Critical Enterprise Architecture netcast

Episode 84: The Enterprise Architecture life cycle – Part 3

cea — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:23:56 +0000

After the last short episode today I will talk about the participation in the business architecture and I will conclude this episode by explaining why it is important to think about the problem and not the solution.

Anyone knows a sponsor for this show? Could you please contact me at cay@accent.li. Thanks

Technical problems

cea — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:53:27 +0000

Some of you have written in to draw my notice on the fact that it is not possible to play an episode or to download it. This is due to the large number of downloads and will be rectified within the next 14 days.

Sorry for the inconvenience

Cay

Episode 83: The Enterprise Architecture life cycle – Part 2

cea — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:12:53 +0000

Today we will start with looking at the Enterprise Architecture strategy participation, I will also concentrate on how you get yourself involved in this area as many have asked about this.

Anyone knows a sponsor for this show? Could you please contact me at cay@accent.li. Thanks

Episode 82: The Enterprise Architecture life cycle – Part 1

cea — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:25:09 +0000

First of all I will come up with a series in formulating a different Enterprise Architecture life cycle than described in most standards.

In my personal view Enterprise Architecture needs to be a supplier and participant in the various activities within the business and IT instead of building their own universe.

It is quite normal in any IT organisation that each group sees itself as the centre of the universe or at least as the ones that are defining the starategy. The result is that there is often no strategy at all or a boilerplate copy of something someone else did in the past.

The point however is that a good IT starategy and good other practises are the work of many.

This why I will start to introduce a Enterprise Architecture life cycle that is not isolated but really consists of Interfacing with others, so maybe only good for people who can control their Ego.

I will structure this Enterprise Architecture life cycle into the following areas:

1. Enterprise Architecture strategy participation

This important so that you not first get to know of IT investments during or even after the yearly budget round, when it is already to late for strategic investments.

2. Participation in the business architecture

To ensure that it is done correctly and that it is complete (e.g. proper business benefit case, NFR’s collected, problem orientated rather than already coming up with the solution)

3. Interfacing into Data and application architecture

To ensure that we are picking the right solution

4. Helping Infrastructure architecture, service design and test architecture

To ensure that the application will actually happen. Security Architecture, Capacity Architecture, Release Management Architecture, Availability management Architecture and many more are all part of the service design

5. Participation into transition management

Transition management covers the business change, migration, training, service transition and last minute adjustments of design and architecture

6. Participation in reviewing the solution at project gates

This not the governance that other frameworks are talking about, but a sutler less invasive and less forceful way to help the enterprise to succeed.

7. Stakeholder management

This area is properly the most important aspect of survival.

In the next episodes of this series I will then dive down in each of the chapters.

Anyone knows a sponsor for this show? Could you please contact me at cay@accent.li. Thanks

Episode 81: Demise of Enterprise Architecture

cea — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:32:04 +0000

Have you lately looked at job adds? If so you will see that there is less demand for enterprise architects. Why could that be?

Well I will try to tell you some of the pitfalls of enterprise architecture and how they can be avoided, but it really boils down to the fact that we as enterprise architects have not succeeded in one of our main tasks and that is to reduce costs and improve time of delivery. Actually some studies show that building up enterprise architecture groups have dramatically heightened costs and made deliveries of projects 60 % longer on average.

So will discuss some problematic areas (there are many more) more in details such as:

Reuse, Skills of EA, Frameworks, Message hubs, ESB or however you want to call it.

Neatness or clean is not cheap.

Missing TCO

Effectiveness Standardisation

If you do not like rants I properly suggest that you skip this one.

Cay Hasselmann

Anyone knows a sponsor for this show? Could you please contact me at cay@accent.li. Thanks

Episode 80: NAC - A critical EA view

cea — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:46:17 +0000

NAC is certainly embedded in very many solution that we as enterprise architects work with I will give my view on the technology, the solution, requirements and run through some vendors from my very limited point of view.

Episode 79: The dream of the paper less office

cea — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:58:33 +0000

Since we all lived with the the dream of a paper less office printer solutions where often not in the forefront of thoughts as enterprise architects, however the reality shows us that we need to look at them (print are still growing) as they really are a mayor cost driver that will not just go away.

So I will give you my view on printers (commonly known as MFP multifunctional printers) and the software print solutions called SMFP

Episode 78: CRM- A critical EA view Part 3

cea — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:10:46 +0000

Today I will conclude this series by looking at the following CRM vendors:

Oracle (EBS)

Oracle (Siebel)

Pegasystems

RightNow

salesform.com

SAP

Sword Ciboodle

And finally I will conclude with my recomendation based on my views

Episode 77: CRM- A critical EA view Part 2

cea — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:46:40 +0000

Today I will lock at some of the CRM products from the following vendors (yes I am doing it alphabetically):

Amdocs

Astute Solutions

Chordiant

eglue

Helpstream

Neocase

Jacada

Microsoft Dynamics

Next episode I will then look at the rest with some of the big ones.

Episode 76: CRM- A critical EA view Part 1

cea — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:55:43 +0000

Today we start a 3 part series on CRM.

First I will discuss some fundamentals such as:

CRM’s are usually not used

CRM is not an island

CRM is usually more about fixing a business process not about a system

CRM data is more important than the system and the data is usually rubish

CRM’s halftime is short

CRM is politics

CRM is always anti security

Then I will talk about the challenges on CRMs or the new requirements.

As always this is just my own opinions and I am happy that you challenge me on this

Cay Hasselmann

Episode 75: Business Standard Architecture – Part 26

cea — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:22:50 +0000

Today we will talk about the evil empire of internal auditing and the first part of taxation

Internal Audit

Internal Control Assessment Auditing of Financial Controls, Operational and Statutory Controls Review of Corporate Governance Structure Periodic Assessments Internal Checks

Taxation

Transfer Pricing Reporting Tax Calculations and Analysis Tax Filings Tax Accounting

Episode 74: Business Standard Architecture – Part 25

cea — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:58:08 +0000

This episode it is all about reporting, but this time about the business level 1 process of

Financial overall reporting

Sales Reporting Cost Reporting Segment Reporting Competitor Analysis

Episode 73: Business Standard Architecture – Part 24

cea — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:54:46 +0000

Yes it is back to standard business architecture as I have not yet even reached halftime with the introduction into all the standard business architecture I have personally worked in.

So for the next few episodes we will now look at the level ) process of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)

So today we start with the first level 1 that we all suffered under and its level 2 processes

Budgeting/Forecasting

Preparation of Budgets Creation of Standard Models / Templates Trend Analysis Historical Data Analysis Budgeted vs Forecast Tracking the actual against the budget Assumptions validation

Episode 72: Logical EA Integration Part 5

cea — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 20:25:40 +0000

Today I will add an episode on integration because of the many interest that the last 4 episodes have created

First I will show you the 3 ESB topologies that are in use and give you the Pro & Con argument:

1. Central ESB topology Pro: Easy to implement and administer & all parts in one place Con: Requires all systems to be message enabled, no central unified message protocol, little reuse and does not support universal encapsulation 2. Hub and spoke ESB topology Pro: Can integrate with all legacy systems even some that require very low latency, supports central unified message protocol, will only adjust abnormalities on local level and supports universal encapsulation Con: Additional ESBs require added maintenance and higher implementation costs

3. Distributed ESB topology Pro: All parts of the ESB run on instances, thus the solution is very scalable, new components can be deployed rapidly and extreme flexible ESB life cycle development Con: Extrema high administration overhead & difficulties with work flow, BPEL and RBMS

In the part I will then look at some of the market participant as reported by by analysts as there are

WebSphere Message Broker WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus (and WebSphere Process Server) WebSphere DataPower Integration Appliance XI50 IONA Artix IONA Fuse JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform, which includes JBoss ESB MS BizTalk Mule Enterprise Oracle Service Bus (OSB) Sonic ESB webMethods ESB Platform Sun Enterprise Service Bus Suite TIBCO Rendevouz

Episode 71: Logical EA Testing

cea — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:03:37 +0000

This episode looks at what you as an enterprise architect need to be involved with in testing

Principles

consistent complete unambiguous quantitative verifiable

Feasibility

Controllable Observation able Isolated Separately Understandable Automate-able

General methodology

V-model Unit Test Code Integration test Design System Test Architecture Regression Test Existing operational model UAT Business Requirements NFR Test Business Requirements

Testing strategy chapters you will need to review and consult as an EA

Test plan Traceability matrix Test scope in terms of high level test case description Test script framework Test suite Test data Test execution Test reporting Test result analysis Test Closure

Episode 70: Logical EA 7 SAP architecture misconceptions

cea — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:30:33 +0000

The 7 cardinal SAP architecture Sins

If the performance lack increase work processes SAP will always perform Archiving data will solve all data problems SAP will take care of data architecture itself SAP will auto optimised any queries SAP is always OS agnostic Reports are managed by the business only

Episode 69: Logical EA SAP’s base architecture

cea — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:32:28 +0000

SAP ECC or R/3 base architecture

I will only discuss the basic principles of what SAP is calling their AS here that are common on all the releases and not go in the specifics

SAP is work process and not n-tier centric. The importance of the Dispatcher. I will also discuss the internal emphasis on RFC in its various forms. What is a central instance, ICM, what is a enqueue, how do Java and ABAP come into the frame and what is JCo Why is a real benefit in using the software balancing “Web Dispatcher” rather than a hardware balancer like for most other architectures

Episode 68: Logical EA Databases

cea — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:52:07 +0000

First I will discuss some questions how to choose a database as a EA

What do you want to use it for? What kind of model are you after? What is the development language(s) that you are using? What are the non functional requirements? What kind of robustness is required? On what device will the database need to run? Does your company have a strategic relationship with a vendor What is your budget for license and support (TCO)? Is there a restriction on the associated hardware and what is the infrastructure budget? Does your company want to further develop the product into their own IP and/or resell the solution {copyleft issue}? Does the DB require any added features (e.g. security, log shifting, SQL resource optimisation)?

Then I will discuss some DB that I have used myself to reflect the themes that we have just discussed.

ADABAS Adaptive Server Enterprise Advantage Database Server Apache Derby DB2 Informix Ingres LucidDB MaxDB Microsoft Access Microsoft Visual Foxpro Microsoft SQL Server MonetDB MySQL (+Infobright) Oracle PostgreSQL SQL Anywhere SQLBase SQLite 1010 data IMS file based (VSAM & ISAM)

Episode 67: Logical EA Development Languages Part 2

cea — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:59:53 +0000

Today I will continue discussing the following in regards to development languages

Frameworks Security Interface compatibility Scalability Ease of use, ease to learn License Object-oriented vs. procedural

During this list I will then also mention some of the languages that spring to mind and explain why most languages always stay in a niche.

Episode 66: Logical EA Development Languages Part 1

cea — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:03:08 +0000

There are certainly many of them and as enterprise architects we need to limit their use so what are the drivers to find the right one for your organisation:.

There are many programming paradigm that can be done by the same programming language so I will concentrate here on aspects of separation rather than of programming features such as recursion versus iterative or 4GL versus 5GL

There are a few categories where it will not be a either … or, these are:

Declarative (includes functional) Imperative Data-oriented

Then there the questions to eliminate some such as:

Existing resource pool Investment up to date Strategic decisions

Episode 65: Logical EA Operational Platform Part 3

cea — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:58:12 +0000

What directories do you use (eDirectory (Novell), Red Hat Directory Server, Active Directory, Open Directory (Apple), Apache Directory Server, Oracle Internet Directory, CA Directory, Sun Java System Directory Server, IBM Tivoli Directory Server, Siemens DirX Directory Server, Critical Path Directory Server, OpenLDAP & Isode Limited just to name a few) and are they all really X.500 compatible, since it was never fully implemented? And what about DNS and why are directories that important?

What do you do towards BCP? Why only 2 DC’s why not three and what is with the paper! And if two is it active – active, active – restore or active – passive and what does that mean?

What about Firewalls, routers, NAT and proxies, are they really important for me as an enterprise architect

Episode 65: Logical EA Operational Platform Part 2

cea — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:56:34 +0000

How do you plan to use a SAN, how do choose it? Or do you still use local disk?

How does your network look in terms of topology, MPLS vs. frame relay, fibre vs. copper, What vendor, managed vs. unmanaged switches, virtual (802.1Q) segmentation, How does security come in play and what is a QoS?

Episode 64: Logical EA Operational Platform Part 1

cea — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:10:16 +0000

This is not really as much on OS as nowadays we are working on visualised environments, so for the core Server and Client platform this more about the CPU choice.

So there is a difference between client and servers.

Our first question will be if the applications you want to run are more on the imperative or the declarative side, why I will explain.

Then we will visit the scalability, interoperability and the security considerations.

Do your company have a strategic preference and who does this influence your decision as an enterprise architect? On desktop this usually leans to Windows (or maybe OS X). But on servers it is open for a bit more.

Why are the training issues on OS sometimes overrated.

Do you use or want to use Virtualization and is it on Intel or Power ? On Intel is it VMWare, Xen, MS own or something else?

But not enough on OS lets look in a first sweep what else are the EA trends in the entire platform area?

Episode 63: Logical EA Integration Part 4

cea — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:22:46 +0000

To end the short overview on integration today I will talk about JBI more in detail. For this short episode please find the attached picture for illustration.

Episode 62: Logical EA Integration Part 3

cea — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:19:32 +0000

Today we will discuss ,which one ESB is right for me? We will lock at the different options such as

Support for Business Systems
Scalability
Security
Support
Adapter library
Strategic direction of the company
Rules based MS, Work flow and BPEL support
Licences and Costs

Episode 61: Logical EA Integration Part 2

cea — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:28:56 +0000

Today I will talk about the 3 big trends of integration and then talk abot the main aspects of an ESB.

[JBI]
Adapter/Proxy {POJO, file, WS, http, smtp, hessian, Corba, snmp, smpp, db conection, proprietary protocols,…)
Binding
Transaction Management
Transformation
Routing, Aggregation
Orchestration, Correlation, BPEL, Work flow, Scheduling
Rule based management

Episode 60: Logical EA Integration Part 1

cea — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:40:22 +0000

Logical Architecture on Integration

Now when we talk about integration there are certain products such TIBCO, Biztalk, SAP XI or PI or even MII, WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus and WebSphere Process Server , VITRIA, Open ESB, Weblogic, Servicemix, Oracle Enterprise Service Bus, Oracle Fusion, Sun Java Composite Application Platform Suite and many others that come to mind. Since I have worked with all of them I want to discuss where would you want to use which one and what are the generic questions you might to want to ask yourself before starting any integration.

Is the desired Integration point to point, data distribution or a distributed n:m pattern?

What are the security requirements? Are there different classifications?

Are there different integration layers?

What is the requirement regarding robustness? What are the other non functional requirements (e.g message throughput)?

Does the business architecture require a centralised, decentralised or a hybrid solution?

Are there all the locations that will need to be integrated on a reliable network WAN, MPLS, frame relay,..)

Are there any work flows, scheduled tasks or any time critical or mission critical transactional processes involved?

Does the integration require supporting any value added tasks such as business process integration, rule base system integration or other orchestration tasks?

Is the integration a business process integration, a business data integration or a pure binary data integration?

The three integration concept I will then talk about explicitly are:

Point to Point

Data distribution

Enterprise service bus or message broker

Episode 59: New business ideas and how they affect EA

cea — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:05:52 +0000

In this episode I will lock at 3 business trends and see how they affect enterprise architecture.

Episode 58: Advanced Business Architecture Part 2

cea — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:00:26 +0000

In this episode we will now apply the advanced business architecture against the first L2 process we talked about in our series on standard business architecture.

Episode 57: The 5 deadly Sins of SOA

cea — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:26:47 +0000

The 5 deadly Sins of SOA

In this episode I am introducing the 5 deadly Sins of SOA as they are:

Start SOA with the technical layer
Create all functionality new
One Business service equal one technical service
Ignore State
BPEL and BPM-languages can solve all problems

Episode 56: Business Standard Architecture – Part 23

cea — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:23:29 +0000

In this episode we will lock at the quote to cash process that many will also know as the order to cash, but I always like to point out that it often starts with the quote and not always direct with the order, as the quote Level 1 process certainly adda complexity.

Quote To Cash

Quotes & Proposals

Lead Management
Quoting
Pricing
Catalogue Management

Order Operations

Order Entry and Scheduling
Order Validation
Credit Review and Management
Order Booking
On-hold Order Release
Order Change/Expedite/Cancellations
Contract Management

Customer Invoicing/Billing

Collection of Billing Information
Invoice Consolidation
Invoice Presenting
Revenue Assurance

Accounts Receivable/Collections Management

Cash Application
Collections
Dispute Management
Deductions Processing
Credit Note Processing
Account Reconciliation
Cash Flow Forecasting

Episode 55: Business Standard Architecture – Part 22

cea — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:33:46 +0000

Today we will finish the Supplier Management Process

Collaborative Procurement

Self-Service Procurement Services
Direct / Plan-Driven Procurement
Catalogue Content Management

Supplier Collaboration

Web-based Supplier Interaction
Direct Document Exchange
Supplier Network

Supply Base Management

Supplier Identification & Onboarding
Supplier Development & Performance Management
Supplier Portfolio Management

Data Exchange & Legal Requirements

Traceability and Environmental Compliance
Global Data Synchronization

Time-to-Market

New Product Development and Introduction
Life-cycle Data Management

Episode 54: Business Standard Architecture – Part 21

cea — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:21:27 +0000

In this episode we will start with a new Level 0 process that may initself also be part of the previous Level 0 process dependent how you look at it.

Supplier Management

Purchasing Governance

Global Spend Analysis
Category Management
Compliance Management

Sourcing

Central Sourcing Hub
RFx / Auctioning
Bid Evaluation & Awarding

Contract Management

Legal Contract Repository
Contract Authoring
Contract Negotiation
Contract Execution
Contract Monitoring

Episode 53: Business Standard Architecture – Part 20

cea — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:13:04 +0000

In this episode we will conclude the Source to Pay business process

Vendor Management

Vendor Master Updates
Vendor Help desk
Supplier Portal
Vendor Statement Reconciliation
P-Card/Corporate Card Administration
Expense Reports Processing
Expense Reports Audit

Invoice Processing

GL Coding
Approval Management & matching
Resolving Match Exceptions
Discrepancy Resolution
Price Difference Reconciliation

Analytics & Miscellaneous

MIS Reporting
Spend Analytic’s
Intercompany reconciliation’s
VAT Reclaim
Month-end AP-GL Reconciliations

Episode 52: Business Standard Architecture – Part 19

cea — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:11:00 +0000

Today we will close the Level 0 process Report to Record and start the Level 0 process Source to pay or also known as Procure to Pay

Closing

Daily Interface Monitoring & Reconciliation
Month-end Sub Ledger Close
Month-end Foreign Exchange Revaluation
Month-end General Ledger Close
Balance Sheet Accounts Reconciliation
Inter-company Reconciliations
Allocations
Consolidation
Population of Reporting Database
Audit Support

Source To Pay (Procure to Pay)

Sourcing

Market/Demand Analysis
Develop Category Strategy
Evaluate, Negotiate and Award
Supplier Performance Management
Contract Compliance and Savings Validation
Supplier Adoption
Catalogue Management and Content Management
Contract Management
Tactical/Low Value Buying and Fulfillment

Invoice Payment

Assigning payment forms
Scheduling payment runs
Discount Realization
Dynamic Discount Management

Invoice Receipt & Entry

Invoice Receipt and Scanning
EDI invoices
Invoice Verification and Entry

Episode 51: Standard Business Architecture Part 18

cea — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:32:32 +0000

Today we will continue with the second part in the Record to Report process and I will also explain some concepts behind accounting that are often forgotten in many documentations as they are to obvious for accountants.

Income Statement

Invoice Recording
Expense Adjustments

Balance Sheet

Fixed Assets vs. current & others
Capitalization
Depreciation
Liabilities
Intangible Assets, Equity

Cost Accounting

ABC Implementation
ABC Model Validation
ABC Model Population & Maintenance
PA Reporting
PA Reconciliation

Financial Planning & Analysis

Management Reporting
Budgeting & Forecasting
Taxation
Internal Audit
Treasury
Business Unit Support
Decision Support & Analysis

Episode 50: A strategy template Part 2

cea — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:26:37 +0000

In this episode I will follow up on part 1 but now come up with the examples

Episode 49: Advanced Business Architecture Part 1

cea — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:35:20 +0000

Hi,

even if we are not through with the standard business architecture I will already start to describe what we will lock at in the advanced business architecture.

Episode 48: QA 2 Service Levels

cea — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:35:24 +0000

Some of you wrote in and asked me to talk about service levels and if I have a model as an example to put them together. So I made a model for this podcast, which is not stolen from anywhere else.

Episode 47: Architectural checklist Part 3

cea — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:19:02 +0000

We will conclude the business architecture checklist today.

Episode 46: Architectural checklist Part 2

cea — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:34:23 +0000

We will continue the business architecture checklist we started last time

Episode 45: Architectural checklist Part 1

cea — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:24:32 +0000

With this episode will start on a multi part series on the architectural checklist mainly based on a critical view the TOGAF checklists as described in chapter 26.4 (TOGAF . However since TODAF starts the checklist once we have already left business architecture I have added the first three parts from my own library.

In the first three parts we will lock at the checklist that looks at the handover from Business Architecture or business analysis to the logical design or to Solution Architecture

Are the requirements complete?

Are all requirements uniquely identifiable?

Are the requirements clearly and appropriately prioritized?

Are the requirements consistent? (i.e., no internal contradictions)

Does the set of requirements adequately address all appropriate exception conditions?

Does the set of requirements adequately address boundary conditions?

Are the requirements feasible?

Can the requirements be implemented within known constraints?

Are the requirements sufficient? (i.e., they could be sent to a reputable development organization and have a reasonable probability of producing the product that was desired)

Are inverse requirements explicitly stated?

Are these the simplest set of requirements that meets the stakeholder’s needs?

Are all cross-references to other requirements correct?

Have functional and non-functional requirements been considered?

Have the regulatory requirements been considered?

Is the requirement precise and unambiguous?

Is the requirement stated in as simple a form as possible?

Is the requirement testable/verifiable?

Is the requirement correct?

Is the requirement in scope? (i.e., the system will be considered incomplete if even one requirement is left out)

Are the high-level business objectives described?

Is a system perspective used when appropriate? (i.e., business requirements often do not deal exclusively with software behavior, but with the interactions of software with other parts of a larger system)

Are the requirements understandable by all stakeholders?

Is the value to the business identified? (cost savings, reduced inventory, etc.)

Is the value to the customer identified? (new features, improved usability, etc.)

If appropriate, are the business opportunities the requirements support outlined?

Does this requirement answer the question ‘Why are we doing this software’?

Is this requirement a product or business vision?

Is this requirement a product or business goal?

Is this requirement a customer goal?

Is this requirement a system objective?

Episode 44: Q&A

cea — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:53:27 +0000

Hi,

it is time for the first Q&A session of this podcast

Enjoy

Cay

Episode 43: Business Standard Architecture – Part 17

cea — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:24:27 +0000

Today I am first explaining how and why I set up this netcast, then I talk about accounting and start with the first part in the Record 2 Report process. It is properly not the typical netcast in this series.

General Accounting

(AP,AR, GL, Accruals , Chart of accounts, GAAP, IFRS, etc.)
Manual Journal Entries
Automated Journal Entries
Bank Statement Processing
Bank Account Reconciliations
Payroll Posting & Reconciliation
Inter-company Postings
Accounts for Loans/ Investments

Episode 42: Business Standard Architecture – Part 16

cea — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:35:45 +0000

In this episode I will first talk about how you integrate bespoke business processes into the standard ones and then I will finish of with the last level 1 process in the sales process

Pricing & Contract (Order)

Value & Quantity Contracts
Sales Agreements
Authorized Customers
Contract Completion Rules
Collaborative Contract Negotiation
Release Order Processing
Cancellation Handling
Fulfilment Synchronization
Automatic Business Partner Assignment
Product Configuration
Contract Status Tracking
Credit Management & Credit Check
Pricing
Customer specific Pricing
Promotional Pricing
Contract Analysis

Episode 41: Enterprise Architecture a strategy template

cea — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:08:53 +0000

After some people asked me about what a strategy document would look like I came up with the following that I will then explain in detail in the cast:

1. Executive Summary

2. Vision

3. Scope of the strategy

4. Relationship to overall business strategy

5. Internal Capabilities

6. Requirements

7. Opportunities

8. Threats

9. Proposed future state and Deliverables

10. Implementation

11. Tasks to keep the strategy is on track

Episode 40: Business Standard Architecture – Part 15

cea — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:40:28 +0000

In this episode we will follow on with another Level 1 process of the Sales process.

Quotation & Order Management

Quotations
Package Quotation
Order Capture
Automatic Business Partner Assignment
Order Status Tracking
Pricing
Price Change Approval
Order Validation Check
Credit Management & Credit Check
Payment Card Processing
Automated Follow-Up Processes
Product Authorization & Restriction
Product Configuration
Bill of Material
Availability Check
Rebates
Billing
Fulfilment Synchronization
Quotation and Order Analysis

Episode 39: Business Standard Architecture – Part 14

cea — Sat, 23 May 2009 17:53:20 +0000

In this episode we will follow on the next Level 1 process in the Level 0 process of Sales

Opportunity Management

Opportunity Planning
Team Selling
Competitive Information
Account specific Sales Processes
Automatic Business Partner Assignment
Pricing
Activities
Follow-Up Transactions
Product Configuration
Anticipated Revenue
Buying Centre
Sales Project Management
Opportunity Hierarchies
Sales Process & Selling Methodologies
Opportunity Analysis

Episode 38: Enterprise Architects and the Service Management Life Cycle (ITIL) - Part 3

cea — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:10:49 +0000

In the last of the ITIL series I will cover the service transition and the service management

Episode 37: Business Standard Architecture – Part 13

cea — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:05:50 +0000

In this episode we will follow on the next 3 Level 1 processes in the Level 0 process of Sales

Sales Performance Management

Pipeline Performance Management
Sales Pipeline Analytics

Territory Management

Market Segmentation
Territory Assignment & Scheduling
Territory/Organizational Mapping
Rule-Based Synchronization for Mobile Devices
Sales Analysis by Territory
Interface to Third-Party Territory Planning Tools

Accounts & Contacts

Visit Planning
Fact Sheet
Interaction History
Activity Management
Email & Fax Integration
Relationship Management
Marketing Attributes
Customer specific Pricing
Account Planning
Customer Analysis
Account Classification

Episode 36: Enterprise Architects and the Service Management Life Cycle (ITIL) - Part 2

cea — Sun, 17 May 2009 15:43:37 +0000

In the second part we will concentrate on the service design and how enterprise architects should cover it

Episode 35: Business Standard Architecture – Part 12

cea — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:07:55 +0000

In this episode we will now start with the Level 0 Sales process and with the first level 1 process within Sales

Sales Planning & Forecasting

Strategic Planning
Flexible Modelling
Rolling Forecast
Collaborative Planning
Supply Chain Integration
Planning-Cycle Monitoring
Performance Reviews
Sales Planning & Forecasting Guides
Account Planning
Opportunity Planning

A conspiracy theory and a request

cea — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:03:25 +0000

Hi,

Today I have a very unusual net-cast.

Best regards

Cay Hasselmann

cay@accent.li

Episode 34: Enterprise Architects and the Service Management Life Cycle (ITIL) - Part 1

cea — Thu, 14 May 2009 05:38:41 +0000

After we have looked at the first 5 dimensions (context, concept, logical, physical & detailed) of enterprise architecture we will now look at the last one the operational and final stage .

I will illustrate the concept of service management and the impact for enterprise architecture by using the ITIL framework.

Here I will show how enterprise architects should own the service strategy and the service design and explain what they are. Additional I will also explain why service transition should not be owned neither by service management nor by enterprise architecture.

Episode 33: Business Standard Architecture – Part 11

cea — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:32:07 +0000

Today I am breaking the pattern and we will concentrate on the last two Level 1 processes in the Level 0 process of campaign to sale. I will lso explain why I am not covering the traditional level 0 “Order to Cash” process seperately.

Campaign Management

Campaign Planning
Graphical Campaign Modelling
Campaign Optimization
Campaign Simulation
Marketing Calendar
Campaign-Specific Pricing
Multichannel Campaign Execution
Multi-wave Campaign Execution
Event-Triggered Campaign Execution
Real-Time Response Tracking
Cost/Financial Reporting
Personalized (e)Mails
Bounce Handling
Call Lists
Campaign ROI
Interactive Scripting
Target Group Analysis
Campaign Analysis

Lead Management

Multiple Interaction Channels
Automated Qualification
Rule-Based Distribution
Lead Dispatching
Web-Based Lead Generation
Lead Partner Management
Mass Generation
Response Recording
Lead Surveys
Automatic Generation of Follow-Up Activities
Lead Analysis

Episode 32: Business Standard Architecture – Part 10

cea — Sat, 09 May 2009 18:23:16 +0000

Today we will focus on the second Level 1 process in the Level 0 “campaign to sale” process

Segmentation & List Management

Multiple Data Source Access
High Speed Data Search
Pre-Filtered/Personalized Attribute Lists
Sampling and Splitting
Embedded Predictive Modelling
Personalized Filters
Quick Counts
Segment De duplication
Suppression Filters
Target Group Optimization
Clustering
Data Mining
Decision Trees
ABC Analysis
List Management - List Format Mapping
Duplicate Checks
Postal Validation
Data Cleansing
Data Enrichment
List Quality
Lead and Activity Imports
List Analysis

Episode 31: Soft skills of Enterprise Architects – a very basic guide Part 2

cea — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:50:37 +0000

We will use the DISC four quadrant behavioural model to see how we as EA can interface best on a personality level

In today’s episode we will apply it on a generic level on an example how to “sell” a difficult change to a stakeholder (he we will lock at all the 4 different personality profiles in the stakeholder)

Then we will lock at how you can best handle your boss (CTO, Architecture Manager or Chief architect) based on the DISC four quadrant behavioural model.

After this we will lock how we can use the model to interact with other architects or designers

Finally we will lock at the personality types of your customers and how to interact with them.

Episode 30: Business Standard Architecture – Part 9

cea — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:06:27 +0000

In this episode we will start with the first Level 1 process of the Marketing Level 0 process “campaign to sale” (at least that is what I call it)

Marketing Resource Management

Market Research
Budget Planning
Scenario Planning
Marketing Planning and Budgeting
Budget Control
Product and Brand Planning
Cost and Volume Planning
Marketing Plan Analysis
Marketing Calendar
Marketing Organization
Work flow and Approval

Episode 29: Soft skills of Enterprise Architects – a very basic guide Part 1

cea — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:33:30 +0000

I will use the DISC four quadrant behavioural model to see how we as EA can interface best on a personality level

First we will talk about the four different types of personality in DISC and why this model (there are many others) is both easy to use and helpful

* Dominance - relating to control, power and assertiveness

* Influence - relating to social situations and communication

* Steadiness - relating to patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness

* Conscientiousness - relating to structure and organization

Followed on to lock at how the personality might help or hinder us in being an effective enterprise architect.

Episode 28: Business Standard Architecture – Part 8

cea — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:15:05 +0000

In this episode we will lock at the Level 0 BP “Plan to Produce” with its Level 2 and Level 3 processes

Production Planning

Production Planning
Capacity Planning
Financial Integration

Manufacturing Execution

Manufacturing Execution
Shop Floor Integration
Supervision and Control

Product Development

Product Development
Development Collaboration

Life-Cycle Data Management

Document Management
Product Structure Management
Recipe Management
Specification Management
Change and Configuration Management

Episode 27: What do I do if my company uses me as a solution architect and not as an EA?

cea — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:36:42 +0000

What do I do if my company uses me as a solution architect and not as an enterprise architect?

In this episode I will concentrate on an issue that is key to many listeners who want their company to use them as enterprise architects for what they were employed (or maybe not), while the reality looks different.

The technique here is not convince your boss of a job title swap or a dictate, but how you can achieve this solely by thought leadership

Episode 26: Business Standard Architecture – Part 7

cea — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:57:26 +0000

In this episode we will do the second and last instalment on the Customer contact to resolution Level 0 process

In-House Repair

Inventory Management
In-House Repair Processing
Loan Management
Service Confirmation Processing
Logistics Integration
Quality Management Integration
In-House Repair Analytics

Case Management

Case Processing
Change Request Management
Service Confirmation Processing
Activity Processing
Supporting Processes
Case Management Analytics

Warranty Management

Customer and Vendor Warranty
Product and Warranty Registration
Warranty Determination
Warranty Claim Processing
Warranty Analysis

Episode 25: EA - Quo vadis? Career steps for an enterprise architect

cea — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:05:40 +0000

In this very short episode I will lock at the natural career development of an enterprise architect.

Additional I look at the difference of a CTO vs. an architecture Manager vs. a chief architect

Episode 24: Business Standard Architecture – Part 6

cea — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:01:49 +0000

In this episode we will concentrate on the next Level 1 processes of the

Customer contact to resolution Level 0 process

Service Contract Management

Service Agreement
Service Contract Quotation Processing
Service Contract Processing
Usage Based Contract Management
Service Level Management
Value and Quantity Contracts
Contract Determination
Service Plan Processing
Service Contract Analytics

Complaints & Returns

Knowledge Management
Complaints Processing
Returns Processing
Follow-Up Processes
Recall Management
Warehouse Management Integration
Logistics Integration
Financial Integration
Complaints and Returns Analytics

Episode 23: How much technology should an enterprise architect know about? Part 4

cea — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:55:52 +0000

In the forth and final part we will concentrate on:

Directory
Transaction Processing
System management

The topics that I will discuss are:

The Technology
Capacity & sizing
SLM & SLA
Availability
Continuity Management
Information Security
Supplier Management

Episode 22: Business Standard Architecture – Part 5

cea — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:25:12 +0000

In todays episode we will finally start with the second Level 0 process.

But before I do so I will explain why I am doing this netcast and why I will remain explaining the very basics in enterprise architecture for such a long time and not getting on with the frameworks as all other blogs are doing.

In todays part we will start with the Customer contact to resolution Level 0 process that is usually also called the Service Management process. In this episode we will on cover one Level 1 process with all its Level 2 processes.

Service Order Management

Service Order
Quotation Service
Order Processes
Service Employee Resource Planning
Service Confirmation Processing
Product Service Letter Processing
Logistics Integration Processes
Service Order Analytics

Episode 21: How much technology should an enterprise architect know about? Part 3

cea — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:22:48 +0000

In the third part we will concentrate on:

- Graphics, Audio & Video
- Data Management
- Data Interchange
- User Interface

The topics that I will discuss are:

The Technology
Capacity & sizing
SLM & SLA
Availability
Continuity Management
Information Security
Supplier Management

Episode 20: Business Standard Architecture – Part 4

cea — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:11:52 +0000

In todays episode we will follow the Level 0 process “hire 2 retire” with the next Level 1 processes:

Performance Management

Performance Review
Progression management
360 Feedback
ESS/MSS

Workforce Management

Employee master data management
Leave management
Visa processing
Time and attendance
ESS/MSS

Separation Management

Data management

Clearance

Exit interview

Episode 19: How much technology should an enterprise architect know about? Part 2

cea — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:12:57 +0000

In the second part we will concentrate on:

Operation System
Application Programming
Work flow

The topicss that I will discuss are:

The Technology
Capacity & sizing
SLM & SLA
Availability
Continuity Management
Information Security
Supplier Management

Episode 18: Business Standard Architecture – Part 3

cea — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:26:21 +0000

In todays episode we will follow the Level 0 process “hire 2 retire” with the next Level 1 process:

Compensation Management

Payroll
Compensation review
Stock and benefit in kind
Bonus plan administration
ESS/MSS

Episode 17: Are there useless Enterprise Architects?

cea — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:30:08 +0000

If we are looking critical on Enterprise Architecture we may also look at Enterprise Architects that may not be a credit to our profession. For this I came up with some candidates, which I will call Enterprise Architect Anti-Pattern:

The Blue Sky thinker
The pretender
The application architect how looks for a new tittle
The unimaginative non-critical thinker or the enterprise architect by implication

I will then talk about the types of these Anti-Patterns and the Refactoring for all these types.

Episode 16: Business Standard Architecture – Part 2

cea — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:58:00 +0000

In todays episode we will follow the Level 0 process “hire 2 retire” with the next two Level 1 processes:

Training and Development

Needs analysis
Administration
Material creation

Benefits Administration

Health & welfare (incl. Annual Enrolment, Research, Processing)
Defined Benefits
Defined Contributions
Finance Administration
ESS/MSS

Episode 15: Who should perform enterprise architecture and how is is it best done?

cea — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:01:29 +0000

Obviously enterprise architecture should be done by enterprise architects, but there are choices:

Permanent staff
Contractors
Consultants
Outsourced Enterprise Architects

I will discuss all the benefits and negatives of these groups in a a hopeful critical way (given that I belong to the second group myself)?

After this I will then actually look at how a good interview of an enterprise architect should be conducted and what to ask for

Episode 14: Business Standard Architecture – Part 1

cea — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:26:22 +0000

Business Architecture – Enterprise Architecture view on the most common standard processes

Before we look at the processes I will just point out how standard processes are relating back on enterprise architecture.

Additional I will also look at the notion of “vanilla” implementation and their fundamental strength and contrast to enterprise architecture.

The processes that I am discussing in this series of netcasts are ones that I personally implemented, so any suggestions on other in a kind of netcast via Skype is welcome.

Level 0 of the processes I am going to discuss are:

Customer contact to resolution
Plan to Produce
Campaign to sale
Marketing Resource Management
Sales
Record-to-Report (R2R)
Source To Pay (Procure to Pay)
Supplier Management
Quote To Cash
Compliance
Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
Hire-to-Retire
Cooperate Services
Global Trade
Supply Chain
Order to ship
IS Specific Standard Business Processes

For each of the processes I will then come up with all the Level 2 and Level 3 Processes and discuss them according to their impact on enterprise architecture.

In the first part we will start with the Hire to Retire process and only look at the first level 1 process

Recruitment and Selection

Sourcing Resumes
Screening
Offer closure
New hire integration
Compliance
Self Service

Episode 13: How much technology should an enterprise architect know about? Part 1

cea — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:10:49 +0000

Some may think he/she needs to be a guru in all technical. However in critical light I will argue that he/she needs to know only the basics, but what are the basics?

Technology knowledge for the enterprise architects is not product knowledge.

So enterprise architecture is a bit like cooking, where you have the main ingredients (I will call them the technology areas ) and the main techniques such as cocking or frying.

In the podcast I will then somehow describe the basics on each ingredient and how the techniques apply.

So for enterprise architecture the main ingredients (technology areas) are:

Hardware (Part 1)
Network (Part 1)
Operation System
Application Programming
Work flow
Graphics, Audio & Video
Data Interchange
User Interface
Directory
Transaction Processing
Software Engineering

The techniques that I will discuss are:

The Technology
Capacity & sizing
SLM & SLA
Availability
Continuity Management
Information Security
Supplier Management

Episode 11: Who is watching the enterprise architect ?

cea — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:07:44 +0000

Up to now enterprise architecture has been wonderfully or sadly (depends) free of review or auditing. But given the market pressure this will change.

What will or how are audits in enterprise architecture look like?

Will the enterprise architecture be in the form of an official audit or in a more informal process?

Is it best to offer preventative documentation or should I wait for the formal audit?

For those 3 questions it really depends who is conducting the audit. The most likely groups are:

Architecture Manager, CTO or Chief Architect
CIO or his representative
Finance
Internal Audit
Peers or other architects
Head of development or technical team

Project Management or Portfolio Management
External enterprise architecture consultants

Episode 10: Cross Skills for enterprise architects

cea — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:04:38 +0000

In this netcast we will concentrate on all of the skills that an enterprise architect needs that are outside of the normal enterprise architecture.

The skill set that I am focus in this netcast are:

IT Key Cross Skills
Other Key Cross Skills
Other Important Cross Skills
Other Useful Cross Skills

After an introduction why cross skills are important and why they are usually not mentioned I will then visit all the skills on an individual base.

IT Key Cross Skills

Project Management
Portfolio Management
Change Management
Service Management or operations
Test Management
Management of technical and development Areas

Other Key Cross Skills

Leadership, generic management
Accountant (GL, Management Accountancy & Cost Accountancy)
Risk Management
Critical Thinking

Other Important Cross Skills

Marketing (also as a main source for change in the future)
Sales & Pre-sales
Legal
Technical Writing

Other Useful Cross Skills

Operations (may vary what that means)
HR
Facility Management
Supply Chain

The TCO in enterprise architecture often talked about, never seen in the wild

cea — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:42:56 +0000

Most TCO calculators will turn it in the favour of a product that’s why you need to do the TCO as the enterprise architect. But is that not the job of the project manager or accountant?

Rough guide what costs we will cover in this shorter than usual netcast

Costs (lease or buy) in IT (always on 1, 3 and 5 years at least for trend, dependant on annual depreciation)

Hardware (Desktops, Servers, Network devices, Racks, Server room cooling, LTO, Generator, Batteries,…) both separate or part of a shared environment
Consumables (Tapes, Power, HDD,..)
Software Licenses
annual maintenance cost for software and/or hardware
Staff Costs
Contractor costs
Consultants
Operations (help desk, 2^nd & 3^rd line, System & Network Administration, Training,..)
Overhead (usually add 30 %)
Project costs (Initiation (with feasibility), Enterprise Architecture, Build, Test, Transition)
Documentation
Comms (LAN, WAN, Telephone,…)
Unpredicted downtime ( not OoH)

How do I get the costs

Is this really useful? How do I use this.

Should I not get consultants in to this?

Episode 8: What is the difference between an enterprise architect and a terrorist? Part 2

cea — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:13:56 +0000

As far as the joke goes: With a terrorist you can negotiate

This net-cast will focus on the stakeholder to an enterprise architect and look how the enterprise architect can best manage his relationship without being seen as the most difficult person in the organisation.

The stakeholders are (the list is not in order of importance):

The customer

The business owner

The CIO
The CFO or his/her representative (accountant)
The head of programme-, portfolio- or project management
The head of architecture (usually your boss)
The head of service management or operations
The head of PMO
The strategy group of the organisations
Various Board members on approval boards
The head of development
The project / programme manager in the project you are just engaged

Part 2

The business analysts
The project support staff in the project you are just engaged
The fellow enterprise architects
The solutions- and technical architects
The designers
The head of testing
The developers / Configurators
The service designer
The DBA
The security officer
The users

Episode 7: What is the difference between an enterprise architect and a terrorist? Part 1

cea — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:15:20 +0000

As far as the joke goes: With a terorist you can negotiate

The stakeholders are (the list is not in order of importance):

The customer

The business owner

The CIO
The CFO or his/her representative (accountant)
The head of programme-, portfolio- or project management
The head of architecture (usually your boss)
The head of service management or operations
The head of PMO
The strategy group of the organisations
Various Board members on approval boards
The head of development
The project / programme manager in the project you are just engaged

Part 2

The business analysts
The project support staff in the project you are just engaged
The fellow enterprise architects
The solutions- and technical architects
The designers
The head of testing
The developers / Configurators
The service designer
The DBA
The security officer
The users

Episode 6: EA Certification - A critical view

cea — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:23:09 +0000

EA Certification comes in 4 flavours (this is my subjective view):

Workshops and Reference checking schemes Frameworks Certification Money making shemes (that is money making for the provider not for the EA) Vendor specific schemes

I will then look a bit closer on each of the categories and provide my own evaluation on the them.

Frameworks (usually short lived and full of complexity) [examples:

DoDAF

Federal Enterprise Architecture(FEA)

Allstate Architecture Standards and Methods (AASM) BearingPoint Configure To Fit Method

BearingPoint Methodology

Bredemeyer VAP CA Solution Architecture Methodology

Capgemini Integrated Architecture Framework (IAF)

Credit Suisse IT Solution Framework

EDS GSMS/GAD QMS

GM System Delivery Process (SDP)

HP Global Method for IT Strategy and Architecture (HPGM for ITSA)

IBM Global Services Method

IBM TeAMethod Intel AEPF

Intel IT Architecture Development Methodology (Intel IADM)

New Zealand Inland Revenue - IR Method

Raytheon Enterprise Architecture Process (REAP)

TOGAF 7

TOGAF 8

TOGAF 9 (soon)

Zachman

]

Money making schemes (that is money making for the provider not for the EA) [examples:

Enterprise Architecture (EA) Boot Camps 5000$ for 5 days just of framework manual

Enterprise Architecture Offshore Training

]

Workshops and Reference checking schemes (usually very expensive) [examples:

FEAC Institute

The Enterprise Architecture Center of Excellence (EACOE)

ITAC

]

Vendor specific schemes (EA specific on one product) [examples:

Sun Certified Enterprise Architect (SCEA)

Enterprise Architecture Certification Program, offered by IBM

SAP Enterprise Architect Certification

]

Alternatives that we need to look for:

Just training (need to be critical)

Professional non profit bodies like IEEE

Certification body with a proper EA curiculum with a credit system (credits can be earned by courses of ideally different training providers and cover all the areas that inface with EA, e.g. Service operation, business analysis, project management,..)

EA user group

Master degree in EA

But all them need to be geared on 3 basic principles: Reduce risk, save costs and cut complexity. They all need to be endorsed by non architectural bodies, such as in project managers or service managers.

IT and service management principles

cea — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:14:28 +0000

In this netcast I will describe how you can start building the first steps for a IT strategy without getting lost in the details.

In my experience an entire IT strategy is almost impossible to build of from stratch. Usually this is because there is little of strategy from other areas and if you are building a strategy you first need a quick win, before geeting the budget for the whole work. A first step is to build a list of IT and service management principles, as it when they are agreed it is so much easier to start the proper work of a strategy because first you have already delivered something and second you can build upon that is agrred so that if you enter in discusions with stakeholders you can always refer to them as extensions to the original work.

In my experience I will just give you my usual suspects and explain them. All of them are comming together with an Outline, a rationale and possible implication that I will give in the necast itself (as I do not know your orginasation I have to generalize):

The Business Alignment Principle The Scalability Principle The Security Principle The Customer Viewpoint Principle The Business Ownership Principle The Business Continuity Principle The Interoperability Principle Information Is an Enterprise Asset Architecture Compliance & Management Re-use before Buying, Buy before Building The Commonality Principle The International principle

In the same way for the service management priciples

The Service Transition Principle The Service Operation Principle The Continuous Service Improvement Principle The Service Level Principle

Architectural documentation Part 2

cea — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:36:23 +0000

This netcast may actually a bit more thought provoking than the usual ones and I may seriously anoy some people.

Please first listen to the first part.

Then I will show that the usual concept of an enterprise architecture documentation that follows something like this:

1. Executive Summary

2. Scope

3. Strategy

4. Requirements

5. High Level Architecture

6. Low level Architecture

7. Risk, Issues & Assumptions

8. Appendix

is inadequate, even if it so much better than the usual junk produced by many architects.

I will then show that Enterprise Architecture documentation is really about the full design phase starting with requirements as follows:

1. The scope, the context or the requirements 2. The enterprise model, the concept or the business architecture 3. The system model, the logical model or the solution architecture 4. The technology, the physical model or the design phase 5. Detailed representations, out of context description or the implementation and build model 6. The the everyday, the service management transition or the service design

Not every phase may be delivered by the enterprise architect, but he/she is certainly responsible.

Additional there is another dimension in all of this that is to be considered into for all of the 6 phases, these are:

1. The data

2. The function

3. The network

4. The people

5. The time

6. The motivation

I will then show how they are all important for the overall enterprise architecture documentation.

Finally, if I still have listeners I will then describe how this all fits 36 nice little chapters and how to split them into single documents.

Architectural documentation Part 1

cea — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:32:38 +0000

This netcast may actually a bit more thought provoking than the usual ones and I may seriously anoy some people.

First I will explain that a picture is not an architecture

Then I will show that the usual concept of an enterprise architecture documentation that follows something like this:

1. Executive Summary

2. Scope

3. Strategy

4. Requirements

5. High Level Architecture

6. Low level Architecture

7. Risk, Issues & Assumptions

8. Appendix

is inadequate, even if it so much better than the usual junk produced by many architects.

I will then show that Enterprise Architecture documentation is really about the full design phase starting with requirements as follows:

Not every phase may be delivered by the enterprise architect, but he/she is certainly responsible.

Additional there is another dimension in all of this that is to be considered into for all of the 6 phases, these are:

1. The data

2. The function

3. The network

4. The people

5. The time

6. The motivation

I will then show how they are all important for the overall enterprise architecture documentation.

Finally, if I still have listeners I will then describe how this all fits 36 nice little chapters and how to split them into single documents.

Architectural forces and what do I do if no one listens to me as an architect

cea — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:45:54 +0000

In this episode I will discuss the following architectural forces:

Management of Requirements (not Functionality)

Management of Performance and Capacity

Management of Complexity

Management of Change (Project, Service Management & Business)

Management of Resources (People, Hardware, Software and Facilities)

Management of Service Transition and Service Design

Additional there is a small piece on what to do if no one listens to me as an architect

7 Virtues and 7 Sins of Architecture

cea — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:28:04 +0000

Instead of beginning this technical podcast on frameworks or technology, I have chosen to start this podcast on the essentials and on the pitfalls of Architecture.

So the 7 Virtues of architecture are:

Create an architecture for the strategic business needs

Try to architect something with more than than 1 year or less than 3 years in mind

Always keep the costs low. Costs should be calculated for 3 to 5 years

Minimize risks wherever possible

Use critical thinking all the time

Create an architecture that is open for change as there is nothing as certain as change

Assumptions are your friend

The 7 Sins of architecture are:

Haste

Apathy

Narrow−Mindedness

Sloth

Intellectual greed

Ignorance

Pride

In the podcast I will discuss them more in detail how they apply to architecture