I heard some very interesting talks today from Len Fehskens and Jeff Scott at the Open Group conference .  One thing that I picked up in a meeting yesterday was the notion that TOGAF 9.1 is built on “best practices.”  Today, as Jeff spoke about the transformation of a technical architect into...

I just recently had a conversation with a talented enterprise architect who had brought together the EA framework elements from numerous different sources in order to address the needs of his business. Included in that list was the Enterprise Business Motivation Model which I developed and which I continue...

I’ve been looking at different ways to implement the ATAM method these past few weeks.  Why?  Because I’m looking at different ways to evaluate software architecture and I’m a fan of the ATAM method pioneered at the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.  Along the...

The writing is on the wall.  Adobe has abandoned Mobile Flash in favor of HTML5.  It is just a matter of time before the Adobe Flash developers switch over to producing HTML5 instead of Flash as a matter of course.  With the move to mobile devices, the dominance of Flash on the desktop...

For those of you who have been waiting for me to announce the release of the newest version of the Enterprise Business Motivation Model , I’m happy to announce that version 3.5 is available now.  To visit a Wordpress site set up to explain the model, visit http://motivationmodel.com To visit a web...

The notion of an Enterprise Architect in a Segment (aka “Segment Architect”) has been fairly well described in for the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework. (FSAM reference ). It is not always well understood, and there are a small number of blog posts that disparage the concept. That...

As architects, we spend a good bit of time trying to get a very complicated set of ideas communicated in a clear, consistent, and understandable manner. A simple diagram with a clear story can be very compelling. A poor diagram can actively sink your efforts. A great example of a poor diagram appeared...

Michael Poulin recently blogged on EBizQ some of his challenges with applying IEEE-1471 to enterprise architecture.  For those not familiar with IEEE-1471, it is an ISO standard definition of “software architecture” that defines key concepts such as View, Viewpoint, Stakeholder, Model, and Architecture...

I’m working on modeling some requirements for a document management system.  I’m a big fan of using models to represent every element, from goals and strategies through to business processes.  From there, I model use cases and requirements and on down to system components that fulfill those...

Enterprise Architecture has a role to play in both developing a vision of the future, and in providing governance and oversight to make sure that the organization can measure its progress towards that future. The governance part is tricky.  Architectural Governance is part of a larger fabric of...

For most of the last decade, we’ve seen a steady growth in the use of a simple “recommended practice” in the world of software architecture.  Well known by it’s designation, IEEE-1471 is officially titled “ Recommended Practice for Architectural Description of Software-Intensive Systems .” The standard...

The SANS institute has published a list of the top 25 most dangerous programming errors.  Not only is this a must-read , but it is critical for architects, developers and testers, of all stripes, to be aware of these programming errors.  Unless and until we have platforms that simply prevent...

Today marks the end of a long dry spell. As of today, I’m back in print with an article in the Architecture Journal called “ Towards an Enterprise Business Motivation Model .” Of interest to Business Architects, Strategists, Business Planners, and Management Consultants, the Enterprise...

In tough economic times, we tend to look for ways to cut costs and reduce overhead, so that we can “do more with less.”  In our team, we’ve stumbled upon one such way that I’d like to share. One of the responsibilities that tend to fall to Enterprise Architecture, in many organizations, is to be...

Assuming that “Architecture” can be generically defined as “the art and science of designing or constructing something” (adapted from here and here ), then what exactly is Business Architecture? Extending the generalized definition above, a Business Architect should be “someone concerned with the art...

There is a joke that I sometimes like to refer to, more as an allegorical story than anything else.  This version is from AJokeADay.com : A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted,” Excuse me, can you help...

Well, it is February 2nd, and today, the Open Group is announcing the general availability of TOGAF version 9.0 .  For those of you not familiar with TOGAF, it is an ambitious and maturing Enterprise Architecture Framework created by the members of the Open Group. I’ve had the good fortune to be...

I ran into a friend today and, as friends often do, we let our conversation wander over the different "broken things" in IT in general (and a few in Microsoft in specific).  One thing that I'd like to share from that conversation: a truly bizarre assumption that we teach, over and over...

The (ISO Standard) RM-ODP model is a powerful and well reasoned mechanism for creating Architectural descriptions ("architectures"). Leveraging the IEEE-1471 taxonomy , and building out a visual style and standardized approach, there is tremendous value in learning and using this the RM-ODP (Reference...

Imagine a time when building architecture meant "sketches" that would vary from one architect to another, one type of building to another.  It must have been quite difficult for the skilled tradesmen to build anything more than individual excellence... to deliver repeatable quality......

No one but you will build the services you need in time for you to use them If you build a service that no one else asked for, you will have built it for yourself If you build a service for yourself, you will optimize it for your own use It is therefore the optimal service for you to use...

I've been thinking a lot lately about the gap between "what we have" and "what we need" in the Enterprise SOA space. I think I have a need that is not yet filled by software. (that I'm aware of). I put up a post back in June about the difficulty in creating a common information model in a large enterprise...

Whenever you model a business process, it is inevitable that, sooner or later, you will come to an activity that is entirely automated. As time goes on, more and more of the activities slip quietly into the technology. However, I'm noticing a troubling practice in how these automated activities appear...

When I opened my call for a Shared Global Integration Model , I expected some folks to say "we don't need that." What I didn't expect was the argument that standards are somehow a bad idea. It's hard to consider an argument against standards with a straight face. A basic tenet of the modern age has...

Harry "Devhawk" Pierson, whom I'm glad to count among my friends, sent me an e-mail last week.  He mentioned that he was going to post on his blog about why my call for a shared global integration model was a fantasy.  "This will be fun," I thought.  Well, Harry did...