Cloud Foundry

Chapter 5. Breaking Down Silos

“Blame the process, not the people.”

W. Edwards Deming

In Chapter 1, I made the argument that technology alone has never been enough. Companies need to fundamentally change the way they build and deploy software. This chapter explores the recommended changes and practical considerations that pave the way for the successful adoption of Cloud Foundry

Embracing Cloud Foundry

Organizations cannot simply drop Cloud Foundry into a data center and expect overnight success if nothing else changes. Process, cultural, and organizational change must accompany the technical changes. The extent of the change, for many established businesses, will require a shift in how they think about and approach development and IT operations.

One strategic benefit is that companies can actually use Cloud Foundry to drive and shape the required changes. Cloud Foundry can become a powerful and compelling point of leverage for drawing people into the cultural shift. Change for most people and most companies is still a significant undertaking, however much they are drawn to it.

I have observed two approaches to the enterprise adoption of Cloud Foundry:

1. Decentralized deployments

2. A shared centralized deployment

There are advantages and pitfalls to both approaches.

Decentralized Deployments

Decentralized deployments allow each individual business capability team to leverage its own dedicated platform.

One benefit of this approach is that individual teams can move at their ...