Aggregated enterprise architecture wisdom
Brenda had a mobilising post, “Stop talking about Enterprise Architecture. Go solve a problem”. And here is my view where I beg to differ. Paraphrasing the proverb “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him…
What is enterprise-architecture? According to just about everything you’ll see at present, from books to so-called ‘standards’ to conferences to recruiters’ job-adverts, it’s kinda something to do with IT, sorta, ish… uh, kinda dunno, really, but it’s sort-of IT and…
There’s been a bit of a furore in the comments-sections of this weblog lately, with various people arguing back and forth about whether or not money can in some way buy influence on industry-’standards’ and purported ‘thought-leadership’. If money can be…
As I have done more reading and thinking about organizational context, I have come up with a fourth category to add to the three I have already defined: structural, cultural, and personal. The new category is management context. While structural context describes the context that has been designed into the organization through the organizational design, […]
Thanksgiving is truly one of the best holidays. Food, football, family. As I have young kids I find myself getting back to the basics of actually giving thanks. When I ask my kids what they are thankful for, I get all kinds of funny responses. When I ask myself what I am thankful for, I get more functional responses in my brain: I am thankful for working with talented people. […]
Each year, Anne Mullaney, sets a challenge to the Cutter consultants: to look into their crystal balls for the annual Cutter Predictions campaign! This year I’m predicting more stealth enterprise architecture! I’d like to say that I invented this phrase – but I’ve found at least two previous uses – one in a comment by Peter…
In this blog I will elaborate on how to scope an ERP implementation initiative on a high level. In my first blog regarding ERP implementation I presented an effective approach for ERP implementation. This encompassed a description of five steps from w…
Many years ago, as a newly minted lead architect, I had a memorable initial 1×1 with our organization’s CIO. After reviewing my hand drawn (pencil on paper) application and information landscape, and hearing the CIO’s vision for common front-ends across retail, catalog and (burgeoning) web channel, we discussed the state of the union, and the inevitable gap from here to there.
After I listed ten or so gap items, I looked to the CIO for verification and prioritization. Instead, the CIO said, “I don’t care what you do, just do something.”
I admit. I was taken aback by the CIO’s response. Afterwards, I sat in my cube wondering why the organization created this new (enterprise architecture predecessor) position, if the big boss didn’t care what I worked on.
Then though, thankfully, I interpreted the CIO’s message differently, correctly. The CIO didn’t care which of the litany of items I picked, because tackling any item would move us closer to the ultimate, customer-centric vision.
This is the perspective I draw from as I advise architects and enterprise architecture groups who struggle in starting, or revitalizing an architecture practice. To get traction, don’t get tangled up in a framework or methodology, go solve a problem.
The problem doesn’t even need to reside in the (traditional) enterprise architecture domain. Nor does the solution have to be perfect, or in classic form. Just move your organization closer to there, from here. Repeat as required.
While this problem-solving, action-oriented approach can slow-down the generation of traditional artifacts and processes, it does accelerate value generation, and really, isn’t that the point.
Need to grow your architecture practice and credibility? Go solve a problem.
I have to wonder if these CIOs are leery of backlash days (all in for alignment) when thinking tech-first, so don’t dare cite tech disruption over market factors:
“…now two years in a row, CEOs rank technology factors as the most important external force shaping the future of their enterprises. That’s ahead of market factors, macro-economic factors, people skills, regulatory concerns, and so on. And it’s up from being the 6th most significant concern to them back in 2004.”
“…What’s interesting in IBM’s report is that CEOs rank such threats and opportunities from technology higher than CIOs and CMOs”
Source: chiefmartec.com referring to recent IBM study: Customer Activated Enterprise
via Diigo
“The Single Canonical Form is a straight-jacket on the enterprise, it’s a dumb idea based on an unachievable idea. It’s time for IT to grown up and work differently.”
Source: Business SOA
via Diigo
Look at the featured slide — from McKinsey red assessment of healthcare.gov — and the deck at the end of the article. Ignore the waterfall/agile confusion. Slide 5 speaks volumes.
You can’t correctly code an ill defined, ever-shifting problem.
Link: NPR all Tech Considered
via Diigo
If you’ve worked with me in the past few years, you know I advocate bringing product management thinking and practices to enterprise/business software projects, particularly those trying new tech, methods, outcomes and such. The things that Nils classifies as interesting:
“There is a fundamental disconnect between estimates and interesting things. Interesting things are unpredictable.”
…”I prefer timeboxes, and for interesting things, we get done what we get done in the timebox. The art of product management is figuring out what to do in the timebox.”
Source: Wait I know this one
via Diigo