architecture Archive

  • A comprehensive architecture that is made up of things like mission, vision, goals, objectives, requirements, roles, activities, capabilities, services, technical components and yes, physical components is a holistic thing. It is something we bake, not something served up in piecemeal ingredients. We don't eat flour and call it bread just because everyone around us happens to be an expert in flour.

    Architecture is Not: Infrastructure

    A comprehensive architecture that is made up of things like mission, vision, goals, objectives, requirements, roles, activities, capabilities, services, technical components and yes, physical components is a holistic thing. It is something we bake, not something served up in piecemeal ingredients. We don't eat flour and call it bread just because everyone around us happens to be an expert in flour.

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  • You can quote all the learning management, skills management, performance management and professional development plan statistics you want, but we all know that title misdirection thrives in large Fortune 500 companies. It's like a tapeworm in a Mexican restaurant: it is a target-rich environment. It isn't endemic to IT, but it seems to be especially pernicious in this critical field.

    You, Sir, Are No Architect

    You can quote all the learning management, skills management, performance management and professional development plan statistics you want, but we all know that title misdirection thrives in large Fortune 500 companies. It's like a tapeworm in a Mexican restaurant: it is a target-rich environment. It isn't endemic to IT, but it seems to be especially pernicious in this critical field.

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  • You might be wondering what social media has to do with enterprise architecture. Apart from my argument that EA must include social as a functional area as well as a technical layer (as it is indisputably part of the business of business), the two areas share a common culture of obfuscation and jazz hands.

    Social Media is Just Jazz Hands (and other heretical thoughts)

    You might be wondering what social media has to do with enterprise architecture. Apart from my argument that EA must include social as a functional area as well as a technical layer (as it is indisputably part of the business of business), the two areas share a common culture of obfuscation and jazz hands.

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  • Suggesting architecture in general, or enterprise architecture in particular, doesn't add value or is otherwise a fiscal black hole is akin to declaring that badly executed means discredits the ends. The objective of enhancing Business-IT alignment is a worthy one. Just because a bunch of charlatans over time have discredited one method of achieving that alignment doesn't mean we shouldn't bother.

    Bad Marksmanship

    Suggesting architecture in general, or enterprise architecture in particular, doesn't add value or is otherwise a fiscal black hole is akin to declaring that badly executed means discredits the ends. The objective of enhancing Business-IT alignment is a worthy one. Just because a bunch of charlatans over time have discredited one method of achieving that alignment doesn't mean we shouldn't bother.

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  • With a weak crop of developers and architects, I'm concerned we're growing a generation of bad IT managers, directors, VP's and CIO/CTOs. I'm afraid our next generation leadership will be more concerned with the acronyms after their names, with frameworks and methodologies, than with the actual work of IT. That is, with theory rather than delivery.

    Down in the Trough

    With a weak crop of developers and architects, I'm concerned we're growing a generation of bad IT managers, directors, VP's and CIO/CTOs. I'm afraid our next generation leadership will be more concerned with the acronyms after their names, with frameworks and methodologies, than with the actual work of IT. That is, with theory rather than delivery.

    Continue Reading...