Mike Walker's Blog

Should We Continue to Invest in Enterprise Architecture?

Dave Linthicum attempts to address this question in a recent blog post on his Real World SOA | David Linthicum blog. See the article here:

http://weblog.infoworld.com/realworldsoa/archives/2008/04/should_we_conti.html

Check out this post as it is a good read to at the very least give a sanity check on your EA efforts. I also find being the "Devil's Advocate" at times is also healthy. Always hanging out on the band wagon for too long can cause of a lot of damage.

 

 

Here is a snippet from Dave's post:

Truth-be-told most enterprises are not spending that much on enterprise architecture. Indeed, for most of the Global 2000 there is a lone architect, with a couple of staffers, that has no budgetary nor referential authority, thus no results. You can't "influence" your way to success, you have to have some kind of hammer drop on somebody's head if they don't follow the core architectural principles…it's called governance.

To take a step back I really like articles that challenge the ideals of a practice. For me there are some themes in the article that make a lot of sense. These include:

• EA Viability - If EA is broken evaluate if you should really continue it?  Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes the answer is tweak, augment, enhance, etc.
• Architecture Governance- There needs to be "teeth" in architecture development processes. I can't emphasize that enough. However, what I do disagree with is the "traffic cop EA" or "dropping the hammer". That isn't productive and ultimately pushes teams away from EA. Let the auditors and compliance guys do that.
• EA Authority - EA's have no budgetary or referential authority thus no results. I agree with the first bit but not the second. I can speak from experience that I was able to effectively change the organization by not having direct reports nor a budget. I was a trusted partner and a technology enabler. From a senior management perspective my job was to keep the company out of the Wallstreet Journal. This was attractive to LOB CIOs and above. But the common architect working on SOA activities valued EA's because they could help validate their thinking, mitigate risk and help with the design.
• Validate the need for EA - "Perhaps it's time to send a message, and pull the plug [on enterprise architecture]. At least that will drive some change." I wanted to highlight this message because I think if EA isn't working for you, try living with out it for awhile. See if you revert back to that thinking or if there are business or technical drivers lead you back.

 

One last comment that I will make is that architecture in general is maturing. This is in the definition of what architecture is, the process in which we derive to an architecture and the role of an architect. With standards bodies such as the OpenGroup  we are seeing a 230 percent increase in certifications and 50 percent of permanent IT jobs in the U.K. include TOGAF as a required skill set. This was a survey done by ITJobsWatch this year.

So even though I feel that EA is a great practice to have it's not for every organization.  EA is a hard thing to do and most organizations iterate through several different models before they get it right. There is nothing wrong with that. At the end of the day you are tailoring it to your business needs. And if you do not need EA do not do it for the sake of doing EA. This is true of other processes like Six Sigma, ITIL, etc.

Thanks David for asking the hard questions and for your candid observations. Great stuff!

 

Tags: Enterprise Architecture

New Financial Components Released for Insurance and Capital Markets

   

 

Claims Processing Reference Architecture

Claims Processing Reference Architecture provides quality services in the field of Auto Insurance Claims Processing however these components can be leveraged for other forms of claims processing such as: Home, Medical, Mortgage, and other general claims processing services to work on behalf of clients for better advanced services. Today, global insurance industry is facing a challenge to provide cutting edge services and value added customer experience coupled with faster response time and easily adaptable services. Like with the other Financial Services architectures released, this reference architecture leverages the ACORD standard throughout. This insurance interoperability with both Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) and custom built applications in your enterprise.

 

Shown above is the flow and business process demonstrated in the reference architecture. There are multiple personas involved from third parties, agents and internal personal such as various underwriters.

All of this workflow is managed from Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) and uses various technologies to implement.

Demo

 

Get the code and the binary installers: Claims Processing Reference Architecture

 

Capital Markets Structured Product Creation

This reference architecture addresses the space of structured product creation.  This is unique and complex process in capital markets. This is due largely to non standardization and isn't often like anything the bank is already trading. This presents a problem in that these types of deals are unlikely to be captured in a core trading system immediately.

Below is an illustration of the process captured from the creation of the product to selling and finally managing that product.

Demo

 

Get the code and the binary installers: Capital Markets Reference Architecture

 

Refreshed Installers Available

1. Broker Commissions Reference Architecture
2. Loan Origination Reference Architecture
3. Online Banking Reference Architecture

 

Get the code and the binary installers: Claims Processing Reference Architecture

 

Capital Markets Structured Product Creation

This reference architecture addresses the space of structured product creation.  This is unique and complex process in capital markets. This is due largely to non standardization and isn't often like anything the bank is already trading. This presents a problem in that these types of deals are unlikely to be captured in a core trading system immediately.

Below is an illustration of the process captured from the creation of the product to selling and finally managing that product.

Demo

 

Get the code and the binary installers: Capital Markets Reference Architecture

 

Refreshed Installers Available

1. Broker Commissions Reference Architecture
2. Loan Origination Reference Architecture
3. Online Banking Reference Architecture

 

Get the code and the binary installers: Claims Processing Reference Architecture

 

Capital Markets Structured Product Creation

This reference architecture addresses the space of structured product creation.  This is unique and complex process in capital markets. This is due largely to non standardization and isn't often like anything the bank is already trading. This presents a problem in that these types of deals are unlikely to be captured in a core trading system immediately.

Below is an illustration of the process captured from the creation of the product to selling and finally managing that product.

Demo

 

Get the code and the binary installers: Capital Markets Reference Architecture

 

Refreshed Installers Available

1. Broker Commissions Reference Architecture
2. Loan Origination Reference Architecture
3. Online Banking Reference Architecture

 

Get the code and the binary installers: Claims Processing Reference Architecture

 

Capital Markets Structured Product Creation

This reference architecture addresses the space of structured product creation.  This is unique and complex process in capital markets. This is due largely to non standardization and isn't often like anything the bank is already trading. This presents a problem in that these types of deals are unlikely to be captured in a core trading system immediately.

Below is an illustration of the process captured from the creation of the product to selling and finally managing that product.

Demo

 

Get the code and the binary installers: Capital Markets Reference Architecture

 

Refreshed Installers Available

1. Broker Commissions Reference Architecture
2. Loan Origination Reference Architecture
3. Online Banking Reference Architecture

Top EA Challenges Are People and Business Issues

Gartner just recently published an article titled "Top EA Challenges Are People and Business Issues".

If you have a subscription you can find the article at:

http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=640107&subref=browse

Gartner did a great job gathering up resources and surveys on this.

 

Tags: Enterprise Architecture

Making Sense of Architecture Standards

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Yesterday I attended the Architecture track at the Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) Summit. The format was quite different than other forums. The architect forums was based on a collaborative approach where three is no agenda or themes and it is up to the participants to create it. It was very effective and thought I would share my thoughts with the rest of you.

So I facilitated two sessions on Enterprise Architecture. The first asking the question, what is EA? And the second, what are the important standards in the EA space?

The goal of the second session wasn't necessarily trying to get at what are the standards but rather what are the more prevalent and most impactful.

After a bit of white-boarding with the group and dialog we quickly derived to a way to classify the standards that we have been talking about.

The image above show the segments or classification of these standards. By asking basic questions such as How, What, When, Who and Why we can also simplify this a bit. Starting from the bottom up lets talk about what was discussed and I'll add some of my thoughts as well.

Taxonomy and Ontology

Every system has an architecture. In fact, a system could have many architectures. In IEEE 1471, an architecture is a conception of a system. There may be many conceptions of a system.

What this provides to the enterprise architect, solutions architect or domain architect is a way to have a constant set of terms for describing what it is they are building. This should be at the core to your architecture activities. Downstream benefits include further reuse of architectures, design patterns, architecture modeling and traciablity of systems to business capabilities.

The beauty of all this is that this taxonomy is flexible. Meaning that System, Mission, Environment and Architecture, are all conceptual in nature. There are no requirements ("shalls") in the standard pertaining to these entities. The requirements in the standard apply to the items below which pertain to the concrete representation of an architecture.

For more information on IEEE 1471 go to their web site at: http://www.iso-architecture.org/ieee-1471/index.html

 

Information Model and Decision Support

The Zachman Framework was brought up many times during the conversation but in various forms. We ended up classifying Zachman as decision support. The reason for this was that Zachman and other derivatives of Zachman focus more on:

• What are the right questions
• How do I organize those questions
• What do those answers mean

The Zachman Framework excels at these activities. However where things start to break down is how to orchestrate those questions. Meaning what is the process in which I get the information, consume it, process it and ultimately make it actionable.

The ideal goal here would be to use the Zachman Framework in conjunction with the Process Capabilities coupled with a defined Architecture Taxonomy.

For more information visit the Zachman Framework  web site at: http://www.zachmaninternational.com/2/Zachman_Framework.asp

 

Process Framework

As mentioned above when talking about decision support, there is a need for a process to wrap how we make our decisions. This gives Enterprise Architects the ability to have repeatability in their processes.

Below you will see the TOGAF Architecture Development Method (ADM) "crop circle" which outlines the process framework.

ADM provides a framework which can support man other standards and frameworks. It is technology agnostic and is more focused on how architecture processes should be orchestrated. This allows organizations to:

• Preserve existing organizational structures (if desired)
• Use homegrown processes and existing frameworks and standards

Having this higher level process framework is essential to architects. Thee are a series of benefits for the organization:

• Constancy in how solutions are created
• The right people are selected for the right job
• Proper metrics can be obtained to gauge health of the EA process
• Predictability of results which lends to being able to apply some level of risk management to decisions

Actors

Out of all the topics, this was discussed the most. There is a great deal of ambiguity in the industry around what are the required skill sets of an architect. There are some bodies that help with that task.

• OpenGroup ITAC Program - This is for the practitioner. When you have many years of experience and you want to be accepted in the industry as a credible architect.
• IASA - For the aspiring architects that is largely academically focused. This program provides a program for those that have little architecture experience and want to get into architecture.

Both have a role and are valid in their own ways. However, each one of these has a specific niche.

Manage

This topic is indirectly related but still very relevant. This aspect covers PMO based processes, service management and IT Governance aspects. In the service management area specifically we are seeing closer alignment with EA. The latest version of ITIL has alignment with EA practices.

See my previous blog post: http://blogs.msdn.com/mikewalker/archive/2007/07/06/itil-moving-towards-enterprise-architecture.aspx

 

 

Putting it all Together

Thankfully there have been other like minded individuals folks at OpenGroup and alike that have thought about this problem. Below are some overlays and descriptions of putting these pieces together.

TOGAF + Zachman

Read this article for more information:

http://www.opengroup.org/architecture/togaf8-doc/arch/chap39.html

 

TOGAF + IEEE 1471

TOGAF adoption of IEEE 1471 happened in 2000 with TOGAF version 6.0. There is a great article that gives an impact assessment on this and the benefits of using 1471 with TOGAF.

http://www.enterprise-architecture.info/Images/Documents/IEEE-1471-togaf-impact.pdf

 

Other Important Standards & Frameworks

It's important to not that there are a lot of standards out there. We haven't scratched the surface on all the various specifications and standards for EA. Below you will find other standards that you may be interested in as well.

Other EA Frameworks

• DODAF
• TEAF
• FEAF
• CADM
• MODAF

 

Tags: Enterprise Architecture

Japan's Largest Publisher talks about the Enterprise Architecture Toolkit (EATK)

Sorry, this is only in Japanese. However you can try out the new Live Translator Service to view the page in Jap-Glish.

http://www.windowslivetranslator.com/BV.aspx?ref=LandingPage&MKT=en-US&lp=ja_en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fitpro.nikkeibp.co.jp%2Farticle%2FNEWS%2F20080414%2F298870%2F

 

「EA（Enterprise Architecture）を支援するツールのユーザー・インタフェースは今後， Microsoft Office Wordが主流にな

る」。こう語るのは，米MicrosoftのMike Walker氏（Architecture Strategy Team，Financial Services Architecture Strategist，写真）だ。Walker氏は，同社が無償で提供するEAの支援ツール「Microsoft Enterprise Architecture Tool Kit（EATK）」の普及に携わっている。

EATKは，EAを定義する業務標準や開発標準に関する情報を管理するソフト。論理，物理，ネットワーク，セキュリティといった様々な観点でまとめられたアーキテクチャに関するデータを整理して管理する。パターン化された業務フローやソフトウエア・コンポーネントなどの情報も管理対象にできる。Walker氏が言及しているのは，EATKを採用したときのユーザー・インタフェースのことだ。

http://itpro.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/NEWS/20080414/298870/

 

 

Tags: Enterprise Architecture

Japan Strategic Architecture Forum - Day 2

So I am a little late with this content...  But I have a good excuse :) The post is a bit delayed as there has been very limited internet connection at the resort. I guess in Japan a resort is really meant to be a resort. Meaning no connections with work. I like that idea...

The second and last day of the of the Japan Strategic Architecture Forum (SAF) had two keynotes from both a customer and Microsoft on the future of S+S.

 

Unfortunately the majority of the sessions were in Japanese so I can't give you a great recap of the events but I can share with you what the announcement was from my presentation.

Enterprise Architecture Toolkit Alpha Announcement

The Enterprise Architecture Toolkit (EATK) was announced at the the forum. The EATK pre-release is in Alpha release form. Initially, we will offering the EATK to a limited set of customers that are interested in the solution accelerator.

 

The EATK capabilities include:

• Repository - Meta-data repository for uniting enterprise processes, storing existing architecture assets and a catalog for patterns (Software Factories in Microsoft terms or Architecture Building Blocks (ABB) in TOGAF ADM terms)
• Architecture Management - Portal and Workflow assets that aid in the processes and govern architecture creation through the SDLC or through post production service management processes.
• Strategy Management - Portal and Workflow that aid in the creation of as-is or current state architecture, to-be or future state architectures and the management of technology life cycles of architectures.
• Community - Portal technologies that aid in the communication and collaboration, vetting of ideals through-out the enterprise, communication of Principles, Policies, Standards and Design Patterns, Add-Ins and Templates for architecture development.
• Modeling - Usage scenarios for how to leverage Microsoft Visio to correlate architecture information from the Architecture Meta-Data Repository to Visio diagrams and shapes.

Since this is a solution accelerator the EATK capabilities are implemented as a series of scenarios.

Over the course of the next several months I will be publishing content to both the Microsoft Enterprise Architecture Portal and to my blog on how I feel the EATK addresses the various challenges of the EA space.

If you are interested in providing feedback, piloting or just having a conversation into this process, it isn't too late. Please send me an e-mail request at mikewalk [at] microsoft.com. We have a limited number of early adopter slots for both the Japanese and America geographies.

I have included my presentation in both Japanese and English below. I would encourage you to take a look and provide feedback to the overview of the tooling and concepts presented below. I may also include audio at some point.

 

Local Japanese Content

Below is the localized Japanese content for the customers and partners that attended the Strategic Architecture Forum.

EATK Poster

Presentation

| View | Upload your own

 

English Version of Content

Poster

 

Presentation

| View | Upload your own

Tags: Enterprise Architecture

 

English Version of Content

Poster

 

Presentation

| View | Upload your own

Tags: Enterprise Architecture

Updates to the Financial Services Component Library

Hello everyone! More news on the Financial Services Component Library front.  I have developed a series of videos that give a solution overview. These are helpful for those that want to see these components in action before downloading.

There have also been updates to the source code and the MSI installers.

Links

See below for links to the projects:

• ACORD Software Factory (insurance messaging framework)
• Broker Commissions Reference Architecture
• Capital Markets
• Claims
• Insurance Rating
• Life Insurance Reference Architecture
• Loan Origination Reference Architecture
• Online Banking Reference Architecture

Videos

Videos of the components have been uploaded as well:

Broker Commissions

Video: Broker Commissions Reference Architecture

Life Insurance

Video: Life Insurance Reference Architecture

Online Banking

Video: Online Banking Reference Architecture

Life Insurance

Video: Life Insurance Reference Architecture

Online Banking

Video: Online Banking Reference Architecture

Life Insurance

Video: Life Insurance Reference Architecture

Online Banking

Video: Online Banking Reference Architecture

Life Insurance

Video: Life Insurance Reference Architecture

Online Banking

Video: Online Banking Reference Architecture

Japan Strategic Architecture Forum - Day 1

Today was the first day of the of the Japan Strategic Architecture Forum (SAF). So far there have been some great sessions. We will also be posting the presentations online.

The Keynote

My boss, Simon Guest was the first keynote speaker of the day. He presented Microsoft's architecture strategy for Software + Services (S+S). He outlined a S+S taxonomy for describing the various elements of S+S. What was great about this presentation is that it highlighted various patterns for common solution types such as:

• A simple HTML site
• A Community Wiki (e.g., wikipedia.org)
• A Photo Sharing Site (e.g., Flickr.com)
• A Social Network Site (e.g., MySpace.com)

Each one of these patterns where overlayed over the taxonomy to show the architect how to orchestrate services provided by Microsoft for these types of solutions. Essentially it provides a great planning and road mapping tool when trying to determine how build or how to extend existing web based applications into the Web 2.0 and S+S architecture types.

 

Enterprise Architecture in Japan

My trip here I have found that there has been a great deal of work in the EA space here in Japan. Like many other geographies Visio and Word are used by architects to describe their IT assets. Automation is essential here.

The toolkit provides templates and integration adapters from Office 2003 tool sets to a repository. For the customers in Japan this is used as a jump start to EA activities.

You can find out more here (no English though):

http://www.microsoft.com/japan/business/industry/gov/download/EATool.mspx

 

News from Japan SAF

Another interesting tidbit is that Yahoo! Japan is launching some new search services using Silverlight technologies. The goals are to make search multi-dimensional instead of based on a hierarchy.

A video is provided on the Microsoft Japan Site that shows the beta version of the new Yahoo! Search.

Press Release: http://www.microsoft.com/japan/presspass/detail.aspx?newsid=3411

Application Specifics: http://www.microsoft.com/japan/products/expression/creatorsEX/gallery_y.html

 

Will try to update you more...