2 Preparing for the journey

Before starting on a journey, it’s a good idea to think about some of the challenges you may face and ensure you are adequately prepared. I live in the United Kingdom, so whenever I go on a journey, I always make sure I am prepared for rain, even if the sun is shining brightly and the skies are clear blue when I leave the house. The same is true for an architecture modernization journey. If key stakeholders aren’t prepared to make difficult decisions and change how they think and work and the rest of the organization isn’t ready, you are destined for disappointment.

This chapter covers some of the fundamental challenges that organizations face on a modernization journey—challenges that usually require a change in mindset and challenges that cause difficulties or even the complete downfall of modernization initiatives if not addressed. These challenges touch on diverse areas like business, product, technology, culture, mindset, ways of working, and organizational change because modernization inherently involves all these topics.

2.1 Is leadership prepared?

2.1.1 Are business and product leaders truly ready to slow down the delivery of new features to allow modernization?

2.1.2 Do leaders understand that legacy systems and ways of working are complex and difficult to change?

2.1.3 How will leaders react when the unexpected occurs (which is inevitable) and there are major delays or increased costs?

2.1.4 Are leaders ready to change how they work? Can you imagine leadership supporting changes to funding models, work prioritization, and development processes and empowering teams to make more decisions?

2.1.5 Are leaders willing to invest sufficient time and funds into learning and training for all employees so that they can carry out modernization skillfully?

2.1.6 Will technologists be able to articulate to business leaders and other stakeholders the business and organizational benefits of their ideas?

2.2 Prepare to embrace a new architecture mindset

2.2.1 Prepare to embrace Conway’s law

2.2.2 Prepare to embrace collaborative architecture practices

2.4.3 Prepare to invest in quality technical practices