The growing interdependency of our systems is driving us from a simple environment towards a highly complex environment. This is leading to a strategy of choosing from many good solutions where no perfect solution is obtainable. Enterprise Architecture (and the other architecture practices) can help sort those good solutions and help make sure the choice you make is along the path to desired future state.

My presentation on SOA in the Enterprise – Maturity is Key has been posted in a couple of places.
First, on the EDUCAUSE site:
EDUCAUSE – Enterprise 2009 Site
and at Slideshare.net:
Soa Maturity is the Key
View more presentations from jimphelps.

 
 
I’ve been working with our CIO on the I.T. strategic planning initiative.  At the same time, I’ve been working with the Technical Directors and Operational Directors on planning at the technology level.  They have been creating a map of what technologies are used to support our services.  I’ve had my head in the blue sky [...]

 
I was chatting with a colleague about the new EDUCAUSE slogan, “Uncommon Thinking for the Common Good” when I realized that the saying encapsulates one way to think of my work as an I.T. Architect.  “Uncommon Thinking for the Common Good” is what I try to foster in the teams that I work with.  [...]

 
I’ve been pondering, wondering and worrying about how to bring value out of ITANA.org to the world at large.  I struck upon a metaphor over dinner with a friend at EDUCAUSE recently that brought my vision and the issues I’m pondering into sharp light for me at least.
 
I watched Captains Courageous, a wonderful 1937 [...]

 
Brick diagrams are a strategic planning tool that I mentioned in passing in my ITANA talk at EDUCAUSE.  Since then, I’ve had several people ask for more information.  So here it is… more information.
 
Brick Diagrams are used by NIH in their Enterprise Architecture planning process.  You can see the NIH brick diagrams and their taxonomy [...]

Just had a hallway (okay, exhibit floor conversation) with Tom Black of Stanford University.  They have ideas on embedded enrollment functions in several places: inside their LMS, available via iPhone applications and elsewhere.  They would expose those enrollment functions as services then write to those services.  Interesting.  We also talked about orchestrating a flow, click [...]

Introductions of people.  A lot of interesting constituent groups that I didn’t realize existed:  I.T. Metrics, Learning Space Design.  http://www.educause.edu/groups
Cynthia Golden – VP for EDUCAUSE is doing the EDUCAUSE update.
There was a new President last year.  They have been doing a lot of change management over the past year.  There is a [...]

Robert Handler of Gartner is presenting.
This is one of seven Key Initiatives for Enterprise Architecture.
“Failure to… change the behavior of others leads to failure itself”.  You must understand the people aspects and you must sell EA to succeed.
They had 600+ clients take a maturity survey to see where they are at in the area of [...]

Merri Beth Lavagnino – Privacy and Policy
Policy and privacy are really consideration of the human aspects and impacts of technology.  Policies are: strategic direction and operating philosophy (which are usually informal and cultural), Public and Institutional policies (these are both documented and usually legal documents).
Institutional policy – a statement that reflect the philosophies and [...]