QCon - EBay, Amazon & Yahoo - 3 different architectures
I was lucky enough to attend QCon last week, having been to JAOO I had very high expectations and I wasn't disappointed.
During the conference Amazon, EBay and Yahoo all spoke about their architectures. Martin has already noted the lack of transactions and 2 phase commits, I guess I was not as surprised as some having worked on high throughput equity trading systems. My big take from these talks was slightly different, what struck me was the high degree of alignment they had with their different business models and the modifiability they'd achieved.
All too often architecture is an activity disconnected from the needs of the business, both the current and future needs. Many architects spend their time arguing why the current architecture meets all needs and how it doesn't need to change. This is the architect as policeman. You certainly could not accuse Amazon, EBay or Yahoo of that, each time they explained a technical choice it was always justified by their understanding of how their business works. They also all saw their architecture as something that changes as the business changes, this is the architect as enabler.
So if your architecture has become something that gets in the way of projects or that you spend time 'working around' then maybe it's time to question the alignment and ask if the architect knows how the business works? If architecture is not making your life easier then something just ain't right.
During the conference Amazon, EBay and Yahoo all spoke about their architectures. Martin has already noted the lack of transactions and 2 phase commits, I guess I was not as surprised as some having worked on high throughput equity trading systems. My big take from these talks was slightly different, what struck me was the high degree of alignment they had with their different business models and the modifiability they'd achieved.
All too often architecture is an activity disconnected from the needs of the business, both the current and future needs. Many architects spend their time arguing why the current architecture meets all needs and how it doesn't need to change. This is the architect as policeman. You certainly could not accuse Amazon, EBay or Yahoo of that, each time they explained a technical choice it was always justified by their understanding of how their business works. They also all saw their architecture as something that changes as the business changes, this is the architect as enabler.
So if your architecture has become something that gets in the way of projects or that you spend time 'working around' then maybe it's time to question the alignment and ask if the architect knows how the business works? If architecture is not making your life easier then something just ain't right.
1 Comments:
Excellent post. It is worth noting that Amazon is not only being able to respond to the business challenges, but has also managed to create additional revenue opportunities for the business through innovative business models (see http://tinyurl.com/yofycf).
This is the pinnacle of architecture, where you are no longer just providing support to business, but are enabling disruptive innovations
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