"How Enterprise Architecture enables Web 2.0"
Uche Ogbuji
Jacquard context:
http://blogs.msdn.com/nickmalik/archive/2006/04/22/581343.aspx
"Enterprise Architecture would be completely unnecessary if you could
simply teach all of the practitioners of IT software development to
build the right systems. In fact, that was the first approach most
organizations used.
...
So Enterprise Architecture is born. Not to be a bastion of smart people
who are somehow smarter than anyone else. Nope. _To be a group of
smart people who are incented differently._"
(I winced at "incented". I hate that nonce word.)
Anyway, I think EA is not just about keeping people above the fray to
work against dumb decisions, but also to aid in communication. Many
enterprise failures are not just of decision-making, but primarily of
communication. That's why Jacquard places at a premium communication
that's just formal enough to bind a team together while not being so
formal that it discourages attention, stifles creativity and flexibility.
"Enterprise Architecture is not the Central Soviet of IT. We are the
city planners who set zoning, inspect new construction, enforce
setbacks, and protect wetlands. You are just as free to make a brave
new world of Web 2.0 with EA in the picture. "
This is a key point, because I've seen over and over in the enterprise
where well-meaning architectural control boards end up hampering Web
projects with stipulations that are more suited to traditional
enterprise development. The Jacquard principle "Keep architectural
decisions close to the project" is born of observing such problems.
--
Uche Ogbuji http://uche.ogbuji.net
Founding Partner, Zepheira http://zepheira.com
Linked-in profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ucheogbuji
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