Enterprise Application Architecture
The Business Value of Architecture
If technology is going to enable a more successful business then the Enterprise Application Architecture must outline how that is going to happen. At the foundation of the application design is an Enterprise Data Model. An Enterprise Data Model is not technical nor is it complex for the Business to understand. It should be a reflection of the data that is required to support the business.
Building Systems to Last
To quote from the book “From Zen to Reality “
“Something has been fundamentally lost in the last decade in the information technology world. We are no longer developing information stores that address the present and future needs; we are merely generating information stores that meet the current needs. New products are being designed from a tactical point of view with built-in obsolescence. There is no long-term view, no strategy, without which it is impossible to develop data stores that are built to last. We need to raise the awareness of the single most ignored component of the original evolution in the IT world: architecture. Architecture—the method of design and planning things before they are constructed—is being overlooked or bypassed in the haste to develop and deliver the product. This short delivery time, dovetailed with built-in obsolescence, is leading the downfall of the principles of building things to last”.
The focus is on how fast “it” can be done without defining what “it” is. A plan is nothing without an architecture or strategy behind it. Would you hire 37 carpenters to build a house with no blueprints? You would probably end up with a house with ten bedrooms, three kitchens, and no bathrooms.
“Something has been fundamentally lost in the last decade in the information technology world. We are no longer developing information stores that address the present and future needs; we are merely generating information stores that meet the current needs. New products are being designed from a tactical point of view with built-in obsolescence. There is no long-term view, no strategy, without which it is impossible to develop data stores that are built to last. We need to raise the awareness of the single most ignored component of the original evolution in the IT world: architecture. Architecture—the method of design and planning things before they are constructed—is being overlooked or bypassed in the haste to develop and deliver the product. This short delivery time, dovetailed with built-in obsolescence, is leading the downfall of the principles of building things to last”.
The focus is on how fast “it” can be done without defining what “it” is. A plan is nothing without an architecture or strategy behind it. Would you hire 37 carpenters to build a house with no blueprints? You would probably end up with a house with ten bedrooms, three kitchens, and no bathrooms.
"Enterprise Architects"
Enterprise Architects should not be Techies with a primary focus on technology, but very experienced people with a broad Business and Technology vision, able to create Enterprise value by translating business opportunities and technology possibilities in a holistic way. The Information technology Industry has created many different job titles, but the job of creating business value needs to reside in people that have skills in the application of technology to enable the business to succeed in its marketplace.
In the world of Information Technology projects today the typical experience is... as the project scope increases so does complexity and cost. The final exam to attain a Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification will reinforce that belief. With the disciplines of Portfolio Management and Enterprise Application Architecture the exact opposite will be true. At the Enterprise level the cost and complexity will go down as the complete view of the Enterprise is understood and as each project starts to align with that Enterprise view. Enterprise Architects will reduce complexity.
The reason the cost and complexity go down is because we are doing less work and gaining more business value. As projects are developed at the departmental level at various time periods with various project teams, there is an ever accumulating duplication of applications, processes, and data. Remove the duplication, and the complexity and costs go down accordingly. (See "The Architecture of Everything".)
To actually reduce complexity we need to divide the work and the teams into smaller groups. One group remains in the Center as other groups are decentralized close to the business that lives at the departmental level. Critical to making this work is to determine: what functions need to be managed as a part of the Centralized Enterprise group and what functions are best managed within the smaller more diverse departments, Program areas, or branches within the organization? It doesn't have to be as complicated as the Technology Industry has made it out to be...
In the world of Information Technology projects today the typical experience is... as the project scope increases so does complexity and cost. The final exam to attain a Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification will reinforce that belief. With the disciplines of Portfolio Management and Enterprise Application Architecture the exact opposite will be true. At the Enterprise level the cost and complexity will go down as the complete view of the Enterprise is understood and as each project starts to align with that Enterprise view. Enterprise Architects will reduce complexity.
The reason the cost and complexity go down is because we are doing less work and gaining more business value. As projects are developed at the departmental level at various time periods with various project teams, there is an ever accumulating duplication of applications, processes, and data. Remove the duplication, and the complexity and costs go down accordingly. (See "The Architecture of Everything".)
To actually reduce complexity we need to divide the work and the teams into smaller groups. One group remains in the Center as other groups are decentralized close to the business that lives at the departmental level. Critical to making this work is to determine: what functions need to be managed as a part of the Centralized Enterprise group and what functions are best managed within the smaller more diverse departments, Program areas, or branches within the organization? It doesn't have to be as complicated as the Technology Industry has made it out to be...