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Simon Wardley Profile picture
@swardley
Apr 25, 2022 • 12 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
X : Any ideas about dealing with legacy?
Me : Do you mean legacy IT?
X : Yes.
Me : First, I prefer to call it toxic IT given it's not something you bring the kids to see, it accumulates and can damage the health of an organisation.
X : Any advice?
Me : Well ...
Me : To begin with, we need to understand what it is. Most legacy is custom built stuff that became a commodity long ago and most (not all) legacy has been created in the last 20 years ... some is older, way older ...
Me : ... the next thing we need to understand is the fear. Everyone knows where the legacy is, most people want to remove it but there is usually real fear because if we change something then other things will break ... we often don't know how it's connected in the org ...
Me : ... lastly, we're adding to the legacy today. Everything we custom build will add to the "legacy" pile over time unless we have a means of fixing this.
X : Is there a solution?
Me : Do you mean a magic piece of software? No. Instead there is a long slog but ...
Me : ... it's doable.
X : How?
Me : Do you use test driven development (TDD)?
X : No.
Me : From now on, every new project, every upgrade, every bug fix, every change throughout the organisation must start with TDD. No, excuses.
X : How will that fix it?
Me : Within a good few years, with hard work, you'll start to build enough of a test suite that you can look to change things with a bit more confidence. You might have to commission test building for some stuff because there will be gaps.
X : Few years??
Me : Give yourself 3 to 4 years depending upon the size of the estate. Remember most of this legacy has been built over 20 years and if you've not been using TDD then you've got a lot of basic ground to re-examine. Which is also why you don't add to the problem.
X : The business won't accept that?
Me : Does it want to be more efficient, more "innovative"?
X : Yes
Me : If it doesn't fix this problem, it'll find the opposite. I did say it was toxic. Past decisions borrowed from the future, you're just paying for it now ... the bill is due.
X : And once we have the testing?
Me : Then you can start to look to tidy up things. Maps will help (you should build those as well) and patterns like strangler. Small iterative steps but start by slowly building up those tests otherwise fear will always overwhelm you.
X : Should we outsource this?
Me : To a large management consultancy?
X : Yes.
Me : No ... well, not unless you want to be beholden to them forever. You need to take control of this part. The tests are your institutional knowledge. They are your orgs brain ...
Me : ... there are some tools / groups that can help you. Search on "explainable software" by @girba
X : Calling it toxic IT is rude.
Me : It has never complained before. When you're next with your server, give it a comforting hug and just say "that Simon is a bad man".

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More from @swardley

Simon Wardley Profile picture
Sep 26
X : Thoughts on a return to office policy?
Me : It happens for two basic reasons:-
1) loss of status symbols (top floor office etc). Many execs need these to say "I'm the boss"
2) headcount reduction (i.e. people will leave) due to a weakness in the finances.

Why?
X : What about productivity and innovation?
Me : Those are "reasons" given but they're all bogus and don't stand up to scrutiny. However, there is a third.
X : Colloboration?
Me : Stranded assets - offices etc. No exec likes looking at an empty building they spent £300M on.
X : Basically - status symbols, weaknesses of finances and political capital?
Me : Sounds about right.
X : Did you see Amazon has a return to office policy -
Me : Oh. That's concerning.geekwire.com/2024/survey-by…
Read 11 tweets
Simon Wardley Profile picture
Sep 9
X : Our strategy doesn't align with our business.
Me : How do you mean?
X : We create these strategy documents but they never really get implemented as the day to day business takes over.
Me : That's common. Can I ask a question?
X : Sure
Me : ...
Me : Do you map?
X : I've heard of your technique but we don't use it.
Me : Ok, so your business operations is not based upon a map of the landscape?
X : No
Me : And your strategy is not based upon a map of the landscape?
X : No
Me : What made you think they would align?
X : They are supposed to align and we wrote our strategy on our understanding of the business.
Me : Your wrote your strategy based upon stories. There's no means to create a consensus of your landscape, to challenge what your are doing. There is no mechanism for alignment.
Read 10 tweets
Simon Wardley Profile picture
Sep 5
X : Why do you continue to use twitter / X?
Me : Because I like the tool and the crowd.
X : Do you support @elonmusk
Me : No. I disagree on many of his views.
X : He is far right.
Me : Perspective matters. US is generally more right wing & Silicon Valley especially so.
X : What do you mean by "Perspective matters"?
Me : Elon's views are not that unusual for Silicon Valley - . There's a lot of support based upon a different view of economics and government.
X : Different?
Me : Different from Europe. cbsnews.com/news/trump-jd-…
Image
X : People should just accept it?
Me : No. They should argue against it. The "left" did itself no favours by diluting its voice across multiple platforms.
X : Are you left?
Me : I view the market as tool to be used in the common interest of society. I'm a socialist.
Read 20 tweets
Simon Wardley Profile picture
Aug 23
X : What do you need to do in order to map a business?
Me : Ask ...
1) "Who are the users?" (at the least, include consumers and the business)
2) "What are their needs?"
3) "What is the chain of components required to meet those needs?"
4) "How evolved are those components?"
...
Me : Once you have done that, allow others to challenge it. Even better, build the map with others. It really is that simple.
X : But creating a map is difficult.
Me : Only to those used to making decisions without understanding users, needs, the supply chain etc.
X : How common is that?
Me : In business? The majority of decisions tend to be made with no understanding of users, needs, supply chain and how evolved those components are. We tend to rely on gut feel and stories with little to no effective challenge.
Read 19 tweets
Simon Wardley Profile picture
May 9
dX: How do you deal with strategy?
Me: First, we need to answer the Where question, which depends a lot on the what and why.
dX: And?
Me: Ok, some very simple steps ...
Step 1: Visualise your environment. That means getting people to discuss, collaborate & challenge in order to create a "good enough" map of your environment. Should be a couple of hours.
Step 2: Look at what's changing which is competitor moves, your moves & economic patterns.
Step 3: Using the map, determine where you could invest/focus on. You're not making a decision yet, you just want the options. By now, you could have spent four hours on the exercise.
Step 4: Decide where you should invest i.e. look at the options using why & what
Read 8 tweets
Simon Wardley Profile picture
May 5
Those born in the 1890s experienced electrification, telephone, radio, television, nuclear age, penicillin, two world wars, commercial flight, computer age and a moon landing. By the 60s we had AI, VR and 3D printing.

Today, we have the internet / www and have improved stuff.
Is it me, or is human progress slowing down? Great breakthroughs, moments of change, and radical transformations seem like a thing of the past. What we call "revolutions" in industry today seems mostly a marketing slogan.
If you think back to 1957 and the Mark I Perceptron machine that was built at Cornell, then consider the changes in the previous 60 years ... you can't help but think they would be bitterly disappointed with how slow we have progressed in the following 60 years.
Read 17 tweets

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