Towards Autonomous Aligned Teams with Domain-Driven Design @ progressive delivery conf 2021

The companies I consult with are going through an agile DevOps transformation. Typically they focus on transitioning people into teams towards DevOps working, getting groups with max eight people into a team, and being able to work almost autonomously. This transformation almost always poses questions like; How do we divide the current software into the teams, which teams take ownership of what part of the current system, how do we functionally align the teams to the business strategy, and who goes in what team? We call this socio-technical architecture.

To deal with those questions companies request my help to design (micro)services using a Domain-Driven Design approach because it makes it easier to divide the software between teams. I believe enterprises who are going to or doing an Agile DevOps transformation need at least a Domain-Driven Design approach to create autonomous teams that are aligned with the business architecture. Aligning autonomous teams to the business strategy creates a set of unique challenges. In this war story talk, I will share my experience with moving towards autonomous aligned DevOps teams with a Domain-Driven Design approach.

Transcript

1. @kenny_baas
   Towards Autonomous Aligned Teams
   with Domain-Driven Design
   Kenny Baas-Schwegler
   

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2. Photo by NASA on Unsplash
   @kenny_baas
   

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3. 3
   “If the architecture of the system
   and the architecture of the organization are at odds,
   the architecture of the organization wins”
   —Ruth Malan
   @kenny_baas
   

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4. 4
   @kenny_baas
   

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5. 5
   @kenny_baas
   

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6. 6
   Any organization that designs a system
   (defined more broadly here than just information systems)
   will inevitably produce a design whose structure
   is a copy of the organization's communication structure.
   — Mel Conway
   @kenny_baas
   

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7. 7
   @kenny_baas
   

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8. Label 1
   Website
   Label 2
   Website
   API
   GATEWAY
   Label 3
   Website
   Business 3
   Business 2
   Business 1 CRM
   Datawarehouse
   Data API
   @kenny_baas
   

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10. 10
    @kenny_baas
    

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11. [In our study at Thoughtworks we found] work
    takes an order of magnitude longer when it
    leaves a team.
    — James Lewis (@boicy)
    Credit: Nick tune
    @kenny_baas
    

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12. “A loosely coupled software architecture
    and org structure to match” is a key
    predictor of:
    1. Continuous Delivery Performance
    2. Ability to scale org and increase
    performance linearly
    @kenny_baas
    

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13. 13
    @kenny_baas
    Order Payment Packaging
    

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14. 14
    @kenny_baas
    https://www.martinfowler.com/articles/microservices.html
    

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15. 15
    the key to incremental architecture is to build on
    a framework that can accommodate change...
    that framework is the domain....
    By designing and modeling the domain, you can
    more easily handle changes to the domain
    — Allen Holub (@allenholub)
    @kenny_baas
    

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16. @kenny_baas
    

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17. 17
    To communicate effectively, the code must be based on the
    same language used to write the requirements
    - the same language that the developers speak
    with each other and with domain experts
    - Eric Evans
    @kenny_baas
    

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18. 18
    @kenny_baas https://www.thoughtco.com/ambiguity-language-1692388
    

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19. We all know or should know that language is fluid, liquid, subject to the
    whims of the people. Language evolves, as it should. Because language
    changes to accommodate new users, the older users resist and complain.
    http://tednellen.blogspot.com/2013/04/language-is-fluid.html
    @kenny_baas
    

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20. @kenny_baas
    Instead of one canonical language,
    create multiple bounded languages
    

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21. 21
    It is not the domain experts knowledge
    that goes to production, it is the
    assumption of the developers
    that goes to production
    - Alberto Brandolini
    @kenny_baas
    

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22. 22
    Business
    Architects
    Developers
    @kenny_baas
    

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23. @kenny_baas
    

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24. @kenny_baas
    

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25. 25
    @kenny_baas
    

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26. A straight line between 2 points
    corresponds to a compass direction in
    reality..
    @kenny_baas
    

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27. A straight line between 2 points corresponds to
    a compass direction in reality..
    • Except for points located in Greenland
    • Except for points located in Africa
    @kenny_baas
    

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28. 28
    A model is a simplified representation of a thing
    or phenomenon that intentionally emphasizes
    certain aspects while ignoring others.
    Abstraction with a specific use in mind.
    @kenny_baas
    — Rebecca Wirfs-Brock
    

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29. 29
    Business
    Architects
    Developers
    @kenny_baas @joaoasrosa
    

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30. @kenny_baas
    Stop communicating business change
    in system boundaries
    (unit of deployment like in microservices, monolith)
    Start communicating business change in
    contextual boundaries that form the bounded context
    (purpose, need, responsibility)
    

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31. 31
    @kenny_baas
    

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32. 32
    @kenny_baas
    

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33. 33
    @kenny_baas
    

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34. @kenny_baas
    

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35. @kenny_baas @joaoasrosa
    

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36. 36
    @kenny_baas
    https://www.eventstorming.com/
    

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37. 37
    @kenny_baas
    https://www.eventstorming.com/
    

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38. 38
    @kenny_baas
    Mortgage
    request
    received
    Mortgage
    application
    passed
    Tender
    signed
    Declaration
    rejected
    

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39. @kenny_baas
    

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40. 40
    @kenny_baas
    

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41. 41
    @kenny_baas
    https://www.eventstorming.com/
    

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42. 42
    @kenny_baas
    https://www.eventstorming.com/
    

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43. 43
    @kenny_baas
    

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44. 44
    @kenny_baas
    https://www.martinfowler.com/articles/microservices.html
    

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45. 45
    @kenny_baas
    

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46. @kenny_baas
    Domain-Driven Design enables teams to have agency
    Agency leads to observability
    a necessity for doing progressive delivery
    

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47. @kenny_baas
    #CatTax
    @kenny_baas
    Baasie.com
    xebia.com/blog/author/kbaas/
    https://speakerdeck.com/baasie
    @kenny_baas
    Agile Alliance report:
    https://www.agilealliance.org/resources/experience-reports/towards-auton
    omous-aligned-teams-with-domain-driven-design/
    https://virtualddd.com/
    

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48. @kenny_baas
    Domain-Driven Design (DDD) Foundation
    https://xebia.com/academy/en/training/domain-driven-design-ddd-foundation
    Strategic Domain-Driven Design (DDD):
    Design Loosely Coupled Architecture
    https://xebia.com/academy/en/training/strategic-domain-driven-design-ddd
    Professional Agile Architecture:
    Visual and Collaborative Modelling
    https://xebia.com/academy/en/training/professional-agile-architecture
    15% off training:
    kenny15
    

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