Architectural Simplification: A Practical Guide to Untangling Your IT Ecosystem
Last time we met we talked about Conway's Law and how your messy org chart creates messy architecture. Well, great. How do we go about fixing it? That's what we will attempt to tackled today.
To be clear this cannot be an overnight transformation that makes complexity disappear. It's about methodical simplification—incremental change I would always say during my time in IT. Untangling years of changes is no different.
Let's get into it.
The Complexity Audit: Know Your Enemy
First, you need to know what you're dealing with. I have talked with many IT admins and leaders over my time in consulting and working for the manufacturer. And most think they know their environment until they actually map it. Either that or they go on what they have always have. And this is what usually leads to the complexity.
Start with discovery, not decisions:
System inventory is painful but necessary: Beyond listing applications, document :
True business purpose (not what the vendor says)
Actual utilization metrics (not what people claim)
Integration points (both official and "creative" workarounds)
Redundancy with other tools (partial or complete)
Find the patterns: Look for the clustering of similar tools. Three monitoring platforms? Four backup solutions? That's not oversight—it's a symptom. Unless these tools offer a unique service over the other (believe me I am all about security in depth) it is likely you can combine tasks. And actually improve your outcomes.
Map the dependencies: What's truly standalone versus deeply interconnected? The standalone systems are often easier first targets. We have all worked places where that monolithic system drives the Line of Business. Changing it seems hard, but silos can actually slow down what drives outcomes. Juice is worth the squeeze.
Create your complexity heatmap: Rate each system on a simple 1-5 scale across:
Strategic importance- how core is this to your business?
Technical debt- how painful is maintenance?
Redundancy factor- how many other tools do the same thing?
Integration fragility- how often does it break other things?
I've seen this process uncover shocking realities: one client discovered were using several backup tools across their environment to protect different applications. Right tool for the job, or lack of awareness? Another found they had three separate identity management systems doing essentially the same job, but for different business units.
The goal isn't to complete the audit perfectly—it's to create enough visibility to start making decisions based on reality, not on beliefs based in assumptions.
Prioritization Framework: What to Fix First
With your complexity map in hand, you need to decide what's worth tackling. Everything can't be simplified at once, and some complexity might actually be justified.
Focus on answering these questions:
What's the risk/reward ratio?
Low effort, high impact: These are your obvious first targets
High effort, high impact: Strategic projects requiring serious planning
Low effort, low impact: Good for quick wins, but don't get distracted
High effort, low impact: Avoid these unless absolutely necessary
Which simplifications ripple outward? Some consolidations create a domino effect of further simplification. For example, standardizing on one hyperscaler might allow you to simplify monitoring, security, and governance tools downstream. Moving to a hybrid model instead of running redundancy across on and off premises can simplify management.
Where's the security dividend? Complexity is the enemy of good security. Rank simplifications by their security impact. Fewer moving parts = fewer things to secure = fewer vulnerabilities. Less human oversight means less chance for introducing risk
What's actually hurting most? Create a simple technical debt scorecard:
Maintenance hours per month - $
Incidents caused by integration failures -$$
Cost of specialized skills needed - $$$
Speed of feature delivery (delay caused by complexity) -$$$$
Don't overthink this. A rough ranking will do—the goal is informed action, not analysis paralysis.
One client used red/yellow/green stickies on a whiteboard rather than elaborate scoring. The result was the same: clear priorities that everyone could understand at a glance.
Execution Playbook: Making It Happen
This is where most simplification efforts die—in execution. Here's how to avoid that fate:
Create bounded initiatives Don't create vague goals like "simplify our stack." Instead, create specific, time-bound projects:
"Consolidate from three monitoring platforms to one by Q3"
"Migrate from hybrid backup to cloud-native backup by year-end"
"Eliminate our on-prem CI/CD pipeline by Q4"
"Reduce time spent tracking the RFE process"
Build the right cleanup crew Simplification projects need:
An executive sponsor with budget authority
Technical leads who understand dependencies
Business stakeholders who can validate requirements
A project manager who's ruthless about scope creep
Manage the resistance You'll hit resistance. Plan for it:
Tackle objections with data from your audit. Make it objective not an agenda.
Create transition plans for teams losing "their" tools. Develop buy-in
Document actual requirements vs. preferences.
The sunset protocol Retiring systems is an art form:
Document current functionality that's actually used
Create clear migration paths for users and data
Set a firm end-of-life date with staged warnings
Celebrate the retirement, don't hide it
Through a met an actual "system retirement party" to mark the official shutdown of legacy applications. Create psychological closure and recognized the effort involved.
Measuring Success: Beyond "It Feels Better"
Subjective improvement isn't enough. You need metrics that prove simplification is working.
Track these indicators:
Direct complexity metrics
Number of vendors/tools in each category
Integration points across the environment
Exceptions to standard architecture
Operational impact
Mean time to resolve incidents
Deployment frequency and reliability
Time spent on integration maintenance
Training time for new team members
Financial outcomes
Direct licensing/subscription costs
Support and professional services spend
Specialized skill requirements
Infrastructure efficiency
Leading indicators of complexity creep
Exception requests to architectural standards
Shadow IT detection rates
"Temporary" solutions older than 90 days
Create a simple dashboard—preferably automated—that provides visibility into these metrics. As an example: showing a reduction in your monitoring stack from seven tools to two and map that to an improvement in incident resolution time, coupled with any annual savings in licensing. Those are numbers that make executives pay attention.
Staying Simple Is Harder Than Getting Simple
The hardest part isn't simplifying once—it's preventing complexity from creeping back in.
Build these guardrails:
Architectural governance that works
Clear approval thresholds for new tools (not everything needs review)
Regular portfolio rationalization (quarterly is ideal)
Technical debt budgeting as part of annual planning
Cultural reinforcement
Reward simplification champions
Share simplification success stories
Include architectural impact in technical performance reviews
Competitive advantage messaging Help your leadership understand that architectural discipline is a strategic advantage. Teams that spend less time wrestling with complexity can deliver more business value.
Final Thought: Start Small, Win Big
You don't have to simplify everything at once. Remember, incremental change. Start with one category, one business unit, or one particularly painful integration point. Build momentum and show the wins.
The most important step is starting with intention rather than letting architecture "just happen." Conway's Law will always be working in the background—but now you're working with it, not against it.
Complexity may be inevitable, but chaos is optional. Choose simplicity.
What's your biggest IT simplification challenge? Share in the comments or reach out if you've got questions about where to start