Sascha Schärich

[00:00:00.905] Hi, I'm Sascha Schärich, Lead DevOps Evangelist for Deutsche Telekom IT, the internal IT service provider for Deutsche Telekom.

[00:00:08.585] And here are five and a half things I wish we would have known before we started our transformation in 2018.

[00:00:14.905] Number one, it will take longer than you think. We started out in 2018, and even after six years, it still sometimes feels like we have a long way to go. One of our initial goals for this transformation, reducing our time to market, has been achieved. We really have brought that number down, and we now have teams that are really very agile and fast, but we still also have teams where we will need more time. They still have a way to go, and along this way, setbacks will pop up from time to time. That's fine. It's all part of the journey. Just be patient and see those setbacks as training opportunities. We are striving for an adaptable organization, and this has to be tested again and again. So the road is the goal.

[00:01:00.745] But of course, you need the right mindset. Number two, it's more about mindset and culture than technology. Make sure you have psychological safety and be prepared to invest in establishing trust first. People will be afraid and won't change, especially if you're dealing with a German work culture. So take extra effort to tell them why this transformation is in fact good for them and for the company.

[00:01:25.925] We set out focusing on the technological part of building pipelines and using the right DevOps tools, and quickly learned that we need to focus on explaining the right mindset, which takes time to change, especially for a company like ours.

[00:01:38.885] Because number three, German work culture is very different and will make things harder, but sometimes more rewarding. We are part of Deutsche Telekom, so we of course have a strong German work culture, and Germans are not that good with change. We have many employees that have been with us for 20, 30 years. So we have a lot of legacy mindset to deal with, which makes transformation harder.

[00:02:04.225] So if you have Germans in your company, pay extra attention to them. They may need some additional effort, but they can also be the voice you need to listen to. They may have the questions you have to find answers to for a successful transformation. And the good thing, if you have those answers, when you finally convince those minds to jump over their own shadow, that's a lot of fun and can be a good source for motivation. It does take some effort, of course.

[00:02:32.005] So here's number four. You will need different help on different levels. During the last six years, we have established teams on different levels to advise and help our transformation, from the system teams on an individual level to the DevOps Expert Council for our leadership team and the overall organization, all to ensure that every level hears about the DevOps topics relevant for them and gets the advice and food for thought they need.

[00:02:56.705] So think about setting up dedicated teams. Define the target audiences for those teams and make sure you have your whole organization covered to bring ideas and learnings into your company.

[00:03:07.985] The good thing is these ideas are all already being talked about and shared. So number five, you're not alone. There is a great community out there. I am so happy to be part of this Enterprise Tech Leadership community. There are so many great stories and learnings out there. We can benefit from so many smart people giving the right hints or ideas, and I wish we would have leaned into this community much stronger from the start.

[00:03:31.785] So if you're rather new here, listen to the great talks and stories to extract what is right for your company and reach out to the speakers. I'm sure they will give you even more insights and it will help you get really good ideas on how to push your transformation. And if you are already learning great things, well, pass them on. Pass on your learnings. They will probably be valuable to someone else.

[00:03:54.595] Okay, so I said five and a half. What's the half point? Well, I love talking about DevOps, being a tech leader, and so on, but there are apparently side effects. It really drains the color out of your beard. Sure, maybe it is just age, but who knows.

[00:04:12.575] So that's it. Thank you. And if you have any questions or want to know more, reach out to me here on Slack or on LinkedIn and tell me about the side effects you have noticed.

[00:04:20.255] Thank you very much. Thanks for listening. Have a great day. See you soon. Bye-bye.