5 Priorities that will make us #TwiceAsFast

++ The smart way, not the hard way ++

The automotive industry is changing at a very fast pace. Beyond our core business, totally new products and services are being created. And our competitors are not only located in Munich or Ingolstadt, more and more often we also find them amongst the digital companies in the Silicon Valley or China. Keeping up or better setting the pace makes speed and innovation more important than ever.

At IT we are making a key contribution to shaping that future. An ambitious and, above all, truly exciting challenge that requires us to constantly develop not just ourselves, but also our technologies as well as the way we collaborate.

Therefore, we have defined 5 Joint Priorities: Free and Open Source Software, Cloud and DevOps, API Architecture, People in IT as well as Identity and Access Management. They will lead us to be #TwiceAsFast. So for us there is no question of working longer hours or twice as hard, but of evolving our IT based on the five Joint Priorities.

At the beginning of this year, we set these five Joint Priorities. I already mentioned three of them in my very first LinkedIn-Post in January. Now, as 2018 winds down, I am proud to tell that we made a lot of progress on our quest to become #TwiceAsFast.

1. Shortening innovation cycles with “Free and Open Source Software” (FOSS)

Hardly any current software works without FOSS. As Daimler we are also making use of widespread FOSS products and components. But we not just want to consume Open Source, we also want to contribute to and create Open Source.

During 2018 we have paved the way for launching our own FOSS projects and for sharing our contribution e.g. new features or fixed bugs. Furthermore, as Daimler we are member of several important FOSS organizations. This way we set the course for publishing software together with FOSS organizations. We are convinced that creating and sharing FOSS will attract developers and further companies within the respective OS community.

Besides that, we are well underway to establish companywide Inner Source which means using the methods established in successful FOSS projects for internal software development as well.

2. Speeding up software releases with Cloud and DevOps

Close collaboration is also key when it comes to DevOps. In terms of methodology, software developers and infrastructure engineers take joint responsibility for an application within the framework of DevOps. Thereby, continuous delivery and the automation of every step are key elements for early and continuous software releases. In terms of technology, Cloud is the basis. The availability and configuration of development environments can be significantly optimized using Cloud. This allows us to concentrate on the essentials instead of waiting for infrastructure or planning storage capacities.

Workshops and trainings, complete automation of the development steps from source code to deployment in the form of a development tool chain, IT infrastructure in one click as well as fully automated self-services are just some of the measures that help us to anchor Cloud and DevOps within our entire IT team.

3. APIs to make multiple use of software components and develop them in parallel

Being able to react quickly and shorten innovation cycles is also the idea when we talk about Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). We make use of APIs to integrate already available software components into diverse programs on a "self-service" basis. In addition to re-usability, another key advantage is that our teams can develop micro-services in parallel and link them up later.

Good API management requires a few key elements, such as: Making technical guidelines available or establishing an API management platform on which interfaces can be published, searched for and used. This is all being taken care of our Joint Priority API Architecture. We provide guidelines by which, from the outset, to design a product or application with API in mind, while also supporting the integration of an existing application into an API-based architecture.

4. Providing users with fast and secure access to our systems

To guarantee that users can access all our applications and systems as seamlessly, quickly and securely as possible we are optimizing Daimler's Identity and Access Management structure for employees, customers, suppliers and other users who need access to Daimler systems. Switching to a new technology shortens the time for IAM integration down to minutes.

5. Moving closer to code and technology

To make use of the Joint Priority toolkit and to become #TwiceAsFast, we simply need the best team. Therefore, "People in IT" is about further developing our core competence in IT and moving closer to technology. One of the main topics of “People in IT” is to invest in education, training and innovative qualification formats, in addition to developing new career paths.

Spreading the idea of #TwiceAsFast

By implementing our Joint Priorities, we laid the foundation to become #TwiceAsFast. Now it’s a matter of anchoring and using toolbox of our priorities within all our products, teams, systems and applications.

To enable regular exchange, we recently organized a #TwiceAsFast Talk. An opportunity for all our IT colleagues from all over the world to join virtually and to get in touch with the people behind each priority. Good questions and conversations, many thanks to everyone for contributing!

During our first #TwiceAsFast Talk we heard pitches about our priorities with a focus on products and services available for all colleagues within IT

From colleagues for colleagues: With our #TwiceAsFast Brown Bag Lunch, we have developed a format to discuss how to make best use of the #TwiceAsFast Toolkit.