Launching and Scaling a Transformation Organization
By: Shahir A. Daya
Tags: Software Development, Software Architecture, Digital Transformation, Garage Method, Architecture

By Shahir A. Daya

“How do we start?” is a question I get asked a lot when it comes to Digital Transformation. I spend most of my time on client engagements working to solve hard problems at some of the best companies. Having recently had the opportunity to work on a couple of significant transformation projects, I wanted to share the approach that has evolved out of them and the lessons we have learned.

There are many workstreams that comprise a typical digital transformation program. My recent client engagements have been digital transformation programs involving moving from traditional monolithic architectures to modern Cloud Native, Microservices, and Event-Driven Architectures. They have included organizational change and introducing new ways of working. Those are the areas of a digital transformation program that my article will focus on.

I am not suggesting that the approach I describe is the best approach or that it is sure to work for you. Clients are different, have different organizational structures, different cultures, and different forces acting on them so your mileage will vary. If you have your own learnings, it would be great if you share them via comments to this post. I am always learning, trying new ways, and would love to hear about your experiences.

IBM Garage Method for Cloud

At IBM, the Garage Method is our approach to enable business, development, and operations to continuously design, deliver, and validate new solutions. The practices and workflows cover the entire product lifecycle from inception through capturing and responding to customer feedback and market changes.

This methodology drives Enterprise Design Thinking at scale, is built on agile principles for co-located and distributed teams, leverages DevSecOps tools and techniques for continued delivery and operations, fosters digital talent, and enables Site Reliability Engineering (SRE). See Google — Site Reliability Engineering [1] for more on SRE.

The outside-in approach of the IBM Garage Methodology focuses first on business outcomes, not technology, and guides your solution journey from inception to delivery while de-risking innovation. This new way of working enables business, development and operations teams to continuously design, deliver and validate new solutions.

The following are the Core Tenants of the Method:

Understand Business Outcomes Define an MVP using Design Thinking Test-Driven Development (TDD) Pair Programming Co-Creation Code in 1-day bits Deliver continuously Hypothesis-driven development Hold Playback Automate monitoring

To summarize, the IBM Garage Method for Cloud is an integrated method of industry-leading practices to help you scale and transform your industry. It is based on:

Design Thinking

Lean Start-Up (MVP)

Xtreme Programming

Automation & DevSecOps

Architecture Leading Practices

Spotify squad model — see “Spotify Squad framework — Part I” [2] and “How to Build Your Own Spotify Model” [3]

For more details on the IBM Garage Method for Cloud see “IBM Garage Methodology” [4] and “IBM Garage Method for Cloud” [5]. The Method is publicly available for anyone to leverage.

The illustration in Figure 1 shows the organizational structure of the SW Engineering functions. Functions such as program management are not shown.