Technology Evaluation 101

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Version: 20180804 A non-scientific
approach to evaluating (open source) technology for rapid results (prototyping and beyond). Technology Evaluation 101

[email protected] @metmajer Innovation Technologist & Strategist. Founder at GetCloudnative. Open
Source Maintainer. Martin Etmajer

Why Evaluate Technology?

Source: https://octoverse.github.com/ The Technology Space is Exploding GitHub‘s Path to
10 Million Repositories by 2014 67 Million by 2017

What is Technology Evaluation?

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 10 What is
Technology Evaluation? It‘s about judging the value of technology to solve a specific problem. problem space

Technology Evaluation? It‘s about judging the value of technology to solve a specific problem. potential solution space (infinitely large and complex)

Technology Evaluation? effective solution space (simple and efficient) It‘s about judging the value of technology to solve a specific problem.

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 14 Keep it
Simple „Simple things should be simple, complex things should be possible.“ Alan Kay, American Computer Scientist

How to Technology Evaluation?

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 16 How to
Technology Evaluation? 1. Understand the Problem Space Which problem are you trying to solve?

Technology Evaluation? 1. Understand the Problem Space Which problem are you trying to solve? Which tasks are needed to get the problem solved?

Technology Evaluation? 1. Understand the Problem Space Which problem are you trying to solve? Which tasks are needed to get the problem solved? What are the risks?

Technology Evaluation? 2. Understand the Solution Space

Technology Evaluation? Realize the ideal solution doesn‘t exist :-( every solution is designed to solve a specific problem

Technology Evaluation? Realize the ideal solution doesn‘t exist :-( there is no one-fits-all-solution

Technology Evaluation? Realize the ideal solution doesn‘t exist :-( workarounds occur as the solution eventually reaches its (defined) limits

Technology Evaluation? Realize the ideal solution doesn‘t exist :-( adapt the solution as needed

Technology Evaluation? Realize the ideal solution doesn‘t exist :-( look ahead, but avoid solving problems you don‘t already see

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 25 Keep it
Simple „If you‘re experimenting with a new tool or process, find the quickest and easiest one to use. From that, learn about what you actually need.“ Stuart Davidson, Head of Development at Skyscanner

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 26 Understanding the
Solution Space 1. Treat the solution as a composition problem (avoid building it yourself unless you really have to) Component A Component B Component C does one thing and does it well

Solution Space 1. Treat the solution as a composition problem (avoid building it yourself unless you really have to) RESTful and secure? Component A Component C CLI Component B API CLI

Solution Space 1. Treat the solution as a composition problem (avoid building it yourself unless you really have to) API API Component A Component C Component B Component D enhances existing stack?

Solution Space 1. Treat the solution as a composition problem (avoid building it yourself unless you really have to) API API Component A Component C Component B Component D if it sucks, replace it with something better

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 30 Don‘t Fall
in Love With Your Solution „The tools and systems that you've invested so much time in today will be considered obsolete tomorrow. Accept that as part of what you do as professional engineers – it's part of the joy of software. “ Stuart Davidson, Head of Development at Skyscanner

Solution Space 2. How simple is the solution? Component X How quickly can you learn it?

Solution Space 2. How simple is the solution? Component X How quickly can you learn it? How quickly can you adapt it to your needs?

Solution Space 2. How simple is the solution? Component X How quickly can you learn it? How quickly can you adapt it to your needs? How easily can the solution be upgraded?

Solution Space 3. How flexible is the solution? Component X Is it modular?

Solution Space 3. How flexible is the solution? Is it easily extensible? Is it modular? Component X

Solution Space 3. How flexible is the solution? Component X Component Y Does it dictate specific other solutions?

Solution Space 4. Who stands behind the solution? A single developer? A team of developers?

Solution Space 4. Who stands behind the solution?

Understanding the Solution Space 4. Who stands behind the solution?

Solution Space 5. Is there a caring community? Community How active is the community?

Understanding the Solution Space 5. Is there a caring community?

Solution Space 5. Is there a caring community? Community How active is the community? How many issues are there?

Solution Space 5. Is there a caring community? Community How active is the community? How many issues are there? How quickly do issues get fixed?

Solution Space 5. Is there a caring community? Community How active is the community? How many issues are there? How quickly do issues get fixed? Can I engage with the community?

Solution Space 6. How mature is the solution? Component X Are you an early adopter?

Understanding the Solution Space 6. How mature is the solution?

Solution Space 6. How mature is the solution? Component X Are you an early adopter? Who else uses it?

Solution Space 6. How mature is the solution? Component X Who else uses it? What do others say about it? Are you an early adopter?

Realize that their journey will differ from yours: what applies to them may not apply to you (problem space)!

Software evolves rapidly, especially if backed by a caring community!

Solution Space 6. How mature is the solution? Component X Who else uses it? What do others say about it? How does it compare to X? Are you an early adopter?

Solution Space 6. How mature is the solution? Component X Who else uses it? What do others say about it? How does it compare to X? Are you an early adopter? (Bonus) Is there a roadmap?

Where to Start?

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 66 Where to
Start? Great places to start learning about technology Website GitHub.com YouTube.com value proposition, docs, etc.

Start? Great places to start learning about technology Website GitHub.com YouTube.com code, demo, integrations, issues, links, etc.

Start? Great places to start learning about technology Website GitHub.com YouTube.com intros, deep-dives, conference talks, etc.

Start? Great places to start learning about technology Medium.com SlideShare.net blog posts Google

Start? Great places to start learning about technology Medium.com SlideShare.net presentation slides Google

Start? Great places to start learning about technology Medium.com SlideShare.net everything else Google

What Else is Possible?

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 73 Learning Through
Teaching Become an expert through experiential learning and teaching! GitHub.com turn a product demo into an easily consumable prototype and share it

Teaching Become an expert through experiential learning and teaching! Medium.com share your experience in a blog post (what worked well and what not)

Teaching Become an expert through experiential learning and teaching! SlideShare.net tell your story in a presentation

Teaching Become an expert through experiential learning and teaching! meetup.com present at a local meetup (maybe found one inside your company)

Teaching Become an expert through experiential learning and teaching! stackoverflow.com help others get better at what you do

Technology Evaluation 101

Technology Evaluation 101

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