Aggregated enterprise architecture wisdom
A long time ago, I did some work for a client that had an out-of-date and inflexible billing system. The software would send invoices and monthly statements to the customers, who were then expected to remit payment to clear the balance on their account…
A friend of mine shares an email thread from his organization discussing the definition of CUSTOMER, disagreeing as to which categories of stakeholder should be included and which should be excluded.Why is this important? Why does it matter how the CU…
I once did some data architecture and modelling for NHS Blood and Transplant. This is a UK-wide agency responsible for blood, organs and other body parts, managing transfers from donors to recipients.One of the interesting challenges for this kind of o…
Data sharing and collaboration between different specialist areas requires agreement and transparency about the structure and meaning of the data. This is one of the functions of metadata.I’ve been reading a paper (by Professor Paul Edwards and others)…
By Steve Nunn, President and CEO, The Open Group
Happy New Year everyone!
Firstly, I hope that you, your family, and friends, have been able to stay safe during these trying times. So many around the world have lost so much in this COVID-19 pandemic which clearly will be with us for some time yet. We must, however, be heartened by the unprecedented speed with which vaccines have been developed. The delivery and administration of these vaccines has only just begun, of course, but we have good reason to be optimistic about the coming months.
As an organization that is known for its world-class events and prides itself on bringing people together globally, this week The Open Group hosted its second virtual event following the success of the first ever #ogVIRTUAL in April.
It was fantastic to have over 2,100 attendees from 107 countries come together virtually to explore the topic of ‘Digital First’. Sessions and workshops were hosted by a plethora of industry experts and centered on the security, trust, and architectural issues which need to be considered when becoming a “Digital-First” organization.
In this time of the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated extreme economic disruption we’re all experiencing, the imperative to move rapidly toward digital products and business models is becoming both clear and increasingly urgent.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Open Group will host its upcoming virtual event (which was originally planned to take place face-to-face in Mumbai, India) on April 27 – 29, 2020. As an organization that prides itself on bringing people together globally, it is important to us that we continue to do so during these uncertain times. Everyone’s health and safety are the key priorities. The Open Group has planned for the virtual event to be conducive to time zones across the globe.
Like many of technology’s better creations, the IT4IT™ Reference Architecture standard was born out of necessity.
The IT landscape is continually shaped by innovation. Despite that being a cause for celebration for consumers and end-users, the introduction of these new technologies – such as the mainframe, the PC, client servers, the Internet, cloud computing, IoT, etc. – meant that the IT function had, effectively, lost track of what it needed to manage and control.
An open standard architecture-based approach to managing the business of IT was needed. This would have to be a holistic, end-to-end, service-based description of everything the IT function needs, and to be a good steward of all the IT components, solutions, and services within its remit. It was this issue that set in motion the train of events that brought us to where we are today. But there are no grounds for complacency. The work continues.
Even today the complexity and pervasiveness of, and the dependency on, IT systems continues to grow. In many cases, in many organizations today, the management solution is a loose collection of siloed processes. We are still not paying enough attention on how to remain in control. That is why the IT4IT standard is such an important instrument to manage IT, and why we have chosen to document how it came to be.
In this article, I’ll share guiding principles for a reference architecture for the Healthcare industry. The main beneficiaries of this reference architecture are patients, health professionals, and Healthcare organizations. Its main users are planners, managers, and Enterprise Architects. A second article will focus on key design ideas for such a reference architecture, followed by a third article to describe its essential capabilities.
The Open Group hosted its latest event at the Marriott Riverwalk in the lively city of San Antonio, Texas. On January 27 – 30, we welcomed attendees from across the globe – including decision-makers, Enterprise Architects, Data Scientists, engineers, technologists, and end-users representing many businesses and governments – to explore how organizations can utilize their growing volume of data effectively and securely as part of a digital transformation program.
By Steve Nunn, President and CEO, The Open Group
As we usher in the new decade, I would like to express my sincerest wishes for you – our valued Members, The Open Group global community, and staff – to enjoy much happiness and great success in 2020.
What a year it has been here at The Open Group! As I reflect on 2019 and consider what is to come in 2020, one thing is very clear – The Open Group is doing even more of what it does best – helping to solve real business problems through technology standards.