practices for managing configuration files, maintaining consistency across the system, and reducing complexity. We discuss the importance of using a revision control system, centralizing configurations, and using automation to distribute configuration.

Modern Digital Business offers actionable insights and recommendations to make managing your digital business easier.

Questions & Answers

(powered by CastMagic)

1. What is a CI/CD system, and why is it important for modern application deployment?

Answer: A CI/CD system is a standard for modern application deployment. It stands for Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment. It ensures that the code is regularly integrated and tested, and any issues that arise are quickly fixed, which leads to faster and more reliable software delivery.

2. Why should configurations be included in the deployment pipeline along with code?

Answer: Configurations are as important as source code when it comes to application deployment. Including configurations in the deployment pipeline ensures that they are consistent with the code, and any changes made to the code are reflected in the configurations. This helps to avoid errors and maintain proper functionality.

3. What is the importance of consistency of variables and macros across the system?

Answer: Consistency of variables and macros across the system is crucial as it helps in maintaining the desired behavior of the application. Inconsistencies can cause unpredictable results, which can lead to errors and security vulnerabilities.

4. How does automation ensure consistency and accountability in managing configurations?

Answer: Automation ensures that the process of managing configurations is consistent and accountable by making sure that changes are made through predefined processes that are easy to track and audit. This helps to avoid errors and improves the overall quality of configuration management.

5. Why should configurations be treated with the same level of discipline as source code?

Answer: Configurations are valuable assets of an application, and any errors can lead to detrimental effects on the application. Treating configurations with the same level of discipline as source code can help to avoid these errors, improve the application's reliability, and reduce the likelihood of security vulnerabilities.

6. What is the best way to store configurations in a cloud-native environment?

Answer: Configurations can be stored with the system or component that requires the information, or it may be unknown and unmanaged. However, it is best to keep a single source of truth for all configurations to reduce complexity associated with multiple copies of the same or nearly the same configuration.

7. How can we reduce the complexity of configurations in modern cloud-native applications?

Answer: Shared, centralized templatized configurations can reduce complexity in modern cloud-native applications. This ensures that all configurations are consistent, and any updates can be made to all components in a system simultaneously.

8. What is the risk of not having a single master copy for configuration management?

Answer: If there is not a single master copy for configuration management, it can lead to errors and security vulnerabilities. This is because there is no accountability, and untracked configurations can be used.

9. Why should configuration be deployed using automated systems in a manner equivalent to how software is deployed?

Answer: Automating the deployment process for configuration files can help ensure that similar configuration files are maintained in the same way, and change drift is avoided. This makes the deployment process more efficient and reduces the likelihood of errors.

10. What is the importance of configuration management in modern applications?

Answer: Configuration management is crucial for managing a modern application because configurations describe network interconnections, load balancing, security permissions, and application details like database connections and secrets. Failure to manage configurations can lead to increased complexity, errors, and security vulnerabilities.

Episode Summary

(powered by CastMagic)

- CI CD system is standard for modern application deployment

- Deployment pipeline should include configurations along with code

- Consistency of variables and macros is important across the system

- Automation ensures consistency and accountability in managing configurations

- Configurations are valuable assets and need to be treated with the same level of discipline as source code to avoid detrimental effects on the application.

- There is a large quantity of configuration information in a cloud-native environment.

- Configurations can be stored with the system or component that requires the information, or it may be unknown and unmanaged.

- Keeping a single source of truth for all configuration is important to reduce complexity associated with multiple copies of the same or nearly the same configuration.

- Complexity can be reduced by following five best practices.

- Shared, centralized templatized configurations can reduce complexity in modern cloud-native applications.

- Put configuration files in revision control system

- Use appropriate version from revision control system for deploying changes

- Revision control system is a master storage system for configuration and changes; keeps running history of changes, who made them, and reason for them

- Useful for problem diagnosis; can quickly see changes made and roll back errors or analyze them to fix problems

- Configuration is ubiquitous and describes network interconnections, load balancing, security permissions, and application details like database connections and secrets.

- With cloud-native/microservice-based architecture, there are even more configurations to manage.

- Using automation can help manage variations in configurations across multiple devices that require small changes.

- Best Practice Number Four is to centralize configurations in a single well-known location.

- Using a revision control system can make it easier to manage configurations.

- Centralizing configurations makes it easy to locate them during problem situations and expand them.

- Keeping all configurations in the same location reduces the likelihood of untracked configurations being used and maintains accountability.

- Best Practice Number Five is to use automated systems to distribute configuration information.

- Configuration should be deployed using automated systems in a manner equivalent to how software is deployed.

- Using a single copy of the configuration for all components in a system is better than keeping a separate copy for each component.

- Automating changes for each component using macros and variables is efficient.

- Creating multiple copies of a configuration with just one different variable for each use case is tempting but not advisable.

- Instead, create one configuration and use a variable for the changing component, such as an IP address.

- Automating the deployment process will replace the variable with the appropriate IP address for each use case.

- This automation and the use of a single configuration file will ensure that similar configuration files are maintained in the same way, and change drift is avoided.

- Failure to manage configuration can lead to increased complexity

- Many people may not even know where their configuration files are located

- Configuration management can be a daunting task, especially in a complex cloud-native application

- The Modern Digital Business Podcast aims to provide actionable insights and recommendations to make managing digital business easier



Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• Overcoming IT Complexity - Lee Atchison & Ken Gavranovic
• 5 Cloud-Native App Config Management Best Practices - Cloud Native Now
• Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly Media

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe.

Take a look at Lee's many books, courses, and articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Looking to modernize your application organization?

Check out Architecting for Scale. Currently in it's second edition, this book, written by Lee Atchison, and published by O'Reilly Media, will help you build high scale, highly available web applications, or modernize your existing applications. Check it out! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.com or other retailers.

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe here to catch each new episode as it becomes available.

Want more from Lee? Click here to sign up for our newsletter. You'll receive information about new episodes, new articles, new books, and courses from Lee. Don't worry, we won't send you spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Mentioned in this episode:

Business Breakthrough 3.0

With a combined 60 years of business and technology experience, experts Lee Atchison and Ken Gavranovic provide a no-nonsense, step-by-step methodology to clarify how your company actually operates in order to uncover the entrenched patterns that are holding you back. They explain that leading by gut instinct will keep you spinning in circles, while putting your key business data to work will help you grow a thriving organization. Based on the author's experience working with hundreds of leaders around the world, the Business Breakthrough 3.0 approach not only leverages the universal motivational drivers embedded in every person, but uses data to identify what's working and what's not within your company. Business Breakthrough 3.0 involves five distinct processes: 1. Establishing and actively embracing a company mission, vision, and set of core values 2. Using a formal critical-thinking framework to organize how your company makes decisions 3. Understanding what to measure and knowing how to use the data correctly Optimizing your organizational structure to drive successful actions 5. Leveraging a market growth strategy for sales success. Business Breakthrough 3.0 is the ultimate guide to overcoming entrenched patterns and building a highly profitable organization that attracts and retains people who truly love their jobs.

Business Breakthrough 3.0

LinkedIn Learning Courses

Are you looking to become an architect? Or perhaps are you looking to learn how to drive your organization towards better utilization of the cloud? Are you you looking for ways to help you utilize a Cloud Center of Excellence in your organization? I have a whole series of cloud and architecture courses available on LinkedIn Learning. For more information, please go to leeatchison.com/courses or mdb.fm/courses.

Courses by Lee Atchison

Architecting for Scale

What does it take to operate a modern organization running a modern digital application? Read more in my O’Reilly Media book Architecting for Scale, now in its second edition. Go to: leeatchison.com/books or mdb.fm/afs.

Architecting for Scale

This episode announces the new book, Business Breakthrough 3.0, written by Lee Atchison and Ken Gavranovic. Lee and Ken emphasize the importance of effective communication within organizations.

Quotes

Creating Dynamic Organizations: "If you can really think through those patterns, not only do you build a highly profitable, fast moving organization [...] but it's also a win for the employees, because when you create that kind of dynamic organization, customers love the business, and employees simply love their job."

— Ken Gavranovic 

"Measuring Organizational Improvements: Companies often make one of three mistakes when they determine what data they want to measure. They either measure not enough data, measure too much data, or just measure the wrong things."

— Lee Atchison

The Importance of Instilling Company Values: "If you think about employees that say they're engaged, the quality of work that they do, versus somebody who feels they're just a cog on the wheel, they're just going through the motions. And the efficiencies are night and day at all scales of organizations."

— Ken Gavranovic

The Power of Subconscious Mentality: "When I think of in our own subconscious minds, the thing that comes to mind the most is when you see commercials for restaurants showing you pictures of food that make you hungry, and you're more likely to spend more money, the more, the hungrier you are."

— Lee Atchison 

"The Importance of Organizational Design: if you have poor organizational design, you're going to have poor results."

— Ken Gavranovic

"Organizational Structures: If you want to have your organization respond in a certain way, you want to organize it in a way that allows that response to occur."

— Lee Atchison 

The Importance of Instilling Company Values: "If you think about employees that say they're engaged, the quality of work that they do, versus somebody who feels they're just a cog on the wheel, they're just going through the motions. And the efficiencies are night and day at all scales of organizations."

— Ken Gavranovic

"The Valley of Despair": "But so many companies will actually stop right in the middle of that valley when things are worse than they were before and won't finish their project or won't finish the migration because they've lost track of what they really valued in the migration and frankly, why they started doing it in the first place."

— Lee Atchison

Q&A

1. What is the importance of organizational design in driving desired outcomes?

Answer: Poor organizational design can lead to unhealthy friction and frustration. Therefore, it is important to be intentional about organizational design and set up people processes to drive desired outcomes.

2. What are the consequences of lack of alignment between teams and leaders?

Answer: Lack of alignment between teams and leaders can cause friction and misalignment in the organization.

3. What is the Federated direct line reports center of Practice?

Answer: Detailed principles like Federated direct line reports center of Practice can help with organizational design.

4. Why should leaders be careful about what they]]>On this episode of Modern Digital Business, Lee invites Ken to discuss organizational design principles and the importance of aligning teams and leaders to drive desired outcomes. The conversation covers various topics such as the Kubler-Ross change curve, company culture, and the "Valley of Despair" during a migration or transformation projects. They also share practical guidance on implementing Agile methodologies and how to articulate the value of that to higher-ups.

This episode announces the new book, Business Breakthrough 3.0, written by Lee Atchison and Ken Gavranovic. Lee and Ken emphasize the importance of effective communication within organizations.

Quotes

Creating Dynamic Organizations: "If you can really think through those patterns, not only do you build a highly profitable, fast moving organization [...] but it's also a win for the employees, because when you create that kind of dynamic organization, customers love the business, and employees simply love their job."

— Ken Gavranovic 

"Measuring Organizational Improvements: Companies often make one of three mistakes when they determine what data they want to measure. They either measure not enough data, measure too much data, or just measure the wrong things."

— Lee Atchison

The Importance of Instilling Company Values: "If you think about employees that say they're engaged, the quality of work that they do, versus somebody who feels they're just a cog on the wheel, they're just going through the motions. And the efficiencies are night and day at all scales of organizations."

— Ken Gavranovic

The Power of Subconscious Mentality: "When I think of in our own subconscious minds, the thing that comes to mind the most is when you see commercials for restaurants showing you pictures of food that make you hungry, and you're more likely to spend more money, the more, the hungrier you are."

— Lee Atchison 

"The Importance of Organizational Design: if you have poor organizational design, you're going to have poor results."

— Ken Gavranovic

"Organizational Structures: If you want to have your organization respond in a certain way, you want to organize it in a way that allows that response to occur."

— Lee Atchison 

The Importance of Instilling Company Values: "If you think about employees that say they're engaged, the quality of work that they do, versus somebody who feels they're just a cog on the wheel, they're just going through the motions. And the efficiencies are night and day at all scales of organizations."

— Ken Gavranovic

"The Valley of Despair": "But so many companies will actually stop right in the middle of that valley when things are worse than they were before and won't finish their project or won't finish the migration because they've lost track of what they really valued in the migration and frankly, why they started doing it in the first place."

— Lee Atchison

Q&A

1. What is the importance of organizational design in driving desired outcomes?

Answer: Poor organizational design can lead to unhealthy friction and frustration. Therefore, it is important to be intentional about organizational design and set up people processes to drive desired outcomes.

2. What are the consequences of lack of alignment between teams and leaders?

Answer: Lack of alignment between teams and leaders can cause friction and misalignment in the organization.

3. What is the Federated direct line reports center of Practice?

Answer: Detailed principles like Federated direct line reports center of Practice can help with organizational design.

4. Why should leaders be careful about what they measure and display?

Answer: People always do what they're incentivized to do; leaders need to be careful about what they measure and display. Measuring activity doesn't necessarily drive behaviors, and companies can fail if they focus on activity over outcomes.

5. How can companies ensure that everyone is aligned with the outcome?

Answer: Teams should be focused on outcomes and measurements should be visible to employees, so everyone knows how they're being measured. If teams are aligned with the outcome, they can work together and pivot on the strategy as long as they achieve the outcome.

6. What is the Kubler-Ross change curve?

Answer: The Kubler-Ross change curve is a model of the different stages people go through during change. These stages include shock, denial, disappointment, pivot, and acceleration, and can be applied to any transformation.

7. What is the importance of culture in a company?

Answer: Culture includes values, mission, vision, and how it's practiced in a company. Leaders who overlook toxic behavior by top performers are not living the culture and can harm the company, causing good employees to leave. It is essential to define and live culture purposefully.

8. What is the "Valley of Despair" in relation to migration or transformation projects?

Answer: The "Valley of Despair" is a period in transformation projects where the disadvantages tend to show up before the advantages, resulting in a dip in the application's performance or other negative effects. Many companies tend to lose focus and forget their objectives during this low point, which causes them to measure and focus on the wrong things.

9. What is the benefit of implementing a strong company culture?

Answer: Implementing a strong company culture can lead to a 30% to 40% increase in the efficiency of the organization and a 30% to 60% increase in employee engagement and job satisfaction.

10. Why is effective communication important in organizations?

Answer: Effective communication within organizations leads to success. Siloed mentality and walls occur when communication is not successful.

Timestamped Overview

[00:02:16] Organizations have a subconscious mentality influenced by stimuli such as food commercials leading to more spending, similar to how individuals react subconsciously.

[00:04:35] Culture needs to be purposeful, defined, and lived out, as it encompasses a company's values and how they are implemented. Failure to adhere to the culture, such as allowing toxic behavior to go unchecked, can be detrimental and cause the best people to leave.

[00:07:14] Two thirds of US employees are not engaged at work, causing both personal and company inefficiencies. Proper implementation of culture can lead to up to a 40% increase in organizational efficiency and employee engagement.

[00:09:45] Measure outcomes over activity, be careful what you measure and display, and make it visible to employees. Teams should focus on outcomes and pivot autonomously to achieve them, leading to better alignment and collaboration.

[00:14:14] Change is difficult for people and organizations, but with the right strategy and communication, it can lead to transformation, empowerment, and fulfillment. This applies to various situations, such as IT projects, personal transformations, and turnarounds in business or teams.

[00:19:44] Focusing on individual tasks without a bigger picture can lead to counterproductive results in an organization. A person's focus should be broad enough to encompass the organization's goals.

[00:21:50] The text discusses the importance of structuring teams to avoid inefficiencies and miscommunication. It includes examples of companies that struggled due to poor structural alignment and emphasizes the need for clear leadership and customer focus.

[00:25:45] Effective collaboration leads to success, discussed in book Business Breakthrough 3.0, available in a variety of formats. Expert guest Ken Garadovich thanked for his contribution to Modern Digital Business podcast.

Key Topics

Organizational Design:

- "You get what you design for"

- Lack of alignment can cause friction and misalignment

- Federated direct line reports center of Practice can help with organizational design

- Importance of being intentional about organizational design

- Outcomes over activity should be the focus

Transformation and Culture:

- Kubler Ross change curve can be applied to any transformation

- Culture includes values, mission, vision, and how it's practiced in a company

- Toxic behavior by top performers can harm the company

- Importance of defining and living the culture purposefully

- Valley of Despair in relation to migration or transformation projects

- Providing practical guidance on implementing Agile methodologies and how to articulate the value of that to higher-ups

- Two-thirds of employees in the United States are not actively engaged in work

- Implementing a strong company culture can lead to a 30%-40% increase in the efficiency of the organization

- The speaker believes that uncovering patterns of success can be crucial for a business to scale

Communication:

- Successful communication within organizations leads to success

- Siloed mentality and walls occur when communication is not successful

Book Recommendation

- "Business Breakthrough 3.0" by Lee Atchison and Ken Gavranovic talks about marketing strategies such as product-led growth and sales lead growth

- The book is available in various formats on Amazon and other platforms

Conclusion:

- The podcast host thanks Ken for being a guest and working on the project together



Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• Business Breaktgrough 3.0

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe.

Take a look at Lee's many books, courses, and articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Looking to modernize your application organization?

Check out Architecting for Scale. Currently in it's second edition, this book, written by Lee Atchison, and published by O'Reilly Media, will help you build high scale, highly available web applications, or modernize your existing applications. Check it out! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.com or other retailers.

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe here to catch each new episode as it becomes available.

Want more from Lee? Click here to sign up for our newsletter. You'll receive information about new episodes, new articles, new books, and courses from Lee. Don't worry, we won't send you spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Mentioned in this episode:

LinkedIn Learning Courses

Are you looking to become an architect? Or perhaps are you looking to learn how to drive your organization towards better utilization of the cloud? Are you you looking for ways to help you utilize a Cloud Center of Excellence in your organization? I have a whole series of cloud and architecture courses available on LinkedIn Learning. For more information, please go to leeatchison.com/courses or mdb.fm/courses.

Courses by Lee Atchison

Atchison Academy

What do 100,000 of your peers have in common? They've all boosted their skill set and career prospects by taking one of my online courses. https://mdb.fm/courses

On this episode of Modern Digital Business, we explore the necessary transition to a digital business model and the challenges that come with it, specifically in the realm of cloud computing. As the leader in enterprise IT, it's important to adapt to newer, more flexible and scalable technologies. The solution? Establishing a Cloud Center of Excellence! We dive into the benefits of a CCoE and how it can help guide organizations towards a common goal. Tune in for expert insights, actionable recommendations, and in-depth interviews on transitioning to the cloud in a modern digital business.

Topic: Cloud Computing in Enterprise IT

- Dominance of cloud computing in recent years

- Benefits of cloud computing (lower costs, flexibility, scalability)

- Challenge of transforming to a cloud-native organization

Topic: Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE)

- Definition and benefits of CCoE

- Organizational structure and responsibilities of CCoE

- Cooperation with other key parts of the organization

- Importance of CCoE for cloud transformation

1. What is cloud computing, and why has it become so popular in enterprise IT?

Answer: Cloud computing is a model in which computing resources—such as servers, storage, and applications—are delivered over the internet. It has become popular because it offers benefits in lower costs, greater flexibility, and scalability.

2. What are some of the challenges organizations face when transitioning from on-premise operations to cloud-based operations?

Answer: Some of the challenges include adapting to new technologies, retraining staff, and reconfiguring infrastructure. Organizations may also encounter cultural barriers as people are resistant to change.

3. What is a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE), and how can it help organizations overcome these challenges?

Answer: A CCoE is an organizational structure that provides guidance, support, and best practices for cloud adoption. It can help organizations accelerate their cloud transformation while ensuring everyone is working towards common goals.

4. Who typically leads a CCoE, and whom does it report to?

Answer: A CCoE is typically led by the CIO or engineering head and reports to senior leadership.

5. What are some of the key responsibilities of a CCoE?

Answer: The CCoE is responsible for providing guidance and support for cloud adoption, managing relationships with external cloud providers, establishing best practices, and ensuring compliance with security and governance requirements.

6. How does a CCoE work with other parts of the organization?

Answer: The CCoE works closely with application development, operations, and security teams to ensure everyone is aligned and working towards common goals.

7. What are some benefits of having a CCoE for a cloud transformation?

Answer: Some benefits include faster time to market, greater operational efficiency, reduced costs, improved security, and greater flexibility.

8. What are some common misconceptions about cloud computing?

Answer: Some common misconceptions include that it is always cheaper, that it is less secure than on-premise operations, and that it is not suitable for all types of businesses.

9. How can organizations ensure a successful cloud transformation?

Answer: By establishing a strong cloud strategy, leveraging a CCoE or other similar structure, training staff, and communicating effectively.

10. What future trends can we expect to see in cloud computing?

Answer: We can expect to see continued growth in cloud adoption, increased use of hybrid cloud models, greater focus on edge computing, and increased emphasis on security and compliance.

Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for...]]>In Case You Missed It

On this episode of Modern Digital Business, we explore the necessary transition to a digital business model and the challenges that come with it, specifically in the realm of cloud computing. As the leader in enterprise IT, it's important to adapt to newer, more flexible and scalable technologies. The solution? Establishing a Cloud Center of Excellence! We dive into the benefits of a CCoE and how it can help guide organizations towards a common goal. Tune in for expert insights, actionable recommendations, and in-depth interviews on transitioning to the cloud in a modern digital business.

Topic: Cloud Computing in Enterprise IT

- Dominance of cloud computing in recent years

- Benefits of cloud computing (lower costs, flexibility, scalability)

- Challenge of transforming to a cloud-native organization

Topic: Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE)

- Definition and benefits of CCoE

- Organizational structure and responsibilities of CCoE

- Cooperation with other key parts of the organization

- Importance of CCoE for cloud transformation

1. What is cloud computing, and why has it become so popular in enterprise IT?

Answer: Cloud computing is a model in which computing resources—such as servers, storage, and applications—are delivered over the internet. It has become popular because it offers benefits in lower costs, greater flexibility, and scalability.

2. What are some of the challenges organizations face when transitioning from on-premise operations to cloud-based operations?

Answer: Some of the challenges include adapting to new technologies, retraining staff, and reconfiguring infrastructure. Organizations may also encounter cultural barriers as people are resistant to change.

3. What is a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE), and how can it help organizations overcome these challenges?

Answer: A CCoE is an organizational structure that provides guidance, support, and best practices for cloud adoption. It can help organizations accelerate their cloud transformation while ensuring everyone is working towards common goals.

4. Who typically leads a CCoE, and whom does it report to?

Answer: A CCoE is typically led by the CIO or engineering head and reports to senior leadership.

5. What are some of the key responsibilities of a CCoE?

Answer: The CCoE is responsible for providing guidance and support for cloud adoption, managing relationships with external cloud providers, establishing best practices, and ensuring compliance with security and governance requirements.

6. How does a CCoE work with other parts of the organization?

Answer: The CCoE works closely with application development, operations, and security teams to ensure everyone is aligned and working towards common goals.

7. What are some benefits of having a CCoE for a cloud transformation?

Answer: Some benefits include faster time to market, greater operational efficiency, reduced costs, improved security, and greater flexibility.

8. What are some common misconceptions about cloud computing?

Answer: Some common misconceptions include that it is always cheaper, that it is less secure than on-premise operations, and that it is not suitable for all types of businesses.

9. How can organizations ensure a successful cloud transformation?

Answer: By establishing a strong cloud strategy, leveraging a CCoE or other similar structure, training staff, and communicating effectively.

10. What future trends can we expect to see in cloud computing?

Answer: We can expect to see continued growth in cloud adoption, increased use of hybrid cloud models, greater focus on edge computing, and increased emphasis on security and compliance.

Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• Atchison Academy - Online courses by Lee Atchison
• Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly Media

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe.

Take a look at Lee's many books, courses, and articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Looking to modernize your application organization?

Check out Architecting for Scale. Currently in it's second edition, this book, written by Lee Atchison, and published by O'Reilly Media, will help you build high scale, highly available web applications, or modernize your existing applications. Check it out! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon.com or other retailers.

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe here to catch each new episode as it becomes available.

Want more from Lee? Click here to sign up for our newsletter. You'll receive information about new episodes, new articles, new books, and courses from Lee. Don't worry, we won't send you spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Mentioned in this episode:

Business Breakthrough 3.0

With a combined 60 years of business and technology experience, experts Lee Atchison and Ken Gavranovic provide a no-nonsense, step-by-step methodology to clarify how your company actually operates in order to uncover the entrenched patterns that are holding you back. They explain that leading by gut instinct will keep you spinning in circles, while putting your key business data to work will help you grow a thriving organization. Based on the author's experience working with hundreds of leaders around the world, the Business Breakthrough 3.0 approach not only leverages the universal motivational drivers embedded in every person, but uses data to identify what's working and what's not within your company. Business Breakthrough 3.0 involves five distinct processes: 1. Establishing and actively embracing a company mission, vision, and set of core values 2. Using a formal critical-thinking framework to organize how your company makes decisions 3. Understanding what to measure and knowing how to use the data correctly Optimizing your organizational structure to drive successful actions 5. Leveraging a market growth strategy for sales success. Business Breakthrough 3.0 is the ultimate guide to overcoming entrenched patterns and building a highly profitable organization that attracts and retains people who truly love their jobs.

Business Breakthrough 3.0

LinkedIn Learning Courses

Are you looking to become an architect? Or perhaps are you looking to learn how to drive your organization towards better utilization of the cloud? Are you you looking for ways to help you utilize a Cloud Center of Excellence in your organization? I have a whole series of cloud and architecture courses available on LinkedIn Learning. For more information, please go to leeatchison.com/courses or mdb.fm/courses.

Courses by Lee Atchison

Today we are going to talk about becoming a cloud architect. What does a cloud architect do that’s different from what a typical software developer does? Or a typical operations engineer?

Cloud architect roles are in high demand, especially given the rise in interest in cloud-native architectures and microservices-based applications. These architectures allow the creation of highly agile development teams and highly innovative businesses use cloud-native architectures to gain a competitive advantage.

And cloud architects are right at the center of this need.

Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• Atchison Academy - Online courses by Lee Atchison
• Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly Media

About Lee

Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His most recent book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments. Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO...]]>What is a cloud architect? What does a cloud architect do that’s different from what a developer does? What skills does someone need to have to move from a role as a software developer to a role as a cloud architect?

Today we are going to talk about becoming a cloud architect. What does a cloud architect do that’s different from what a typical software developer does? Or a typical operations engineer?

Cloud architect roles are in high demand, especially given the rise in interest in cloud-native architectures and microservices-based applications. These architectures allow the creation of highly agile development teams and highly innovative businesses use cloud-native architectures to gain a competitive advantage.

And cloud architects are right at the center of this need.

Today on Modern Digital Business

Thank you for tuning in to Modern Digital Business. We typically release new episodes on Thursdays. We also occasionally release short-topic episodes on Tuesdays, which we call Tech Tapas Tuesdays.

If you enjoy what you hear, will you please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or directly on our website at mdb.fm/reviews?

If you'd like to suggest a topic for an episode or you are interested in being a guest, please contact me directly by sending me a message at mdb.fm/contact.

And if you’d like to record a quick question or comment, click the microphone icon in the lower right-hand corner of our website. Your recording might be featured on a future episode!

To ensure you get every new episode when they become available, please subscribe from your favorite podcast player. If you want to learn more from me, then check out one of my books, courses, or articles by going to leeatchison.com.

Thank you for listening, and welcome to the modern world of the modern digital business!

Useful Links

• Atchison Academy - Online courses by Lee Atchison
• Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition, O’Reilly Media