the lie of the benevolent dictator - randy bias, ceo, cloudscaling - openstacksv 2014
DESCRIPTION
Address by Randy Bias, CEO, CloudScaling at OpenStack Silicon Valley (OpenStackSV), 9-16-14TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 2014openstacksv.com
The Lie of The Benevolent Dictator
The Truth of a Democratic Meritocracy
Randy Bias, CEO
Do we need a benevolent dictator?
SEPTEMBER 2014
OpenStack *has* a leadership, or at least governance/ management structure
SEPTEMBER 2014
Board
Foundation
TC
Developer Community
PTLs Ind.Plat. Gold Ind.
ED
Rel Mgr Ind. Corp.
Subcommittees• legal• finance• DefCore• etc.
User Committee• nascent• user survey
RM
Strategic Business Direction Tactical Software Dev Life Cycle
SEPTEMBER 2014
volunteer
elected
appointed
hired
But is it the right kind of leadership?
SEPTEMBER 2014
and product strategy?
NO!SEPTEMBER 2014
Does OpenStack have a vision
The Gap
Board TC
Strategic Business Direction Tactical Software Dev Life Cycle
Strategic Product Vision &
Direction?No one owns!!
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“product strategy” for open source project(s) ?
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Product strategy and vision will not “emerge” from a group
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SEPTEMBER 2014
We are a democratic meritocracy
We are not the Linux community
We don’t need a dictator, but we do need product leadership
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Some Product Leadership Requirements
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not a complete list, OK?
• OpenStack is NOT a Product, BUT … It Must Be Managed Like One
• Long term vision + long term prioritization & planning
• Corporate independence
• Work for the community: developers, operators, and end-users
• Focus on end-user needs and requirements
• Working with the user committee, obviously…
• Ability to work closely with the Board and the TC
• Priority setting, vision, etc.
• Architectural oversight and leadership
SEPTEMBER 2014
Some Product Leadership Requirements
What does AWS do?
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• Small architecture review board• Werner Vogels, James Hamilton, etc.
• Product management function• Team of product managers per product
line
SEPTEMBER 2014
What does Amazon do for product leadership?
What *might* we do?
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• Arch Review Board (ARB)• Elected for 2-4 years
• Small # of seats
• Wide set of domain expertise
• Remit is:
• work with TC on BP/Specs
• help PMs validate priority
SEPTEMBER 2014
What could we do? (Just a SUGGESTION)
• Product Management (PM)• Not elected
• 1+ per program
• Specific domain expertise
• Work for the Foundation
• Annual 360° feedback
• Remit is:
• priority setting & negotiation
Foundation
Board TC
Developer Community
PTLs Ind.Plat. Gold Ind.
ED
Rel Mgr
Ind. Corp.
Subcommittees• legal• finance• DefCore• etc.
User Committee• nascent• user survey
Strategic Business Direction Tactical Software Dev Life Cycle
ARB• Shared
chair?• Elected PTL
seat?• Independen
ts• Long term
Architects
Prod. Mgrs
SEPTEMBER 2014
volunteer
elected
appointed
hired
Product leadership the issue; NOT dictatorship
Product leadership cannot be emergent
Many paths forward; *all* require creating ownership
Collective responsibility to fix this
Failure to fix may result in insurmountable challenges
SEPTEMBER 2014
Thank you
@randybias
SEPTEMBER 2014