Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow

Mathew Skelton and Manuel Pais are both well known within the wonderful world of DevOps. With over 20 years experience each, they've combined their knowldge to put together this insightful book, all about the effectivness of software delivery.

LinuxRecruit decided to sit down with Matthew and understand more about what the book entails, who it's aimed at and what to expect from it. We've also managed to obtain a discount code for their follow up training sessions, with details at the bottom. 

Why did you decide to write your new book Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow?

We had seen so many organisations struggling with effective software delivery. Some of these tried to "adopt the Spotify model" with squads & guilds (etc.) but still had not found success. We realised that there were many dimensions missing from the thinking of these organisations: Conway's Law, team cognitive load, team-first software architecture, and the need to adapt and evolve team structures over time.

Who is the book aimed at?

The book is for anyone responsible for the effectiveness of software delivery: CIOs, CTOs, Head of X, managers, etc. but also software architects, systems architects, team leads, and others who are actively considering the design of software systems. The mirroring effect of Conway's Law means that team intercommunication and software architecture are very closely coupled!

What is 'Fast Flow' and why do companies generally struggle obtaining it?

Successful modern enterprises are optimizing for a rapid flow of business-relevant change. They are reworking their organisation design, their business processes, and their technical practices to make sure that the flow of change is not impeded by hand-offs and waiting on other teams. This in turn means the organization can respond to market and regulatory changes quickly, meeting user needs and increasing performance. 

What should the reader expect to learn from reading the book? 

The book explains why we need to think about things like  Conway's Law, team cognitive load, and team-first software architecture. We explore successful team types and - crucially - define three "team interaction modes" that help teams to work with other teams effectively. We also cover how to use your teams as a kind of organisational sensing mechanism to self-steer towards higher performance and better responsiveness. 

And where can I purchase the book?

You can pre-order the book from all major bookstores via https://teamtopologies.com/book - the publication date is 17 Sept 2019. 

Finally, I hear you're also running a training session based on the lessons learnt throughout the book. Please tell us more about this? 

Yes, the next training course is on 26 September 2019 in Leeds, UK. We have other training courses around the world over the coming months: see https://teamtopologies.com/events for details.

For our members Use code MEETUP20 for 20% off the ticket price here 

If you want to hear more from Matthew Skelton, you can find him regularly on the DevOps community circuit, and follow on Twitter at @matthewpskelton.