With continuous development, we write less code and consume more re-usable open source code. We are getting faster and more efficient. But this innovation also accelerates complexity and complexity is the enemy of quality. Poor quality creates unplanned/unscheduled work. Re-work creates a drag on development speed. It’s a continuous loop.

Couple this complexity with the fact that this past year was open season on open source. Heartbleed, Bash Bug, Shellshock… For many it took days, weeks, even months to determine if they were impacted, where they were impacted and then make the appropriate fixes. That’s a lot of unplanned work. And those are just the vulnerabilities that made the headlines.

With the emergence of containers there is a benefit of even more speed and efficiency, but at the cost of visibility at a time when we need it most.

The good news: other industries have figured this out with supply chain management. Applying supply chain approaches to software raises the bar on continuous goals.

A few of the patterns we can take from the rigor of things like the Toyota Supply Chain:

- Scrutinize the number and quality of your “suppliers”

- Manage out avoidable risk and complexity

- Improve traceability and visibility

- Ensure prompt agile responses when things go wrong

These two speakers will show that you can deliver applications on-time (even faster), on-budget (even more efficiently) and with a natural byproduct of higher quality and less risk by embracing supply chain principles as you embrace containerization with tools like Docker.