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©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.  
Nic Benders - Chief Architect, New Relic
©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   1
Engineering & Autonomy

In the Age of Microservices
@nicbenders
©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.  
Safe Harbor
This document and the information herein (including any information that may be incorporated by reference) is provided for
informational purposes only and should not be construed as an offer, commitment, promise or obligation on behalf of New Relic, Inc.
(“New Relic”) to sell securities or deliver any product, material, code, functionality, or other feature. Any information provided hereby is
proprietary to New Relic and may not be replicated or disclosed without New Relic’s express written permission.
Such information may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Any statement that is not a
historical fact or refers to expectations, projections, future plans, objectives, estimates, goals, or other characterizations of future events
is a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements can often be identified as such because the context of the statement
will include words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects” or words of similar import.
Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof,
and are subject to change at any time without notice. Existing and prospective investors, customers and other third parties transacting
business with New Relic are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. The achievement or success of
the matters covered by such forward-looking statements are based on New Relic’s current assumptions, expectations, and beliefs and
are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and changes in circumstances that may cause the actual results,
performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement. Further
information on factors that could affect such forward-looking statements is included in the filings we make with the SEC from time to
time. Copies of these documents may be obtained by visiting New Relic’s Investor Relations website at ir.newrelic.com or the SEC’s
website at www.sec.gov.
New Relic assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. New
Relic makes no warranties, expressed or implied, in this document or otherwise, with respect to the information provided
2
©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.  
▪▪
©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   3
©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.  ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   4
©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   5
©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.  
Organizations which design systems ... 

are constrained to produce designs which
are copies of the communication structures 

of these organizations
— Mel Conway
6
Engineering and Autonomy in the Age of Microservices - Nic Benders, New Relic
©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.  
Organizations which design systems ... 

are constrained to produce designs which
are copies of the communication structures 

of these organizations
— Mel Conway
8
©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   9
Characteristics of a Microservice Architecture
(From https://martinfowler.com/articles/microservices.html)

• Componentization via Services

• Organized around Business Capabilities

• Products not Projects

• Smart endpoints and dumb pipes

• Decentralized Governance

• Decentralized Data Management

• Infrastructure Automation

• Design for failure

• Evolutionary Design
©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   10
Characteristics of a Microservice Organization


• Componentization via Teams

• Organized around Business Capabilities

• Products not Projects (Long-Term Ownership)

• Smart Teams and dumb (communication) pipes

• Decentralized Governance (Teams make decisions)

• Decentralized Data Management (Data skills everywhere)

• Infrastructure Automation (Self-Serve Infrastructure)

• Design for failure

• Evolutionary Design
©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   11
Durable, full-ownership teams, organized around business
capabilities, with the authority to choose their own tasks and 

the ability to complete those tasks independently.
Reduce central control, emphasizing information flow from

the center and decision making at the edge.
Eliminate dependencies between teams, through org

structure changes and tooling improvements.
Let’s have a re-org!
We’re engineers,

we solve problems,

let’s solve this one
We hire smart people,
let them be smart
Optimize for
agility
We’re data nerds
Engineers make

the decisions
Analysis
Design
Rollout
Break
dependencies
Break
dependencies
Engineering and Autonomy in the Age of Microservices - Nic Benders, New Relic
Engineering and Autonomy in the Age of Microservices - Nic Benders, New Relic
Engineering and Autonomy in the Age of Microservices - Nic Benders, New Relic
Engineering and Autonomy in the Age of Microservices - Nic Benders, New Relic
Make strong
teams
Full Ownership
Teams
T-Shaped Engineers
Invert control
Self-selection
Harder than

it looks
:-/
Managers really
didn’t like it
:-(
Engineers 

didn’t like it either
:-(
We almost 

backed down!
:-o
Mitigations
The Big Event
Self-selection reveals
opportunities
The power of 

self determination
Working agreements
“We work together
best when…”
Mob Programming
Continuous Deployment
Insights Team
Weekly Demos & Retros
It really worked!
You hired smart
engineers…
trust them
Better teams make
better products
Jim Shore
Engineering and Autonomy in the Age of Microservices - Nic Benders, New Relic
Thank you.
Nic Benders
@nicbenders

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Engineering and Autonomy in the Age of Microservices - Nic Benders, New Relic

  • 1. ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   Nic Benders - Chief Architect, New Relic ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   1 Engineering & Autonomy
 In the Age of Microservices @nicbenders
  • 2. ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   Safe Harbor This document and the information herein (including any information that may be incorporated by reference) is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an offer, commitment, promise or obligation on behalf of New Relic, Inc. (“New Relic”) to sell securities or deliver any product, material, code, functionality, or other feature. Any information provided hereby is proprietary to New Relic and may not be replicated or disclosed without New Relic’s express written permission. Such information may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Any statement that is not a historical fact or refers to expectations, projections, future plans, objectives, estimates, goals, or other characterizations of future events is a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements can often be identified as such because the context of the statement will include words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects” or words of similar import. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and are subject to change at any time without notice. Existing and prospective investors, customers and other third parties transacting business with New Relic are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements are based on New Relic’s current assumptions, expectations, and beliefs and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and changes in circumstances that may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement. Further information on factors that could affect such forward-looking statements is included in the filings we make with the SEC from time to time. Copies of these documents may be obtained by visiting New Relic’s Investor Relations website at ir.newrelic.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. New Relic assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. New Relic makes no warranties, expressed or implied, in this document or otherwise, with respect to the information provided 2
  • 3. ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   ▪▪ ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   3
  • 4. ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.  ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   4
  • 5. ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   5
  • 6. ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   Organizations which design systems ... 
 are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures 
 of these organizations — Mel Conway 6
  • 8. ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   Organizations which design systems ... 
 are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures 
 of these organizations — Mel Conway 8
  • 9. ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   9 Characteristics of a Microservice Architecture (From https://martinfowler.com/articles/microservices.html) • Componentization via Services • Organized around Business Capabilities • Products not Projects • Smart endpoints and dumb pipes • Decentralized Governance • Decentralized Data Management • Infrastructure Automation • Design for failure • Evolutionary Design
  • 10. ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   10 Characteristics of a Microservice Organization • Componentization via Teams • Organized around Business Capabilities • Products not Projects (Long-Term Ownership) • Smart Teams and dumb (communication) pipes • Decentralized Governance (Teams make decisions) • Decentralized Data Management (Data skills everywhere) • Infrastructure Automation (Self-Serve Infrastructure) • Design for failure • Evolutionary Design
  • 11. ©2008-16 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.   11 Durable, full-ownership teams, organized around business capabilities, with the authority to choose their own tasks and the ability to complete those tasks independently. Reduce central control, emphasizing information flow from the center and decision making at the edge. Eliminate dependencies between teams, through org structure changes and tooling improvements.
  • 12. Let’s have a re-org!
  • 13. We’re engineers,
 we solve problems,
 let’s solve this one
  • 14. We hire smart people, let them be smart
  • 31. We almost 
 backed down! :-o
  • 35. The power of 
 self determination