Mike Nash’s Post

Organizations across industries especially within aerospace are adopting Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) to design complex cyber-physical systems. Check out our latest #blog on how General Dynamics Information Technology has leveraged MBSE with AWS to drive operational efficiencies. Thanks to Mike Nash and Ricardo Palhano for the collaboration to make this #blog possible!

In yesterday’s post about client reorgs I’ve done to unblock engineering orgs, both Chris Barba and John DesJardins, in the comments, highlighted the importance of removing dependencies and friction. When working on organization structures, it’s important to Shift Left. 💡If you want to build security (i.e. quality) into your product instead of trying to inspect it in after (never works), you need to Shift Left. 💡If you want to have your organization follow Team Topologies principles, you need to Shift Left. 💡If you want to score well on the DORA metrics, you need to Shift Left. 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀. Easy and Safe means: - We do not give other people permissions so they can do our job for us - We still retain responsibility and accountability for that function - Other people do not need to be experts on our job functions - Other teams become our customers (product mindset) When you request an EC2 instance on AWS:  - You do not need to know in which rack the server is located, or which data center.   - You do not need to know who manufactured the power strips, switches, or routers.   - You do not need to know what patch level the hypervisor is running. It’s easy (API call) and safe (a "wrong" parameter won't break things) to get an EC2 instance. That’s the foundation for quality, Team Topologies, DORA metrics, and reducing dependencies and friction. How do you make it easy and safe?

Observability is key to optimizing IT environments. Learn how it empowers teams to resolve incidents faster and boost performance in our latest blog. https://bit.ly/4jf9Evq

In the ever-evolving landscape of defense technology, Reliability, Maintainability, and Availability (RMA) are critical pillars for mission success. The Department of Defense (DoD) relies heavily on these factors to ensure their systems and equipment perform optimally, minimizing downtime and maximizing effectiveness. As we look towards the future, it’s imperative that we address the challenges in these areas with innovative solutions and collaborative efforts between industry and government. Top 5 Challenges Facing the DoD: 1. Aging Infrastructure: Many defense systems are built on outdated technology, leading to increased maintenance needs and reduced reliability. Solution: Invest in modernizing legacy systems with state-of-the-art components and predictive maintenance technologies. Industry can play a role by developing modular solutions that ease upgrades and extend the lifecycle of existing systems. 2. Supply Chain Vulnerabilities: Disruptions in the supply chain can impact the availability of critical components and delay maintenance activities. Solution: Strengthen supply chain resilience by diversifying sources, leveraging advanced inventory management systems, and employing blockchain technology for greater transparency and traceability. 3. Data Overload: The sheer volume of data generated by defense systems can overwhelm existing analysis capabilities, making it challenging to predict failures or maintenance needs. Solution: Implement AI and machine learning algorithms to analyze data efficiently, predict potential issues before they occur, and optimize maintenance schedules. 4. Integration Challenges: Integrating new technologies with existing systems often leads to compatibility issues, impacting system performance and reliability. Solution: Develop and adhere to open standards and interoperability frameworks to ensure seamless integration. Collaborative testing environments between government and industry can help address these issues proactively. 5. Skilled Workforce Shortages: There is a growing gap in the skilled workforce needed to maintain and operate advanced defense systems. Solution: Invest in training and upskilling programs to build a workforce adept in the latest technologies. Encourage partnerships between defense contractors and educational institutions to create a pipeline of skilled professionals. Innovative Path Forward: Industry leaders and government agencies must work hand-in-hand to tackle these challenges head-on. By focusing on modernization, leveraging advanced technologies, and fostering strong partnerships, we can significantly enhance the RMA of defense systems. Let's drive innovation and collaboration to ensure our defense systems are reliable, maintainable, and available when we need them most. Together, we can build a more robust and resilient defense infrastructure for the future. Sure there is a lot of work ahead filled with obstacles and challenges but we can do it!

*̲*̲𝚃̲𝚑̲𝚎̲ ̲𝙸̲𝚖̲𝚙̲𝚘̲𝚛̲𝚝̲𝚊̲𝚗̲𝚌̲𝚎̲ ̲𝚘̲𝚏̲ ̲𝙵̲𝚊̲𝚞̲𝚕̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚃̲𝚘̲𝚕̲𝚎̲𝚛̲𝚊̲𝚗̲𝚌̲𝚎̲ ̲𝚒̲𝚗̲ ̲𝙳̲𝚒̲𝚜̲𝚝̲𝚛̲𝚒̲𝚋̲𝚞̲𝚝̲𝚎̲𝚍̲ ̲𝚂̲𝚢̲𝚜̲𝚝̲𝚎̲𝚖̲𝚜̲*̲*̲ 🛡️🔄🌐💡 Sansrithi, a tech lead at a logistics company, is awakened by a late-night alert: their order tracking system is down. A single service failure cascaded across the system, disrupting operations nationwide. Angry calls started coming in, and the team struggled to restore functionality. The root cause? A lack of fault tolerance in their distributed system design. 💡 How do you avoid this? Design with fault tolerance in mind. ⚙️ 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗼𝗳𝗳: Implement retry mechanisms with exponential backoff for transient failures. 🚦 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀: Prevent cascading failures by isolating problematic components. 🔄 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Use data and service replication to ensure high availability. 📊 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀: Continuously monitor the health of services and route traffic to healthy instances. 🔗 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Allow non-critical features to fail without impacting core functionalities. 💬 Fault tolerance ensures that your systems can withstand and recover from unexpected disruptions. 💡 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴? 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸! 🔔 Follow me for more software architecture tips. 💾 Save for later if this resonates with you. 🔗 Share with your network to highlight the value of fault tolerance in distributed systems. #FaultTolerance #Resilience #DistributedSystems #SoftwareArchitecture #CodeFarmArchitectureTips

Learn more on why Expedient chose Elastic and how they were able to transform operational efficiency for its clients with Elastic Observability: https://gag.gl/iQdbq8

Learn more on why Expedient chose Elastic and how they were able to transform operational efficiency for its clients with Elastic Observability: https://gag.gl/iQdbq8

Learn more on why Expedient chose Elastic and how they were able to transform operational efficiency for its clients with Elastic Observability: https://gag.gl/iQdbq8