{"id":9425,"date":"2021-08-11T01:20:39","date_gmt":"2021-08-11T00:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ee.yelkdev.site\/?p=9425"},"modified":"2023-09-21T23:30:07","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T22:30:07","slug":"four-myths-of-digital-transformation-and-how-event-driven-architecture-can-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.equalexperts.com\/blog\/our-thinking\/four-myths-of-digital-transformation-and-how-event-driven-architecture-can-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Four myths of digital transformation. And how event-driven architecture can help"},"content":{"rendered":"

Picture the scenario. You\u2019re a large enterprise\u2014let\u2019s say a bank or a national retail chain\u2014working in a traditional waterfall environment with a monolithic architecture. And you know you need to change.<\/h2>\n

Why? Things are becoming untenable. You\u2019re getting left behind.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re frequently delayed by large-scale, heavy releases. You\u2019re hampered by slow feedback cycles, with teams tied up in manual reviews and sluggish approvals processes.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re reactive in the market, unable to rapidly develop new features, functions, or initiatives to support the evolving demands of your customers. In short, you can\u2019t deliver quickly enough. For internal or external stakeholders.<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s where you are, it\u2019s obviously not where you want<\/em> to be.<\/p>\n

You want<\/em> small batches delivered more iteratively. You want<\/em> a higher frequency of deployments, faster cycle times, and continuous delivery. This way, you can delight customers by delivering more value in the moment<\/a> or new features far more rapidly than your competitors.<\/p>\n

You want<\/em> real-time feedback and metrics driven by automated workflows. You want<\/em> to react and respond to customer needs in real time, across complex systems like payment gateways.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there\u2019s a chasm between what you have and what you want. The bridge across that chasm is the process of digital transformation.<\/p>\n

While many organisations identify the need for a digital transformation project, it\u2019s often seen as a daunting proposition. Too complicated; too lengthy; too much work up front; too many unknowns; too much disruption for already-stretched development teams.<\/p>\n

In reality? These concerns are unfounded. Let\u2019s look at four myths of digital transformation.<\/p>\n

(For the purpose of this piece, we refer to digital transformation in the context of shifting from a monolith, supported by waterfall methodology, to an event-driven architecture<\/a> supported by an agile team. Of course, there are other strategies you can adopt for digital transformation depending on your organisation\u2019s unique requirements, but many of these same concepts and benefits still apply.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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Myth 1: \u201cEverything must be planned out and perfect, well ahead of time.\u201d<\/h2>\n

When you embark on a full digital transformation, it\u2019s tempting to scope everything out prior to delivery: architecture, technologies, team structures, development approach and more.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a natural impulse, especially for teams and organisations that already work in a traditional model. You\u2019re culturally predisposed to consider solutions in a holistic end-to-end approach, in exhausting detail. You\u2019re used to the concept of: establish all requirements > build everything > test everything > deploy it all.<\/p>\n

If you want faster, more nimble and responsive ways of working\u2014and delivering value\u2014it\u2019s counterproductive to begin with a time-consuming and over-scrupulous architecture design process.<\/p>\n

Rather than plan everything in excruciating detail (which is unnecessarily complicated, time-consuming, and often liable to change over time anyway), you can determine the best approach iteratively. You can use emergent design practice to establish your architecture.<\/p>\n

With an event-driven architecture, you can evolve your overall architecture as you go. In fact, you should. Whether you choose to begin with a singular business process like an event-driven payment gateway<\/a>, or a unique user journey like processing an online payment, there\u2019s huge value in building your architecture step by step.<\/p>\n

Think big by starting small. By gradually atomizing organisational complexity into smaller, more manageable pieces\u2014using events and microservices\u2014you\u2019ll enjoy greater flexibility and control in the future.<\/p>\n

Speaking of flexibility\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Myth 2: \u201cThere\u2019s only one path to success.\u201d<\/h2>\n

While you gradually establish your architecture through emergent design practice, you also have multiple options in how you manage the transition from \u2018old world\u2019 to your new environment.<\/p>\n

If you intend to embrace an event-driven architecture, supported by an agile delivery approach, you have some options:<\/p>\n