Tune into author Soumen Chatterjee's radar every week, as he endeavors to investigate the maturity of the current crop of MDA tools available, the MDA roadmap, and the effects of MDA within enterprise architecture. The MDA Radar will also detect and provide directive guidelines towards MDA adoption.
About the Author
Soumen is a TOGAF Certified Practitioner, Sun Certified Enterprise Architect and IBM Certified Specialist in RUP. With his expertise in enterprise
architectural methodologies, process development techniques and testing strategies, he has served several leading-edge software service organizations. He is a active contributor and reviewer of industry leading
Enterprise Architecture and Reference Framework. He has published several technical papers in international conferences, architecting journal and
Internet based publication portals. He is an admirer of agile methodology and has primary interests in EA, MDA, AOP and EAI.
Soumen is a member of the IEEE, IEEE Standards, ACM, Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), IASA and the WWISA. He holds a
Masters in Information Technology. He is currently working as an Enterprise Architect for a global leading consulting company.
He could be reached at soumenc(at)acm(dot)org.
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This issue focuses on how the harmonisation capability of the Harmony Classification Framework can provide you with WYGIWUW (What You Get Is What You Want)
This issue introduces the 'Enterprise Architecture Hieroglyphic' that forms the base to understanding the enterprise. This issue discusses the Chamber 0 of the 'Enterprise Architecture Hieroglyphic' to help understand the objective of the enterprise architecture development exercise.
Harmony Classification Framework has developed a simple, 64-celled kaleidoscope to experience the beauty of the enterprise architecture and a step-by-step success pattern building the enterprise called the ’preventive enterprise‘. Last issue I detailed ‘Chamber 0’, the meditation chamber that will help you to stabilise your enterprise mind and facilitate the understanding of the enterprise. This issue unravels the 64 most powerful chambers of Harmony Classification Framework.
Integration is the key to almost all enterprise system development. In this week’s issue I will explain ways to demystify the integration puzzle and also discuss how harmony and the enterprise classification framework play a crucial role in this enterprise integration playground.
The latest issue elaborates the capability of harmony enterprise classification framework to simplify the enormous complexity of the enterprise classification. This week I’ll also detail how this classification framework can be married with the GERA recommended enterprise features and enterprise master plan, which are the master formulae to establish a successful enterprise...
Enterprise ecology is a mystic thirst that drives every enterprise thought leader into diverse innovative directions. In this week’s column, discover the melodic art of enterprise ‘harmony’ interoperable through a powerful classification framework...
Meta-information (or models) is one of the key aspects of the new generation enterprise. The enterprise should also be able to seamlessly interact with other the enterprises using disparate technology. The key is the CORE (Classify, Organize and Relate the Entities) feature that facilitates wiring the enterprise meta-information together in a robust, decoupled, on-demand enterprise environment. This week’s discussion will detect and analyse the CORE signal...
Today information systems are no more synonymous to the enterprise systems. The enterprise is now more of a demand-supply chain relationship between suppliers, partners, and customers. The enterprise systems are also now ready to realise the benefits of MDA. This week’s discussion will help you to understand how the enterprise is passing through a paradigm shift that will help us to classify enterprise systems most effectively.
The terms Enterprise Taxonomy or Classification, Enterprise Architecture Frameworks and Enterprise Reference Architecture Frameworks are often confused and used interchangeably. This is the starting of the enterprise puzzle. The Enterprise Rubik Cube has now become the prime game for all enterprises. However, "The rules of logic are to mathematics, as those of structure are to architecture." This week's issue will explain the clear differences between each of these three puzzles. Our discussion will build a solid foundation for the mind-boggling enterprise mazes with the help of the labyrinths of enterprise classification frameworks.
Enterprise strategic direction plan and governance is the most remunerative consulting area in the market at present. Various consulting management companies and research organizations such as the Butler Group, Forrester Research, and Gartner have on offer numerous analyses on the enterprise strategy plan and governance. A search for this topic on Google will also yield innumerable results. However, these sources do not present the accurate picture. The concepts of strategy and governance have been grossly modified and confined to represent the management, based on the assumption that the board of directors alone has the experience to control the business climate of the enterprise and manage traditional risks. Such a thought confuses cultural transparencies with the leadership qualities it takes to manage an enterprise’s intellectual capital and
information. In this week’s issue, we will highlight the concepts of governance and analyze them to reveal their true essence.
It is a universally accepted fact that a fundamental process is necessary for a stable foundation. Even nature follows a systematic algorithm, right from the genetic biorhythm to human evolution. The enterprise is not alien to this concept. In fact, the success of an enterprise is governed by a unified process. However, a common problem in industries is the absence of a process that is aligned with enterprise recommendations and has architecture-centric, technology-driven project delivery models. Most industries adopt an easy and fast Return on Investment (RoI) policy whose theoretical or conceptual foundations are infected and inadequate. This can be remedied with a refactoring of IT strategies, architectures and policies. In this issue, we will learn more about an enterprise process that aligns the enterprise with its architectural foundations. The Enterprise Unified Process (EUP) can reduce enterprise health hazards and help maintain a balance within the enterprise.
The term ‘financial performance analysis’ often crops up in the context of organizational economic quantification. With the help of management consulting experts, several organizations go through multi-million dollar economic transformation programs that span many years. However, before entering into the lucrative jargon trap, understanding the economic benefits of the proposed enterprise integration effort is a fundamental necessity for any enterprise. Since ancient times, people have been using numbers without understanding the mathematics behind them. To get better quantification, we require more art and less math. Therefore, the economic benefit analysis of an Enterprise Architecture Integration program is vital to the success of an Enterprise Architecture program. The Enterprise Integration program should be tightly aligned with business effectiveness through technology innovation.
Since childhood, we have heard about the benefits of positive influences on mental growth. For example, a proper farming plan is a must for better agricultural production. The enterprise is not an exception to the proverb, ‘Morning shows the day’. Enterprise Architecture is a journey, not a destination. This journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step called the Enterprise Master Plan. Depending upon business requirements, the management’s SWOT analysis and a forecast of the economic climate, the Enterprise Master Plan can vary. Moreover, the type of the industry, its functional variance (ISV versus Consulting versus. Product Show Case) and the size of its units also influence the creation of an Enterprise Master Plan.
Last week, we introduced different business planning terms. This week, we will introduce the Enterprise Master Plan concept, the first step in strategic planning and orientation towards enterprise governance. The Enterprise Master Plan is the master key that guides an enterprise towards the organizational operational process workflow. Its implementation represents the project/service/consulting project opportunity that enables business effectiveness whilst utilizing technology innovation. The Enterprise Master Plan is the strategic abstraction of the philosophy in practice. The PERA Master plan is one of the basic requirements for any successful enterprise architecture program implementation.
Through the last few editions of MDA Radar we established the foundations of our knowledge about enterprise architecture.
With the help of this base, we can consider ourselves empowered to build our enterprise – our flower garden with every
possible color in it. Although we have sown the seeds in our garden, we are still a few steps away from seeing the flowers
bloom. You must be ready to understand the soil and the seasons. These are two very important concepts for any gardener to
understand. Over the next few weeks, we will engage in a new discussion that will revitalize enterprise strategic concepts
and enterprise governance. In this week’s installment, we will try to enrich our enterprise glossaries in the context of
enterprise business entity. Ever since we acquired initial knowledge about enterprise architecture, we have heard of or
experienced the existence of different schools of thought. These schools show characteristics similar to the fabled blind men
trying to explain the parts of an elephant. They concentrate only on certain parts of the enterprise and use their own
methods to make MDA work. Our objective is to keep a safe distance from these players. As already mentioned in our previous
discussions, the concepts behind an enterprise business entity are fundamental in understanding the concepts of enterprise
strategies and plans. On identifying the right enterprise entity, our next step is to understand the terminologies associated
with business strategic principles.
Within any enterprise architecture, concerns of stakeholders are considered the most important as it effectively drives us to consider different ‘views’ and ‘viewpoints’ that finally shape the real picture of the enterprise architectural landscape. A ‘view’ is what we see at a particular point of time, whereas a ‘viewpoint’ is what we are looking from at that particular point in time. Therefore, time alongside stakeholders become another important parameter to get a right view. This is why it becomes important for the enterprise architectural governance or the “master plan” to consider situations like “was”, “as-is” and “to-be” in every respect, leaving aside situations like “should-be”, “needs-are” and “could-be” as optional. We will be discussing more about these situations in the upcoming editions of MDA Radar. This edition will answer the question, “Why do we get different colors to our enterprise architecture landscape kaleidoscope?” It will effectively discuss the views required to conclude our trio series on Entity, Stakeholders and Views.
Stakeholder role identification and analysis is an inevitable part of enterprise architecture development. In last week’s discussion, we briefly covered the importance of enterprise entity and its various types. Enterprise stakeholder analysis and identification should be the next step towards building the foundation for enterprise architecture. Identifying stakeholder taxonomy within enterprise entity development allows for effective requirement traceability and change management. “Stakeholder surrogacy has powerful and paradoxical connotations in requirements engineering. It is almost a dogma that projects should seek out ever-closer dialogue with stakeholders – consider the current fashion for Integrated Project Teams, facilitated workshops, rapid prototyping, agile development with user stories, etc. Yet all the time, the obvious truth is glossed over: that it is remarkably rare to be able to talk to many stakeholders in the flesh.” (Alexander). Stakeholder analysis is one of the most common treatments in any project. On the other hand, it is also a puzzle that suffers from wrong diagnosis and treatment. Enterprise Stakeholders may be human beings, an entity or a computational system. This week, we will introduce enterprise stakeholders and discuss their importance within enterprise architecture.
In our Enterprise Architecture discussion series, we have recently introduced the concept of reference architecture framework that helps build the actual enterprise architecture frameworks eventually helping build an enterprise. We have presumably read tons of enterprise architecture articles which talk about different topics on the subject. Now let us frame a few questions about enterprise architecture. Who builds the enterprise? What do we build within the enterprise? What are the basic activities that happen within the enterprise? All these questions are very important in terms of understanding enterprise architecture. The enterprise is actually represented by “Enterprise Business Entity” or “Enterprise Entity” or simply “Entity”. Therefore, enterprise entity builds the enterprise. In other words, we can say that understanding the concept of Enterprise entity will help us understand the enterprise puzzle.
In last few weeks we have traveled across few major sectors of Enterprise Architecture Framework concepts. This week we will try to understand the different concepts emphasised by enterprise architecture frameworks. In the current market all of us may have come across different players in enterprise architecture framework arena. There are different top management organisations who have build their own enterprise architecture framework and advised their customers to use them. On the contrary few other well-known independent enterprise architecture frameworks also exist and do very well. However, one very common similarity between them is that none of them are derived from enterprise reference architecture framework like GERAM. These EAs deliver different parts of enterprise concepts, but mostly fail to address different important aspects of any enterprise architecture concepts. This week we will train our neurons to get some knowledge about the EA world concepts.
So far we have got a clear understanding of the matrix nature of the enterprise. We have acknowledged enterprise as a complex adaptive system. As a complex adaptive system enterprise organisations must be able to respond to a multi-dimensional formidable array of challenges to survive within this adaptive ecology. Today’s enterprise leaders are scratching their hair in an attempt to survive the emergence nature of the enterprise, maintain the requisite variety of nested systems in a sub-optimal level with the right level of iterative co-evolution. One of the most important challenges is to manage on the edge of chaos of ever changing new business models and unpredictable nature of customer demand. On the other hand enterprise is still struggling to find out a simple equation between outsourcing, service oriented digitalised globalisation, international competition, mergers & acquisitions of companies, technological innovation and information exchange flow. This complex adaptive system needs a complete solution to meet the challenges and create enterprise architecture with the recommendation of enterprise architecture framework, which in turn is created under the foundational recommendation of reference architecture.
