Link: http://www.etc-architect.com/?p=40
From ETC-Architect » Architect Global | Data Architect, Global | Enterprise Architect, Global
At present we are told that that we will need to build more postmodern ERP systems consisting of a small core any many discrete services, an environment where we outsource as many discrete functions to specialised providers, but still retain all the data for data analysis. When you look at this many will instantly think of a message hub in a SOA as the answer. The problem with this is that this will instantly get to complex and that the gains and flexibility that enterprises want to gain from moving away from are not realised as we just create a large monolithic message hub instead of a large monolithic ERP system. So the answer are may smaller integrations. However since we do not want to get back to point where we had no control of all the interfacing and want to be able to control the data that we always need for both OLTP as well as for OLAP we need to have a robust data architecture in place to govern this flow.
Now many will say that instead you should focus it on the process layer, however this approach is often non workable as in a post modern enterprise there will often be no clear business owners as many parts of the process are given to companies that are expected to change them according to market conditions. We already experience this with many SaaS solutions where changes take place every quarter for all clients. At present this is manageable in a service orientated architecture as most services are still running on systems controlled in the enterprise. Once we lose that tight control the only way to still keep control is to change from a service orientated to a data orientated architecture as data objects are by nature very stable. You will see this in most large systems, such as in ERP the software is changing, the processes are changing, the integration is changing, the technology is changing, but the underlying data model hardly never changes. So the key message here is if we are going for more rapid change, a more heterogenous environment and the expectation of faster delivery we need to focus more on the layer with the least changes. This is why, IF we change into aa postmodern enterprise architecture we need to have data integration architects.
