8 years, 5 days ago

Looking Back on Year 4

I write this post as part of a fond farewell to the University of Bristol as I have now concluded my very enjoyable 4 years as Enterprise Architect there and I have just moved on to the role of Senior Enterprise Architect at the University down the road – UWE! UWE are building quite a […]

8 years, 5 days ago

Looking Back on Year 4

This post is part of a fond farewell to the University of Bristol as I have now finished a very enjoyable 4 years as Enterprise Architect there and I have just moved on to the role of Senior Enterprise Architect at the University down the road – UWE! UWE are building quite a significant EA […]

9 years, 19 days ago

Enterprise Architecture Approach in an HE Institution: 10 Practical Steps

What’s particular about doing EA in a research-intensive HE Institution like the University of Bristol? For one thing the HE sector has some interesting dichotomies to grapple with such as the dual activities of a University like Bristol of both research and education. In a sense we are two businesses: the business of conducting research […]

9 years, 19 days ago

Enterprise Architecture Approach in an HE Institution: 10 Practical Steps

What’s particular about doing EA in a research-intensive HE Institution like the University of Bristol? For one thing the HE sector has some interesting dichotomies to grapple with such as the dual activities of a University like Bristol of both research and education. In a sense we are two businesses: the business of conducting research […]

9 years, 1 month ago

Aligning the Infrastructure Architecture with the Systems Application Architecture

Earlier this year we launched a new team within IT Services: the Technical Architecture Virtual Team. I lead this team, reporting via the Assistant Director of IT Services for Services Development (the team’s Sponsor) to the Senior Management Team. The team is made up of a small number of technical experts within the department, representing […]

9 years, 1 month ago

Aligning the Infrastructure Architecture with the Systems Application Architecture

Earlier this year we launched a new team within IT Services: the Technical Architecture Virtual Team. I lead this team, reporting via the Assistant Director of IT Services for Services Development (the team’s Sponsor) to the Senior Management Team. The team is made up of a small number of technical experts within the department, representing […]

9 years, 2 months ago

Spaghetti Grows in System Architectures – not an April Fools’ Day joke

A replay on breakfast TV this morning of the well known Panarama hoax (1st April 1957) reminded me of the mission we’re on at Bristol to “turn spaghetti into lasagne”. This mission is number 7 on the JISC 10 pointer list for improving organisational efficiency: spaghetti refers to the proliferation of point-to-point (tightly coupled) integrations […]

9 years, 2 months ago

Spaghetti Grows in System Architectures – not an April Fools’ Day joke

A replay on breakfast TV this morning of the well known Panarama hoax (1st April 1957) reminded me of the mission we’re on at Bristol to “turn spaghetti into lasagne”. This mission is number 7 on the JISC 10 pointer list for improving organisational efficiency: spaghetti refers to the proliferation of point-to-point (tightly coupled) integrations […]

9 years, 8 months ago

SOA Knowledge Exchange 2013 – a beacon of light or the blind leading the blind?

Some time ago, at a UCISA Enterprise Architecture event, I discussed whether we needed a workshop for Higher Education (HE) sector technical architects to get together and share knowledge of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). Whilst enthusiastic, colleagues expressed concern at the time that possibly the sector was too immature in this area for any individuals […]

9 years, 8 months ago

SOA Knowledge Exchange 2013 – a beacon of light or the blind leading the blind?

Some time ago, at a UCISA Enterprise Architecture event, I discussed whether we needed a workshop for Higher Education (HE) sector technical architects to get together and share knowledge of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). Whilst enthusiastic, colleagues expressed concern at the time that possibly the sector was too immature in this area for any individuals […]