For an EA Leadership is Key

I thought it was good to read about the qualities that an EA must posses from a little different perspective than what we read about in class. Of course most of the necessities are the same, but in this writing, the importance of an EA being a leader is stressed a little more.

http://chriseaton.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/309/

Security Architecture

Very interesting piece on security architecture from Gunnar Peterson.

http://arctecgroup.net/pdf/ArctecSecurityArchitectureBlueprint.pdf

IT jobs: Winners and losers in the cloud era

http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=2AE61312-1A64-6A71-CE0802AA07DFAFED

Interesting article that lists some of the winners and losers in terms of IT occupation with the rise of cloud computing. Among those listed, enterprise architect was ranked as the biggest winner. Enterprise architects are considered to have more important roles in the cloud era because 'within a cloud infrastructure, the relationships among applications, networks, and servers are far more complex than traditional infrastructures because there are so many additional connections.'

First rule of IT governance: To cut costs, align business and IT

http://searchmanufacturingerp.techtarget.com/news/2240038795/First-rule-of-IT-governance-To-cut-costs-align-business-and-IT

This beginning paragraph of this article points out that only about 25% of CFOs say their IT department adequately addresses changing business priorities, while less than a quarter say IT can provide the technology innovation their companies need. One of the reasons is that IT departments still focus too much on technology, while business managers see IT as a means to an end.

In order to bridge the gap, the article points out that the IT governance has to be put in place. By having a role as a cost saving tool especially in these economic times, IT governance puts emphasis on business value first and foremost and brings and business and IT departments together in this aspect. Additionally, IT governance can maintain strict controls over funding process to keep priorities in track and identify IT cost-cutting opportunities.

Different "Schools of thought" an Enterprise Architect could come from..

Nick Malik says that there are a handful of "Schools of thought" that emerge after looking at various discussions from different people. They speak common terminology, but they could be talking about different things.
1) Alignment architects : focused on interpreting strategy, making it actionable, and using it to scope and define business change initiatives.
2) Application architects : focused on implementing "Enterprise applications"
3) Information architects : managing information assets at enterprise level
4) Process architects : improving business processes
5) Strategy architects : helping business leaders create new strategies

Each of these folks are needed at different times to solve different problems and if we understand this we can spend much more time agreeing with one another.

Link: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nickmalik/archive/2011/07/01/ea-schools-of-thought.aspx

Measuring Enterprise Architecture

Nick Malik talks about measuring Enterprise Architecture. He talks about different metrics we should be collecting to measure Enterprise Architecture initiatives. He says that having a score card for our initiatives will give us a sense of where we are and if everything is going according to the plan.
These are the four general areas he suggests collecting metrics for:
1) EA environment and Activities  - "Proof of Life" metrics
2) EA compliance and adoption    - "Proof of Effect" metrics
3) Spending and Savings     - "Cost cutting" metrics
4) Revenue and Profit     - "Value stream" metrics

Link: http://blogs.msdn.com//b/nickmalik/archive/2009/03/06/how-do-you-measure-enterprise-architecture.aspx

How to Initiate an Enterprise Architecture Effort in an Austere Environment | Architecture and Governance – Strategic IT Planning and Enterprise Architecture

How to Initiate an Enterprise Architecture Effort in an Austere Environment | Architecture and Governance – Strategic IT Planning and Enterprise Architecture

This articles is quite the summary of what we have studied in the course. It talks about EA best practices and pitfalls. Overall a good structured document for taking a stab at enterprise architecture.

- Avinash

Interviewing for an EA position? Make sure you have these qualities

Nick Malik is an enterprise architect at Microsoft Corporation and in this blog post he talks about what qualities he would look for when interviewing an Enterprise architect.
1) Visual thinking - Communicating with pictures rather than words
2) Excellent written communication skills
3) Firm grasp of Process engineering
4) Firm foundation in current software architecture like SOA, MDA, EDA and OOD
5) Firm understanding of SDLC models
6) Reasonable experience in Network as well as security architecture.
However he also writes " One company's ideal candidate is a poor fit for another"

Link: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nickmalik/archive/2006/09/09/ea-interviews.aspx

Interview with Steve Nunn from the Open Group

Loraine Lawson from IT Business edge magazine interviews interviews Steve Nunn, who was the vice president and COO for the Open Group, a consortium which offers IT architect certification. In this interview they discuss about what the term Enterprise architect means and why it is the EA's mission and not CIO's to create IT/Business alignment.Steve Nunn believes that in the future, Enterprise architect will not report to a CIO and most probably will report to the business entities.He backs this up by saying that when schools are looking at where EA curriculum might fit in, they are looking in the Business schools rather than COmputer science or traditional IT departments.He also talks about different certifications and how they match people certified with them with prospective employers.
Link: http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/community/features/interviews/blog/what-is-an-enterprise-architect-part-one/?cs=22623&page=1

Why Moving to the Cloud Should Start with EA | Interviews | ITBusinessEdge.com

Why Moving to the Cloud Should Start with EA | Interviews | ITBusinessEdge.com

This is a nice discussion that focuses on the importance of understanding and studying the enterprise architecture before moving to cloud. I believe this build on to the notion that before moving on to a new venture one must get the existing things in order. This transcripts also aspires to convince us that right now is a better time that ever to take a deep dive into enterprise architecture

- Avinash

Split enterprise architecture into five or more specialities: proposal | ZDNet

Split enterprise architecture into five or more specialities: proposal | ZDNet

This article talks about the underlying complexities in understanding and implementing enterprise architecture. We have studied in class the different views and models by which we can reduce the complexity involved in enterprse architecture. This article proposes a formal split in different EA focus areas and job descriptions. Interesting read...

- Avinash

The Top 15 Technology Trends EA's Should Watch For

This article from a business oriented publication is about the top technology trends Enterprise Architects need to be on the look out for over the next two to three years. They fall into categories such as “Empowered” technologies, process-centric data and intelligence, agile and fit-to-purpose applications, and smart technology management.

These lists are used to help Enterprise Architects create and maintain an up to date technology watch list for their enterprise.

Here's the full article:

http://bx.businessweek.com/enterprise-architecture/view?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FaN9YCQ

Why Nobody is Doing Enterprise Architecture

Honestly I was first attracted by this bold statement of " Nobody is Doing Enterprise Architecture". A key point in the article is the statement, “Enterprises aren’t architected at all. They are grown.” The author Bloomberg goes on to describe that architects don’t shape enterprises, but establish a framework for growth. His/Her reasoning is very interesting: "Where does enterprise architecture take place today? In enterprises, of course. That is, existing enterprises. And you don’t architect things that already exist. Architecture comes before you build something!". It's good to hear some different voices on EA, and reading all 42 comments is just an enjoyment.

http://www.zapthink.com/2011/04/05/why-nobody-is-doing-enterprise-architecture/

What is Global Enterprise Architecture?

This articles takes Enterprise Architecture to the global level. With the continuing globalization efforts, mergers and acquisitions are occurring at an increased rate. As the outsourcing activities boom, security and compliance issues become much more complex. When going across national borders technology is the least of one problems, but one must deal with massive transformations of currency, numerical systems and languages. Global EA is merely a way to qualify the scope of a particular EA organization. I have found that the functions stay the same, but the mix and the depth of activities change.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mikewalker/archive/2008/07/11/what-is-global-enterprise-architecture.aspx

Video Podcast: How Microsoft Does Enterprise Architecture

Just found a video clip talking about the enterprise architecture in Microsoft. We've seen examples in manufacture sector(Dow Chemical), transportation sector (Delta Airlines), etc. but have rarely touched on titanic IT corporations like Microsoft. It's interesting to see how business and IT are aligned in MS whose business itself is in IT. This video only gives introductory (vague) descriptions of the EA organization in MS, like the fact that their Enterprise Architects report to CTO who reports to CIO. For more detailed information, there's link at the very end of the video that links to a blog maintained by a MS EA Nick Malik.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nickmalik/archive/2011/06/23/video-podcast-how-microsoft-does-enterprise-architecture.aspx

Business Architecture: The Missing Link between Business Strategy and Enterprise Architecture

This white paper from SOA Consortium introduces a concept called Business Architecture. BA is defined as "the formal representation and active management of business design". To be specific, business architecture is a formalized collection of
practices, information and tools for business professionals to assess and implement business design, and
business change. Typically, the business architecture practices and artifacts in enterprise architecture frameworks focus on
business processes and business uses cases. By identifying BA as a component in EA and promoting BA (which is underdeveloped now), companies may achieve better business visibility and agility.

http://www.soa-consortium.org/EA2010_Business_Architecture.pdf

Requisite System View to Enterprise Architecture

This article talks about an alternative five-scale classification of system views that is important to Enterprise Architectures in the author's opinion. These five views, namely static system view, reactive system view, responsive system view, proactive system view and evolving system view, are defined based on the leverage of changes they can support in business. These views are also properly mapped to Infrastructure, Information Systems, Business Processes, Product/Service Portfolio and Business Model, respectively. Further discussions can also be found in his following articles: System Views Revisited: Systemic-Structural Underpinnings, and Requisite Cognitive Logics in Enterprise Architecture.

http://www.ebizq.net/blogs/agile_enterprise/2011/03/requisite-system-view-to-enterprise-architecture.php

ArchiMate: Adding Value to TOGAF

http://www.architectureandgovernance.com/content/archimate-adding-value-togaf

This article introduces a modeling language named ArchiMate, which is used primarily for the creation of architecture models within TOGAF. ArchiMate offers an integrated architectural approach that describes and visualizes the different architecture domains and their underlying relationships and dependencies. The article gives illustrations of how different four distinct architectures within TOGAF (Business, Application, Data, and Technology) could be expressed in Archimate. Coming from a non IT background, I found the illustrations very easy to follow and understand for the most part. The key take away is that TOGAF and ArchiMate share their view on the use of viewpoints and the concept of an underlying common repository of architectural artifacts and models; i.e., they have a firm common foundation.

How Strategic Planning relates to Enterprise Architecture

http://www.architecting-the-enterprise.com/enterprise_architecture/articles/how_strategic_planning_relates_to_enterprise_architecture.php

As we learned in class, the TOGAF is more of a process, rather than a set framework (like Zachman) for establishing an EA in an organization. This article states that TOGAF often refers to Strategic Planning without specifying the details of what it consists of. The article provides a summary of what activities may be included in Strategic Planning as a process, some of which are: environmental analysis, strategy definition, and strategy implementation. The main takeaway from the article is that one of the key drivers to a successful EA implementation is a thorough analysis and understanding of an organization's strategy, which itself could be driven by various factors, such as: M&A, risk mitigation, cost reduction, to name a few. Overall, it gives an additional perspective to the TOGAF article that we covered earlier in the class.

e-Seva , A G2C project which changed lives of millions in a state in India

The government of AndhraPradesh, a state situated on the southeastern coast of India wanted to increase transparency of transactions to reduce corruption and improve efficiency. Before implementing this project, to pay an electricity / utility bill , a customer had to lose a day's work every month to wait in a never ending line of people to pay a bill of $5. The electricity is distributed by a public owned enterprise and it never had any incentives to improve the system. However a visionary chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu, pushed the IT wing to leverage IT to help people. Thus started a huge project which integrated Electricity / Utility / Property tax/ Phone payment/ Driver's license/ Passport services under a single portal and users were charged a very nominal fee of 10 cents for using this service. It was an ambitious project involving so many business units, but was successful due to a well designed Enterprise architecture. If you want to know more about this project, you can start here:
1) http://www.apdip.net/resources/case/in07/view
2) http://202.138.100.134/case-study/e-seva-enabling-bill-payment-without-queues
3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andhra_Pradesh

YouTube Architecture

I always wondered how certain High traffic websites like Facebook, Google etc. are able to balance the load of serving so many Page and content requests. I found a post on a Tech blog called High scalability where a user posted a comment on the architecture for Youtube.
Youtube's architecture supports >100 million video views per day.
Their platform is based on Apache, Python, Linux, MySQL and Lightppd - all open source technologies.
Their staff is made of 2 sys admins, 2 scalability architects, 2 feature developers, 2 network engineers and a DBA.
They started with a hosting providers first and now have their own data centers. Their main challenges are bandwidth and scalability.

You can read more at http://highscalability.com/youtube-architecture 

Curing the Federal EA Hangover

http://www.architectureandgovernance.com/content/curing-federal-ea-hangover

This article focuses on the 'EA hangover' - a lingering state of discomfort driven by the repercussions of past failure and looming future obligations, that exists in many organizations throughout the government. While federal policies and mandates have served as drivers in rise of importance of EA in government agencies, this has often been met with agencies failing to scale their teams, tools, and governance practices to keep pace.

The article points out 5 impediments to a successful EA foundation in government agencies while suggesting recommended mitigation for each. While each impediment and corresponding mitigation may seem self explanatory for the most part, I believe that they serve a good guidelines for agencies to always keep in mind to maximize agency-specific value from their EA programs. The article stresses a balanced approach, 'whereby EA teams continue to adequately meet compliance requirements while proactively addressing strategic agency initiatives.'

How to Initiate an Enterprise Architecture Effort in an Austere Environment

http://www.architectureandgovernance.com/content/how-initiate-enterprise-architecture-effort-austere-environment

This article focuses on enterprise architecture for federal government organizations, which has been mandated since the 1996 Clinger-Cohen Act. The article points out that sometimes the true intention of the mandates is often lost because EA products are often created to pass reviews, but there is no intent to use them as part of the decision-making process.

Some of the key takeaways from the article are: 1. Recommended key startup activities for a successful EA effort, how to realize immediate value-add while overarching vision is being set, and how to perform architecture analysis without a formal architecture tool in place. The article stresses one shouldn't always focus on the final end product of the EA and that immediate values can be realized in short term. In addition, an architecture tool should not be the primary focus or a limiting factor at the start of an EA effort.

Enterprise Architecture: Are 'Specialties' the Answer? | Blogs | ITBusinessEdge.com

Enterprise Architecture: Are 'Specialties' the Answer? | Blogs | ITBusinessEdge.com

This article talks about the different architect positions/notions in an organization. The author talks about the fact that how the IT fraternity is in love with the word "Architect" and positions like Solution Architect, Process Architect, Strategy Architect and so on are picking up really fast. The articles then goes on to suggest that this field needs a better classification and must be split in specialized fields.

Avinash

The Timeless Art of Enterprise Transformation

While researching this topic over the summer, I ran across a blog run by Bhavish Kumar, who is CO-Chair of SAVARA [A state of the art Enterprise Distributed computing and SOA framework and community project] as well as currently serving as director with Computer Sciences Corporation. He offers very easy to understand points across the entire subject matter - definitely worth having a look.

http://enterprise-transformation.blogspot.com/

Building An Enterprise Software Company That Doesn’t Suck

Building An Enterprise Software Company That Doesn’t Suck

This is a great article by Aaron Levie, the CEO of Box.net. This article talks about the age old topic of Enterprise Software implementation and adoptions. This is such a great topic involving multiple theories of economics, politics, business and human psychology. Also, there are some really interesting facts presented around Enterprise Software. A good sales to delivery perspective is presented and the topic is supported by good Dilbert humor.

Enjoy!

Avinash

Why CIOs Fail at Increasing Awareness Through Enterprise Architecture

This is the third article of a nice series of discussions about enterprise architecture. It gives explanations of why enterprise architecture still lacks enough attention in practice, despite of all the good things we hear about EA in the class. The analysis also shows how fear and politics come to play a part in CIOs' decision in real life. According to the first article, most companies are still struggling in the first level of a three-stage IT maturity: getting technology to work at all.One of the reasons that prevents enterprises from advancing to the next level is 'the difficulty of convincing others to join the party'. In addition, CIOs face 'the fear of performing an analysis' because the negative outcomes about inefficiency, waste and unreasonable practices will eventually take political hits on them.

Here's a list of articles in that series:

[1]: http://blogs.forbes.com/ciocentral/2011/06/07/how-enterprise-architecture-raises-its-game/

[2]: http://blogs.forbes.com/ciocentral/2011/06/20/enterprise-architecture-moving-from-chaos-to-business-value/

[3]: http://blogs.forbes.com/ciocentral/2011/06/23/why-cios-fail-at-increasing-awareness-through-enterprise-architecture/

Wanted: Enterprise architects for data center consolidation

This article is about the EA role in data center consolidation but what stands out more than anything is how Raghav Vajjhala, chief enterprise architect with the Treasury Department, highlights the need for Enterprise Architecture to contribute value to the enterprise. Specifically, Vajjhala points out that Architects need to contribute to the discussion by focusing on how things will change and by working with the CFO to determine the total costs.

Having discussed this more than once in class, I thought it would be interesting to focus attention on a real case.

http://gcn.com/Articles/2011/05/13/Architects-needed-for-data-center-consolidation.aspx?Page=1

Freeborders Introduces Light Enterprise Architecture Framework (LEAF)

Hi,

IT consulting firm Freeborders launched a new EA framework on june 22. They call it LEAF- Light Enterprise Architecture Framework. I believe Freeborders has interesting value proposition that aspires to establish a light framework.

In my opinion, the key difference between this framework and other 4 frameworks (3 + gartner) is that this is more of a off-the-shelf architecture solution. The framework defines processes, tools and guidelines for implementation as well. With this, it is reasonable to assume that this solution would work well for small to medium enterprises with average complexities. For large enterprises, this appears to be slightly inadequate. In those cases probably a conventional architectural approach would be recommended.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/6/prweb8592444.htm

http://www.freeborders.com/wp-content/uploads/FB-Datasheet-LEAF.pdf

Thanks,

Avinash

USDA Enterprise Architecture (EA)

I found this link about the EA of my employer (USDA) to be very interesting. It definitely contains all of the fundamental make up of what we've disscused in our course about the FEA, but it appears that we've also incorporated elements of TOGAF to include different sections for Business, Application, Data, and Technical Architecture as well.

http://www.ocio.usda.gov/e_arch/index.html