In any large organisation silos exist, protective of their domain and particular specialism. DevOps conversations often turn to how to break down those silos, to encourage multidisciplinary working and move from thinking about the requirements of the IT department or the security group to thinking about the needs of end users.

This talk, based on my experience working across the UK Government as an early member of the Government Digital Service, will discuss:

-How being able to speak the language of a specific discipline, be it information security or service management or software development, is the first step to breaking down barriers

-The importance of understanding stereotypes (including of yourself) when it comes to communicating across silos

-The problems caused when policy documentation becomes separated from the owner of that policy

-The usefulness of software as a shared interface to a shared problem

It’s often too easy when talking about silos to believe the answer is for one side to give in, for DevOps to succeed that you have to allow the IT group and the software group to fight until only one remains.

This talk will hopefully talk about a better way forward.