The art of architecture #8

Each cell in the great framework is like a piece of the enterprise puzzle. Scrutinized by it self each piece is a mystery to the understanding of the whole. Put together with other pieces it becomes a picture of the whole enterprise or an understanding a picture of a particular part of the enterprise. Thus to create an understanding of more than just a single piece of the enterprise, several pieces has to be investigated

The art of architecture #7

Three little things to remember…

1. Practice the use of the six companions: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.
2. Be sure to make use of them in the different perspectives of us all.
3. Don’t forget to ask your self the questions, regarding the work at hand.

Zachman did a great job on clarifying 1 and 2.

The art of architecture #5

Number five is about practicing EA and making it a part of your organizations operations as well as part of it’s strategic tool set. Here are the questions I sought to answer: how can we ensure EA’s success in the organization and how can we mine the knowledge and innovative force of the corporate body as well as the corporate tail.

EA as a massively collaborative effort

If we set up a view of EA as a massively collaborative effort, then we have at least three different approaches to choose from. They are the orbital, cantor set and project centric, all of these approaches can of course be combined and intertwined to create something more fitting for your organization. A variant on the above approaches would be to use a Wiki as the repository for knowledge, then anyone in the organization could work on the EA.

The Orbital approach

If we want teams that move in and work with a core cadre then we can choose the Orbital approach. In this approach we would launch a center of real excellence (CORE) to act as the engine of the effort. In this CORE we would bring diverse teams together to create new knowledge. The members of the CORE rotate out of their regular work and in to the CORE, where they remain for three days up to three weeks. During this period they work on learning about and improving the EA. They form cross organizational teams around topics of knowledge and interest, working on issues such as strategic alignment of IT and innovative use of our capabilities to create new offerings.

Through the steady influx of new participants, this will diffuse our approach to EA throughout the whole organization.

The Cantor Set

If we have the time and money to educate a large cadre of people then the cantor set is an approach to be used. The principle behind this approach is that we educate at least three people on EA and our strategy. Those three educate the next layer, and they in turn educate the next layer. The original three remain as support for all other in the organization. We can expect the amount of information processed and knowledge of the EA practice to diminish as the Cantor Set becomes more and more like a dust cloud. This is to be expected and it is an effect we want. There is absolutely no need for people at the extremes of the organization to know all about the way we do EA. There is however a need for people to know that we do do EA and what that EA means for them.

The project centric approach

If you don’t have a budget for EA or you have a small budget but you have the buy in from a senior sponsor. Then a project centric approach would be the way to go. In this you start by establishing a baseline architecture. One way of creating a baseline architecture is to take inventory of the running projects, the established policies and architectures. Using this baseline to communicate with and thus educating the projects on the EA, you will receive buy in from many parts of the organization. Continuing to refine the baseline EA through the mining of projects you’ll build up enough traction to show the true value of EA as an instrument for strategy and operations.

Did I get an answer to my questions? Well at least one can see that using any of the three methods suggested we establish a broad sense of EA in the organization and we mine the body as well as the tail. None of the methods are explained in any detail but hopefully it’s enough to get started.

There is obviously other ways of establishing EA within an organization that has not been covered by here. If you know of one I’d be happy to learn about it.

The art of architecture #4

In an interview on MIT Sloan Leadership Center featuring Mikael Kaiser, I found the core qualities, abilities and aptitudes of a great architect.

#1 Do good work

“The most important thing is to do good work. It’s as simple as that,” Kaiser insists.

#2 Focus on long range planning

“Long-range planning is critical to bringing troubled organizations back from the brink of disaster”

#3 Stay true to your core business and stand by the plan laid down

“He credits his successes not to wholesale firings, bringing in his own people or slashing costs and wages, but to concentrating on creating good art, increasing marketing, opening the door to the press, and staying “hyperfocused” on the organization’s plan. “

#4 Take the lead, but stay humble

“You will never see me doing an audience survey asking an audience what they want to see or hear. I don’t believe in that,” Kaiser says. “I believe my job is to lead the public and not to follow the public.”

The art of architecture #3

To be truly effective we have to go beyond the traditional EA mappings. We have to incorporate maps that show the social connections of people, organizations and software. Simply put, “what does the network look and act like in these dimensions”. By combining techniques for social network mappings with value network mappings we should be able to increase our understanding of the Enterprise.

Traditional EA dimensions for maps:
1.) Business
2.) Applications
3.) Information
4.) Technology

Additional EA social dimensions for maps:
1.) People
2.) Organizations
3.) Software

The art of architecture

This is just to announce the first in a collection of snippets that I’ll post. All of the snippets will be posted under the same title “The art of architecture #”, they will all be used in a book project about the art of architecture in the enterprise arena.

If you feel like contributing to this project please feel free to comment and or mail me directly with ideas, snippets, thoughts. If you have a company or organization that wish to participate in this I’ll be happy to discuss most matters in person or via any media channel.