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315 days ago
While looking at this blog post from CES2009, I was struck by the thought of how our perception of size changes over time. Consider this: In the 1950's, the term "mainframe" was used to describe the earliest of computers which were so large they were housed in their own building. In the 1960's, the term "mini computer" was used to describe computers that were as large as a refrigerator. In the 1970's, the term "micro computer" was used to describe "personal" computers that could fit on or under a desk. In the 1980's, the term "luggable" was used to describe a computer that could be "easily" transported around. In the 1990's, the term "laptop" was used to describe a computer that was lightweight enough to sit in your lap. Today, we have "notebooks" and "netbooks" and "pda's" and phones that are more powerful and have more memory than the original ...
405 days ago
Technorati Tags: Software Architecture,technical debt,credibility debt The term "technical debt" is used by managers to describe a development team’s situation when it has not consistently met the defined quality goals for the project. They use the phrase "paying down our technical debt" to describe the time lost in bringing a project up to the defined quality standards. In a way, it is an accurate phrase that I can live with. On the other hand, it leads me to believe that we have another type of debt that is more serious: credibility debt . Projects are usually difficult to get moving, and everyone wants their project to be "by-the-book" of whatever methodology has been chosen (or hacked together from the current methodology- du-jour ). The problem is that most projects actually start moving into development before the quality standards have been completely defined, and adding those definitions at any point after the start ...
561 days ago
I was recently reading an article entitled " A Study of Architect Roles by IASA Sweden " by Daniel Akinine in which he interviews Pontus Gagge, who makes this statement: "However, we need to keep in mind that a role is a 'hat, not a head' ; the role describes the current engagement, not the totality of our interests and skills, and that, generally we will have areas in which we are comparatively stronger." This statement struck me as particularly true, since many people move in and out of the role of architect quite frequently. In the context of the statement, Mr. Gagge makes the point that when a person moves into the role of "architect", that person does not forget or forsake any of the other skills, experience, wisdom and knowledge that they have acquired in previous roles. Quite the contrary, an effective architect leverages those intangible assets to help him/her excel in that role. I think the inverse of Mr. Gagge's ...
582 days ago
Technorati Tags: Software Architecture,Patterns In my neck of the woods we have several ice cream shops that are part of the Bruster's Real Ice Cream franchise. Let me tell you: they have good ice cream. In the dead of winter you will find people at the drive-through window ordering their favorite flavors. I know they've certainly gotten their share of money from my family! Every week since January, however, we've been passing by one of Bruster's locations that has a sign up that reads "Will Reopen Feb". It's April, and they're still not open. I don't know if this store is gone for good, but whatever the case, no "cold gold" is being served up right now. That got me to thinking about why franchises fail. There seems to be some variation in the actual numbers, but it is commonly reported that less than 5% of all franchises fail. Researching the topic on the internet yields a large number of reasons, some of which seem entirely valid: ...
585 days ago
Technorati Tags: Ruth Malan,Bredemeyer,software,architecture,enterprise planner,enterprise architect I've just finished a 4-day software architecture course with Ruth Malan of Bredemeyer Consulting, and I must say it was a very rewarding week. My eyes have been lifted up to see beyond the immediate horizon, and I've come away with a renewed hope and a sense of enthusiasm for the challenges that my team and company will be facing. Perhaps the real goal of any workshop such as this is to stir the imagination and awaken the mind. I'm sure that tomorrow after I've slept on these ideas, they won't seem so extraordinary, but at least this evening they seem relevant. The idea that has been stirring in my mind relates to how organizations view their disparate systems and infrastructure. Consider this : view your business as a city and pretend that you are flying over the city at about 5,000 feet. Looking down you can see a lot of buildings, ...
