Western Union recognized the need to modernize its software delivery practices. The operations team took a grassroots approach, starting with deployment automation as a foundation. This allowed broader conversations with development partners. The team is building partnerships and driving innovative thinking to achieve a DevOps vision. While the journey is ongoing, automation has already reduced deployment time by 97% and steps by 85%. The team continues gaining momentum with internal stakeholders.

1. Case Study: Western Union Takes Grass Roots
Approach to Achieve DevOps Transformation
Charles Nelles
DevOps: Continuous Delivery
Western Union
Director of IT Operational Support
DO4T11S
@Cnelles
#CAWorld

2. 2 © 2015 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLD
Abstract
Western Union, a 160 year old company that, at times, can look more
like a dinosaur than a unicorn, recognized the need to modernize its
software delivery practices. The Western Union shared-service
Enterprise IT Operations team took a grass roots approach, starting
small and measurable. The team used deployment automation as a
foundational technology and as a lever to open the door for broader
conversations with its dev partners. This session details how Western
Union is building partnerships and driving outside-the-box thinking to
execute to a DevOps vision. Its journey is not complete, but you will
hear about the marked results thus far and how Western Union is
gaining momentum with internal partners.
Charles
Nelles
Western Union
Director of IT
Operational Support

3. 3 © 2015 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLD
Agenda
INTRODUCTION & OUTCOMES
BACKGROUND
PHASE VI RULES AND MINDS
PHASE I REALIZATION
PHASE II FIND A LEVER
PHASE III FIND A PARTNER
1
2
3
4
5
6
CLOSING7

4. Outcomes
HOPE ENERGY PERSPECTIVE TOOLS
Something to Take Home

5. CHARLES NELLES
My Backstory
Ops IT Infrastructure & Operations for 20+ Years
Process Guy
- 10+ Years ITIL ITSM Consulting
Highly Regulated
- HIPAA, HCFA, SOX, FDA, PCI
6 Years with Western Union
Shared Services Model
- Ops & ITSM

6. AVERAGE AGE 13 | COMBINED AGE 76
Deploys per millisecond! Developers on call!Extra Sensory Monitoring!
9 YRS 7 YRS10 YRS21 YRS 11 YRS18 YRS
Age of the Unicorn

7. 0
300000
600000
900000
1200000
Western Union: Dinosaur?
Focused on
Growth by AcquisitionMix of Old & New
Dev vs Ops Rift
Silo Thinking
FOUNDED IN 1865 | 164 YEARS OLD

8. Western Union: Return to Values
MODERN
LEADERSHIP TRANSFORMATION
Customer At The Center

9. Phase I: Realization
THINGS ARE NOT OPTIMAL
FIND YOUR CONSTRAINTS (I know Brent & Herbie)
REALITY CHECK (There was once a Stonecutter)
GET THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE

10. SUBOPTIMAL EXPECTATIONS
Three pushes to deploy an
application (taking 10 or more hours)
is NOT the best we can do!

11. Finding Your Constraints
But removing one bottleneck
will reveal others!
MEET BRENT & HERBIE
(YOUR BOTTLENECKS)

12. Reality Check
There once was a stone
cutter…
Moral: The stone cutter
can shape the immovable
rock—and so can you. SUNWIND
STONE
STONE
CUTTER
KING

13. Getting the Right Perspective

14. WHAT DO YOU CONTROL?
DATA OR GTHO!
Phase II: Find a Lever, Any Lever
“Do nothing that is of no use”2
“To rid yourself of old patterns, focus
all your energy not on struggling with
the old, but on building the new.”1
AUTOMATION

15. What Do You Control?
w
w
w
w
w
ww
w
w
w
w
w
DBA MonitoringNetwork
Deployments
Development
QA
DBA
Monitoring
Network QA
You
w
HELP!
Take Pity!
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w

16. COMPLEXITY TIME
Components
Component 1
Component 2
Component 3
Component 4
Component 5
Totals
Manual Steps Manual Time Automated Time
35 minutes
10 minutes
35 minutes
35 minutes
5 minutes
2 hours*
10 x 2 DC = 20
5 x 16 Instances = 80
4 x 16 Instances = 64
11 x 16 Instances = 176
4 x 4 Instances = 12
357 steps
7 minutes
2 minutes
4 minutes
2 minutes
3 minutes
18 minutes*
Reduction in Time
Reduction in Steps
97%
85%
Automated Steps
Data Is Currency!
11 steps
Release
Automation

17. Phase III:
Find a Partner,
Any Partner
INTERNAL
MATCH MAKING
VENDORS THAT
BRING VALUE

18. Finding the Right Internal Partners
WHO’S ALREADY
PAYING
ATTENTION?
WHO’S A GOOD
COLLABORATOR?
CHOOSE WISELY!
Safe to fail fast,
no finger pointing
NOT
THIS GUY
HELP THIS
GUY FIRST

19. Vendor Value
TRUST
WORKING TOWARD SAME GOAL
LEVERAGE ADVANTAGES
SCOPED TO YOUR NEEDS

20. Phase IV: Bend Rules and Minds
RESPECT YOUR FREEDOM
UNDERSTAND THE RULES AND PRINCIPLES
IMAGINE IF WE COULD…WHAT WOULD THAT LOOK LIKE?
CHALLENGE PEOPLE AS PARTNERS NOT ADVERSARIES

21. Find the Right Balance
PANDILERIUM WAY TOO MUCH STARCH!

22. WHAT IF?

23. Find the Right Approach
Always
Never
VP Approval
Cut Off
Mandatory
Forms
Passes
No Bias
Method
Ideals
Goals
Achieve
Collaboration
Philosophy
Yes, Bias
RULES PRINCIPLESvs

24. Challenge Your Teammates
AS TEAMMATES!
 Hey could we?
 Do you think?
 It doesn’t hurt to ask!
NOT ADVERSARIES!
 They won’t let us!
 They’ll never go for that!
 If you guys would just….

25. Be Like Water
“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour
water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a
bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a
teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash.
Become like water my friend.”
—Bruce Lee—

26. 26 © 2015 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLD
Q & A

27. 27 © 2015 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLD
Recommended Sessions
SESSION # TITLE DATE/TIME
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11/18/2015 at 2:00 pm
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Continuous Delivery
11/19/2015 at 12:15 pm
DO4T35T
Tech Talk: Integrate Infrastructure Configuration
Management with Release Automation for the Best of
Both Worlds
11/19/2015 at 2:00 pm

28. 28 © 2015 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLD
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29. 29 © 2015 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLD
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30. References
1. 2006 (Revised Edition Copyright 2000), Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives by Dan Millman,
Quote Page 105, H J Kramer, Inc., Tiburon, California, New World Library, Novato, California.
2. Circa 1645, The Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi

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© 2015 CA. All rights reserved. All trademarks referenced herein belong to their respective companies.
The content provided in this CA World 2015 presentation is intended for informational purposes only and does not form any type
of warranty. The information provided by a CA partner and/or CA customer has not been reviewed for accuracy by CA.
For Informational Purposes Only
Terms of this Presentation

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