The Top 10 Mistakes in Data Architecture - part 1

The IT Architecture Journal is meant to help both practitioners of IT Architecture as well as those who might hire architects. It is vital that both of these stakeholder group understand not only the core principles behind the practice of Architecture but also where and when Architecture can go wrong. Today, we're going to talk about some of the more common problems or mistakes that arise in the practice of Data Architecture. While there are no...

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Security Architecture, Defined

There are some people who don't recognize Security Architecture as its own niche within IT Architecture, but given the number of roles / positions now using the title "Security Architect," perhaps the naysayers have missed out on something. This post will examine what Security Architecture consists of and how it fits within the larger context of IT Architecture. Back in the old days, security was a lot easier. We didn't have internet connectivity...

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How to Create Product Maps

In some of our articles here you've probably noticed various types of diagrams thrown in as examples. All of these come from real-world project related exercises. When an IT Architect produces a diagram we generally refer to it as an "Artifact." While this may sound like we're talking about relics, it is simply an odd naming convention of our industry. An Artifact can be any sort of deliverable; a Word doc, a spreadsheet or perhaps even a file associated...

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Lifecycle Management, Defined

Like many other aspects of Information Technology over the past 15 to 20 years, Lifecycle Management has evolved quite a bit. In fact, it didn't generally even get referred to as "Lifecycle Management" until about ten years ago. It (both the term and the practice) has become more expansive in nature as time has passed. This is an interesting not just due to the evolution which has occurred to the surrounding practice, it is also the one area in...

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Aligning Lifecycle Methodologies - Part 1

In a previous post, I contended that requirements are still an important part of most enterprise environments, even those that might be using Agile lifecycle methodologies. However, I didn't specify exactly how those requirements should be captured — or even what constitutes a requirement. This is an important question when determining how to align multiple lifecycle approaches within one organization (the need for which is much more common than...

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Understanding Architecture Accessibility

The topic of Architecture Accessibility may sound a bit abstract upon first glance, but it is in fact one of the most important considerations as to whether an architecture effort will add value or not to an enterprise (or any particular solution lifecycle). It is also directly related (or perhaps a part of) the most important consideration for any architecture - its usability. Let's step back for a moment and paint the background a bit. IT Architecture...

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SOA, Redefined

Once upon a time, SOA (short for Services Oriented Architecture) was the king of IT Hype; for years people talked incessantly about it, attempted to extol its virtues and many tried using it within their own enterprise environments. SOA has had mixed success over the years, but that's somewhat hard to measure for a number of reasons, including: There were conflicting definitions for it to begin with - some viewed it more as a practice or design...

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Application Architecture, Defined

As part of our initiation of the IT Architecture Journal, we've been trying to help define the landscape - we're continuing that trend today with an introduction to Application Architecture. These definitions are being provided as a foundation - both for IT Architecture education in general but also as part of our larger goal to help harmonize industry terminology and expectations regarding IT Architecture. And of course these articles also serve...

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The Difference Between IT Architecture & Subject Matter Expertise

This is a question that comes up very frequently in my line of work, although it isn't always posed as a question. The question in its most generic form goes something like this - "how much specific technical expertise should an Architect have." That's a tough one isn't it, especially if one considers themselves an IT Architect as a opposed to something much more specific (let's say a Hyperion or Informatica Architect). We've defined IT Architecture...

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Principles of Integrated Design

When people think about design they often visualize the Apple product line or user interface experts coming up with cool graphics to deploy in websites. Design in IT is much more than that though; while they are many individual piece parts of an overall lifecycle that are concerned with specific design tasks, say like the User Interface, the entire lifecycle itself is also driven by the need to create functional systems. This holds true for both...

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Business Architecture, Defined

There are a number of disciplines within IT Architecture that tend to overlap, part of this is because the definitions haven't achieved industry wide status (for example, various EA Frameworks define similar functions with different terms and they also often use the same terms differently). Part of the problem in this case though, has to do with the relative ambiguity regarding how and where IT Technology and Business drivers can or should mix....

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Introducing Design Patterns

Design Patterns are an important part of software engineering today, but what many folks don't realize is how ubiquitous they are becoming within the full spectrum of IT activities. Part of the reason this is the case is due to the flexible nature of Patterns.  Mastering Design Patterns is a critical part now of most IT Architects' roles and from a larger perspective is also becoming increasingly import for most enterprises. Before discussing...

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Data Architecture, Defined

Someone asked me what at first sounded like a very straightforward question last year; "what is Data Architecture" - or more precisely, what does it mean to you. Usually, I'm not usually at a loss for words when it comes to expounding upon IT Architecture related topics - but it occurred to me at that moment that my previous understanding of what Data Architecture really represents is or has been a little flawed or perhaps just outdated. So I gave...

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