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