Название: Overcoming It Complexity Simplify Operations, Enable Innovation, And Cultivate Successful Cloud Outcomes (Final Release)
Автор: Lee Atchison
Издательство: O’Reilly Media, Inc.
Год: 2023
Страниц: 100
Язык: английский
Формат: epub, mobi
Размер: 10.25 MB

The cloud promises cost savings, agility, and more. But the increasing complexity of modern IT systems often prevents businesses from realizing the outcomes they sought by moving to the cloud in the first place. At the core of this complexity is technical debt. Ad hoc decisions, traditional approaches, and "quick and dirty" solutions add up to fragile, more complex systems (and organizations)--reducing the pace of change, driving up costs, and degrading security. To succeed in the cloud, you first have to manage the problems IT complexity creates. This practical guide will help.

If you're tasked with designing, delivering, or approving IT systems that support business growth, this book will teach you the principles and strategies you need to break out of silos, reassess traditional thinking, provide the business a better competitive position, and achieve cloud success across the company.

Technology has grown increasingly complex over the years, but the rate of its evolution has increased dramatically in the last decade. Many factors are driving this fast evolution:

• The rising number of devices connecting to the internet, from laptops and smartphones to smart home products
• The increase in cloud services
• The expansion in the number of devices that can be connected to create a single application
• The development of artificial intelligence and machine learning, which has led to innovative new products that help automate traditional business processes
• The evolution of open source software, which has made it easier for developers to create innovative new products

The numerous applications and devices employees use across an organization’s environment generate fragmentation. This fragmentation is a big challenge for the IT department, and it can be hard to detect because it may be distributed across various systems your organization uses (sometimes without employees knowing about it):

• Applications can be fragmented across numerous databases, including cloud databases.
• Virtual machines (VMs) are often fragmented across multiple servers.
• Physical servers are often fragmented across multiple physical locations.
• Network infrastructure and cloud services can also become fragmented.

Complexity can increase the time it takes to deliver new IT solutions or roll out new services. It can also slow down processes such as equipment procurement and software upgrades. Complexity can be particularly problematic for business users, who may have limited knowledge of the technologies used by their organization’s IT department. This can make it difficult for these users to collaborate with the IT department on projects or get the kind of support they need when issues arise. It can also make it difficult for the IT department to keep track of everything being used across the organization and ensure that it’s all secure.

The complexity of building API-first and embedded SaaS solutions is rising as new applications are based on open source platforms. Every day, delivering new value while satisfying customers becomes more difficult. Even if your IT organization is still struggling to eradicate the Node.js monolith or is striving to scale to billions of transactions, Lee provides ideas based on Adaptive Architecture principles and the crucial elements of flexible infrastructure as code to help you reduce technical debt and IT complexity.

You'll learn:
How to assess your current IT environment to identify complexity-centered risks
How to structure cross-functional teams to reduce friction points
How to create a framework for IT investments that's aligned with your business goals
How to measure your outcomes for continued success