Mirror, Mirror On The Wall…
Even in the age of rapid digitization, application modernization still boils down to people.
Modernizing applications start with transforming you infrastructure and identifying business-driven software architecture, but this change also impacts the teams working the application, the processes they follow and the culture they work within. Process modernization allows technology teams to confidently continue to build, test and deploy the product roadmap in a fast, efficient and at gold-standard quality.
There are multiple perspectives and terms to choose from when transforming your delivery team culture including continuous integration, delivery, SCRUM, Agile/DevOps, test driven programming, extreme coding, lean, fail fast, design thinking-led product development, amongst others, and while there is no dearth of dialogue on which is the right processes and cultures a team should have, the ‘right’ mix of processes to inculcate will change from team to team. And even then, success is not guaranteed, as the success is also highly dependent on the leaders at the front lines of these teams and the decisions they take to adopt the right processes and enable the right culture.
Application modernization is a continuous process, not an end outcome. And due to this reason, ensuring process to be able to continuously replicate the same speed and quality of your software delivery is critical. While we change, alter and introduce new ways of working within our teams, there is also a need for us to look in the mirror to change the way we lead as all best modernization strategy can fail without buy in from all its stakeholder and a positive culture to support.
As leaders, we need to, firstly, be prepared for change and resistance. With new processes, we are asking our teams to question their definition of work and adapt to new ideologies. This will take time, but can be fueled by relevant training, support and a patient approach towards cultural transformation. This new culture will challenge accountability, which is in the past could have been identified to one individual, now will be now be the responsibility of a team. It ensures the delivery quality is not dependent on any one/few individuals, but is an outcome of strong process to be replicated in the future with multiple teams. This can also impact outcome based remuneration structures, rewards and gamification of outcomes delivered; policies will need to be altered to align to agile principles.
The most important aspect to remember is to account for a learning curve in your application modernization plan. Changing behaviors, adapting to new ways of interacting, and new structures of accountability will take time, and here patience is important. There will be chaos, failures and discomfort, before an ideal environment and culture is achieved. So while deep understanding of technology, right selection of tools & frameworks, and strategic planning is integral for a successful application modernization programme, ensuring people alignment will always be the toughest and the biggest criterion to your success. Technology may continue to believe it is king, but your own mirror will always tell you that your people are the most important of them all.