The complexity of modern IT systems can impact your application’s quality and security.

It’s that simple.

Business pressures have caused IT organizations to focus on creating new applications and adding new features and capabilities to existing applications to meet increasing competitive demands. The result is insufficient time to work on managing, operating, and maintaining existing applications and capabilities. Ignoring ongoing issues increases technical debt, which in turn increases the complexity of modern systems. Increased system complexity makes adding new features and capabilities harder, and the vicious circle continues.

Addressing the IT complexity dilemma is essential, but it is not easy. In this book, we begin by examining this dilemma and how it impacts you, your applications, and your organization. Then we talk about identifying and measuring complexity in your organization today. How can you measure complexity without introducing complex measurement systems? Since you can’t improve a system until you can measure it, this ability is critical to managing IT complexity.

Next, we examine solutions for reducing IT complexity and the cognitive load it induces. We discuss the role of adaptive architectures in modernizing applications, considering both how they can reduce complexity and the risk of increased complexity they may carry.

We then explore how knowledge management techniques can assist in reducing cognitive load and IT complexity, and how your strategy for investing in your infrastructure impacts complexity.

Finally, I provide some advice on how to begin conversations within your organization about the impact of IT complexity on your company, your products, and your applications.

The goal of this book is to give you the tools you need to understand how IT complexity can negatively impact your company and your applications, and how you can break the cycle to effectively manage its effect on your organization.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. What Is the Modern IT Complexity Dilemma?

Chapter 2. Auditing and Assessing Your IT Ecosystem

Chapter 3. Moving to an Adaptive Architecture

Chapter 4. Managing Knowledge

Chapter 5. Creating Your Technology Investment Framework

Chapter 6. Starting the Conversation

About the Author

Lee Atchison Cloud strategist, thought leader, industry expert Lee Atchison is a software architect, author, public speaker, and recognized thought leader on cloud computing and application modernization. His premier book, Architecting for Scale (O’Reilly Media), is an essential resource for technical teams looking to maintain high availability and manage risk in their cloud environments.

Lee has been widely quoted in multiple technology publications, including Cloud Native Now (formerly Container Journal), InfoWorld, Diginomica, IT Brief, Programmable Web, CIO Review, and DZone, and has been a featured speaker at events across the globe. Lee has more than three decades of industry experience, including seven years at Amazon and AWS, and eight years at observability software provider New Relic.

Lee is also the author of the operational framework STOSA, which helps companies modernize and scale their organizations in a modern world. To begin learning from Lee, see a full list of his books and available online courses. Also be sure to check out Lee’s Cloud Native Now column, where he writes regularly about cloud computing. He also has a regular blog and hosts the Modern Digital Business podcast. Lee provides consulting services for organizations that want to modernize and move their applications into the cloud. To book a consultation with Lee, schedule a call. Check out his website leeatchison.com, and see what else Lee has to offer at leehaslinks.com.