Aggregated enterprise architecture wisdom
Organizations today expect much more innovation from their employees than they did yesterday and will expect even more tomorrow. And not just technology innovation, but innovative products, services, processes, strategies, leadership styles, organizational designs, and more. This means that innovation isn’t just another function we can bolt on to our current role. It is a […]
Life as an architect is not always so easy, we are sometimes overwhelmed with things to do and the more things amass the worse it gets. My usual remedy for situations like that is that you just STOP what you are doing and go for a walk. As you walk let your mind drift and […]
What do enterprise-architects actually do? What unique contribution do they bring to the enterprise? What triggered this was one paragraph in Len Fehskens’ item on current and future enterprise-architecture, in the Open Group blog ‘2013 Open Group Predictions, Vol.1‘. Here’s the…
Beyond ICT: Embracing the Next Digital Revolution (via PR Newswire) SHENZHEN, China, Dec. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — The history of human social development is, to some extent, the history of human scientific and technological progress. Humanity achieves scientific and technological progress by pushing its physical and mental limits and breaking away from the restrictions…
Het bericht Beyond ICT: Embracing the Next Digital Revolution verscheen eerst op Rob Vens.
Below are the predictions and comments on what architecture all-up holds for all of us in 2013. It’s a good read from some very insightful architects at the Open Group. I haven’t added any commentary here, I may put together…
I had the pleasure over the holiday break to take the Elevating Enterprise Architecture course from Architecting the Enterprise. This was a truly refreshing course. I found many of the same themes I have talking about lately are reflected in…
As we wrap up 2012, we couldn’t help but look towards what is to come in 2013 for The Open Group and the industries we‘re a part of. Without further ado, here they are… Continue reading →
The basic vision: Enable individuals to realize their dreams. What design considerations would we need to think through to create a thriving culture and maintain a minimal viable management system The investors perspective: How do we create and sustain an investment when every individual is their own company? The architects perspective: How do we design […]
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Het bericht 10 Must Have Skills for IT Architects verscheen eerst op Rob Vens.
A dispute is currently raging between the UK Department for Education and the architecture profession. Famous architects such as Lord Rogers are demanding the right to design fancy schools, appealing to studies indicating that a well-designed environment can improve learning outcomes for schoolchildren. However, Michael Gove claims that school building costs can be reduced by 30% by reducing unnecessary space and eliminating “frills”. A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “There is no convincing evidence that spending enormous sums of money on school
buildings leads to increased attainment. An excellent curriculum, great
leadership and inspirational teaching are the keys to driving up
standards.”
I haven’t studied the detailed evidence myself, but I suspect the truth is somewhere between these two positions. The study identifies such factors as lighting, circulation, acoustics, individuality and colour. Politicians who spent their own childhood in stuffy or draughty classrooms with flickering flourescent lighting may imagine these factors to be character-building, but surely most people will think that children and teachers deserve a decent environment.
But surely a decent environment doesn’t need to cost an extra 40%. Is white paint so much cheaper than a nice colour? Does poor lighting and inefficient air conditioning really save money? Or does the 30% saving really come from cramming more pupils into less space?
And to what extent is Lord Rogers’s complaint really about these factors? Perhaps it is more about the architecture profession’s desire to create exciting and iconic buildings, with lots of curves. Can a curve be cost-justified in terms of educational attainment? Conversely, is the banning of curves merely a symbolic gesture on Gove’s part?
There are several problems with this kind of debate. Firstly, the people who have the greatest knowledge and expertise are seen as having a vested interest in expensive solutions. Secondly, other stakeholders sceptical that the expense can be justified (in terms of ROI) and tending to regard good architecture (whatever that means) as an expensive luxury. Thirdly, a tiny amount of genuine evidence gets stretched very thinly, through rival interpretations and extrapolations and opinions. And finally, the complex relationship between cost and benefit gets overlaid with politically motivated simplicities.
Well, that’s architecture for you.
The Chief Architect have an excellent opportunity to step up and take the reigns during 2013. To aid in focusing the effort of the Chief Architect there is The Wheel of Leadership and The Art of Enterprise Architecture to focus mind and body. Continuing to strengthen the support of the Chief Architect let me introduce The […]
At the start of this year of 2012 I decided that I was going to get off my arse and do things, work on the ideas that are always flying around my head and actually, not just work on them, but finish them as well!
(These are all non-day job related things, ill save all that stuff for another post)
I started off the year with the first version of ‘songs as a service’:
http://songsasaservice.wordpress.com
I then took my first stab at ebook publishing by writing a parody ‘business book’ called ‘How to be a dick’:
http://leanpub.com/howtobeadick
Then I wrote a 30 day diary recording me using Brian Eno’s ‘Oblique Strategies’:
http://leanpub.com/30daysonobliquestrategies
I then rounded off the year with a 2nd version of ‘songs as a service’:
http://www.songsasaservice.com
Some of these things were successful, some were not, but most importantly they were all fun experiences that I learnt a lot from. My hope for 2013 is to build on the confidence that working on these things have given me and do something even more challenging in the coming year.