S2 Ep. 20 Matthew Skelton – On the Convergence between Software and Organizations

Boundaryless Conversations Podcast

It’s undeniable that the role of software in any modern organisation is essential – untangling software from the organization is almost impossible today. With new solutions emerging as part of the low-code or no-code movement, what’s the best way to organise around software effectively? Why is it so important to remove hand-offs between teams and to ensure that self-directed teams can be enabled by platforms? What are the overlaps between the world of DevOps and the work we’re doing at Boundaryless around ecosystemic, and entrepreneurial organizations?

To better understand these questions, we bring on Matthew Skelton, co-author with Manuel Pais of ‘Team Topologies: organizing business and technology teams for fast flow’. It’s a seminal text that speaks about how to build the best team structure around the role that software has for your specific organisation.

Matthew is recognised by TechBeacon in 2018, 2019, and 2020 as one of the top 100 people to follow in DevOps. He curates the well-known DevOps team topologies patterns at devopstopologies.com. He is also Head of Consulting at Conflux and specialises in continuous delivery, operability, and organisation dynamics for modern software systems.

In this conversation, Matthew helps highlight the real impact of digital transformation on companies, and what it means for team coordination. Join us as we explore key insights from his and Manuel’s book ‘Team Topologies’, low-code development platforms, API-drivenness, observability, and the impact of market validation and software-centric ways of organizing.

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our Medium publication: https://platformdesigntoolkit.com/podcast-S2E20-Matthew-Skelton

To find out more about Matthew’s work:

> Website: https://teamtopologies.com/

> LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewskelton/

> Team Topologies Academy: https://academy.teamtopologies.com/

> Team Topologies Partner Program: https://teamtopologies.com/partner-program

Other references and mentions:

> Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais, Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow, 2019: https://www.amazon.com/Team-Topologies-Organizing-Business-Technology/dp/1942788819

> IT Revolution: https://itrevolution.com/

> Domain Driven Design Community: https://www.dddcommunity.org/

> Core Domain Charts: https://github.com/ddd-crew/core-domain-charts

> Conway’s Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_law

> “Building Extensible Platforms”, Shopify case study: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GqGNA8GnOOE&feature=youtu.be

Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at www.platformdesigntoolkit.com/podcast

Thanks for the ad-hoc music to Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: www.platformdesigntoolkit.com/music

Recorded on 7 June 2021.