4 ms·

I am intimately familiar with the software and IT organizations of multiple airlines. You are wrong, they have large distributed software development teams buil

I am intimately familiar with the software and IT organizations of multiple airlines. You are wrong, they have large distributed software development teams building very complex software to run every part of the airline’s operations. Some buy off the shelf, others buy components off the shelf and focus on custom where they feel it gives them an advantage, and others have built the whole thing themselves.

still_grokking 6y ago
So airlines were one of the first cloud users because they couldn't scale otherwise? And they're doing "serverless" these days as their IT operations are a good fit for this paradigm? Or could it be that they're small enough to get things managed with off the shelf software and/or something built and run in-house?
- eightysixfour 6y ago
  Airlines have been running their own data centers and fully understand the costs associated with managing their own infrastructure and many have decided to migrate to the cloud because they have decided it is worth outsourcing that function, it is not a key competency and they cannot keep up with the pace of innovation in the IaaS market. If they look at their IT as a complete system, the extra costs of the cloud are offset in a number of key areas, including increasing their ability to scale. You mention of the shelf software, what do you think the organizations that build the COTS stuff (like Sabre) in this industry look like? Where do you think it is run? They’re all moving to microservices and cloud hosting too, including serverless where they think it makes sense (and a lot of times when it doesn’t, just like everyone else). The smart ones (who understand Conway’s Law) are making these moves because they are enablers of smaller, more independent teams which we know are better at delivering software. The really smart ones know they’re paying the price in increased complexity the comes with a distributed system, but are willing to pay it because that cost is lower than the cost of the collaboration necessary to build a monolith of that size. Logistics companies are one of the most interesting intersections of software and the real world. Most organizations are making a mistake by focusing on scaling their software too early or unnecessarily. Airlines and logistics are not, they have business problems that their existing software cannot solve in areas the COTS options do not fit in their operations.

still_grokking 6y ago

So airlines were one of the first cloud users because they couldn't scale otherwise? And they're doing "serverless" these days as their IT operations are a good fit for this paradigm? Or could it be that they're small enough to get things managed with off the shelf software and/or something built and run in-house?

eightysixfour 6y ago
Airlines have been running their own data centers and fully understand the costs associated with managing their own infrastructure and many have decided to migrate to the cloud because they have decided it is worth outsourcing that function, it is not a key competency and they cannot keep up with the pace of innovation in the IaaS market. If they look at their IT as a complete system, the extra costs of the cloud are offset in a number of key areas, including increasing their ability to scale. You mention of the shelf software, what do you think the organizations that build the COTS stuff (like Sabre) in this industry look like? Where do you think it is run? They’re all moving to microservices and cloud hosting too, including serverless where they think it makes sense (and a lot of times when it doesn’t, just like everyone else). The smart ones (who understand Conway’s Law) are making these moves because they are enablers of smaller, more independent teams which we know are better at delivering software. The really smart ones know they’re paying the price in increased complexity the comes with a distributed system, but are willing to pay it because that cost is lower than the cost of the collaboration necessary to build a monolith of that size. Logistics companies are one of the most interesting intersections of software and the real world. Most organizations are making a mistake by focusing on scaling their software too early or unnecessarily. Airlines and logistics are not, they have business problems that their existing software cannot solve in areas the COTS options do not fit in their operations.