Deze presentatie is gegeven aan de Open Universiteit te Amsterdam bij het afscheidv van prof. Lex Bijlsma. Er wordt een overzicht gegeven van enterprise architectuur, het gebruik van ArchiMate en de noodzaak om eerst te denken en dan pas te doen

1. Architecture : balance between thinking and doing
Dr. Bas van Gils
b.vangils@bizzdesign.nl

2. Bas van Gils
+31-(0)6-484 320 88
b.vangils@bizzdesign.nl
http://linkedin.com/in/basvg
http://blog.bizzdesign.com
http://www.twitter.com/basvg
“Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors.”
--Nikola Tesla (1935)
Bas van Gils
Personal
Married, two kids
Born in Tilburg, living
in Deventer
Too many hobbies
Education
Master in Information
Management &
Technology (Tilburg)
PhD in Computer
Science (Nijmegen)
Work
vtsPN
Strategy Academy /
Strategy Works
BiZZdesign

3. Agenda
Survival
• What does it take to survive
• Why is architecture important?
ArchiMate
• A brief (and abstract) introduction
• Example
3 principles
• Less is more
• It’s a journey, not a destination
• Conceptual elegance
Situations
• No two situations are alike
• Support complex & complicated domains
Research
• Completeness
• Value
• Adoption
(Unless someone has a better idea)

4. 5

5. What many organizations look like

6. Question :
how do complex enterprises survive?

7. The need for Enterprise Architecture (EA)
• Organizations these days are inherently
complex
• In order to survive and thrive, this
complexity must be managed
• An architecture (description) helps to build
a shared understanding of the enterprise
• Note 1: complexity does not have to be a
bad thing
• Note 2: not everything about an enterprise
can be understood in great detail

8. If you can not measure it,
you can not improve it
(Lord Kelvin)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Lord_Kelvin_photograph.jpg

9. EA is a conceptual tool that helps organizations get
a deeper understanding of their own structure and
of the way they work. It provides a map of the
enterprise and it is a “route planner” for business
and technology change. Important uses of it are in
systematic IT planning/ architecting and in
enhanced analysis and support for decision-making.
handbook enterprise architecture, BiZZdesign, 2012

10. Architecture (models)
Real world
Perceive Represent
Model
Conception model
Organization
of model
Fundamental
organization
of model
Based on the FRISCO report

11. Structure and behavior
structure
behavior

12. Active / passive structure
Real world
Concept:
computer
Context 1: the
computer is
“active structure”
Context 2: the
computer is
“passive structure”
The two contexts
rarely coincide
Perceive

13. ArchiMate framework
Passive structure Behavior Active structure
Executed byInvolves
Business layer
Application layer
Technology layer
Supports
Supports
Motivation
Implementation & Migration

14. Model vs view: visualization
Real world
Perceive
Mental model
ArchiMate model
Represent / model
translate
Visualization (=view)
Represent translate

15. Services: what we do
for the customer
Process: the main
pattern
Process: one of the
instantiations
IT and infrastructure
support

16. Prediction is very difficult
especially if it's about the future
(Niels Bohr)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Niels_Bohr.jpg/266px-Niels_Bohr.jpg

17. It is not the strongest of the
species that survives, nor the most
intelligent that survives. It is the
one that is the most adaptable to
change
(Charles Darwin)
http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/D/Charles-Darwin-9266433-1-402.jpg

18. Plans are worthless, but planning
is everything
(Dwight D. Eisenhower)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/General_of_the_Army_Dwight_D._Eisenhower_1947.jpg

19. Implications
There is a need to get to grips
with complexity…
… but not every aspect of the
enterprise can be analyzed
understood
We want to plot a route for
business success….
… but we don’t know what the
future will bring.

20. The 3 principles for successful architecture models
1
2
3
Model as little as possible, but not less
Maintain a (statement of) direction rather
than plan to reach a specific goal
Strife for conceptual elegance but
recognize that the real world is messy

21. Striving for (conceptual) elegance is not new
“Elegance is not a dispensable luxury but
a factor that decides between success
and failure.”
“The lurking suspicion that something
could be simplified is the world's richest
source of rewarding challenges.”
“Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.”

22. Conceptual elegance in EA
How many managers feel as if
they are in a maze because…
Maintenance cost of IT
landscape is sky-
rocketing. We keep
investing and the
problems only get
worse!
The real world is messy.
A “baseline architecture” helps to gain
an understanding of complexity
A crisp and elegant view of the future
is a prerequisite for a reliable and agile
enterprise

23. EA in different situations
• Developing an architecture makes
sense in a complicated / complex
domain
• The real world = messy
• Developing an architecture for
• Analysis
• Shared understanding
• Brainstorm solution alternatives

24. Some answers from the questionnaire
Ontwerpen in het groot (vanuit een overzicht) en ontwerpen in
het klein (vanuit een probleemstelling).
We kunnen zeggen dat de architectuur het hoe beschrijft
vanuit de behoefte tot samenhang in het totale ITlandschap,
terwijl het design betrekking heeft op een specifiek onderdeel
van dat landschap.
Architectuur is het stellen van kaders waarbinnen een ontwerp
uitgevoerd kan/moet worden.
Design is het ontwerpen van systemen binnen de kaders die
gesteld zijn door architectuur.
Dus Architectuur stelt de regels en design moet voldoen aan de
regels.

25. Model as little as possible (but not less)
The setting
• Governmental organization
• IT landscape has ‘evolved’ over the years, yet has a basis
rooted in law
• Restructuring is necessary. But how? In what order? Who
will finance it? What is impact on innovation?
Assessment
• Complicated, not complex
• Model: components, main functions / objects as well as
an outline of infrastructure
• Map out functional/ technical quality to assess priorities
Results
• Map out baseline in 10 weeks
• Developed high-level roadmap + first iteration based on a
target architecture
• (Implementation is about to start)

26. Models in a complex situation
The setting:
• Large insurance organization
• Acquires (hostile take-over) a competitor after 2
major reorganizations in 3 years.
• During integration the relation has ‘evolved’ to a
shouting match
Assessment
• Complex domain
• No “right or wrong” or “single best answer”
Results
• Used joint modeling sessions to gain a common
language and shared understanding
• We crafted a process x department map and used it
to pin-point pain points.
• This big-picture view helped brainstorm /
experiment with solution alternatives

27. Research challenges
Language evolution
• What concepts / structures / … are missing for a great EA practice?
Value
• There is a lot of evidence about the value of EA. What does modeling
contribute?
Adoption
• ArchiMate is widely adopted. Which parts are used the most? Mostly by IT or
business? Why? Are there geographical / industry differences?

28. • Architecture – like long distance
running – is an endurance game:
– it is hard work
– it takes a while before it pays off
– it gets you fit enough to face tough
challenges
• There are many advantages to using
architecture / ArchiMate modelling
(when used correctly)
• Interesting research challenges remain

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