This deck will cover some of the lessons Cerner learned and the changes they made so that their agile practices were not the death of architecture.

1. Jennifer Lim
Director of Enterprise Architecture
November 2018
Will your agile practices be the
death of architecture?

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About Cerner.

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About Cerner. People and cultures.

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Emerging Practices
Enterprise
Information
Management
Process Design &
Associate
Engagement
Information
Technology
Architecture
Strategic Program
Development
About My Team. Enterprise Architecture.

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Agile – Yes, it’s popular.
• By 2020, more than half of application development
organizations will use a framework for scaling agile
development. – Gartner, 2017
• Agile is a buzzword of software development, and so all DoD
software development projects are, almost by default, now
declared to be “agile.” – United States Defense Innovation
Board, 2018

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Agile BS guidance
– Defense Innovation
Board, October 2018

7. Let’s Compare. Agile. Architecture.

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Define.

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Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
– agile manifesto, 2001
http://agilemanifesto.org/

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Architecture.
Fundamental concepts or properties
of a system in its environment
embodied in its
elements, relationships, and in the
principles of its design and evolution.
– ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2011

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But fear not…ISO is catching up…
…in Systems and software engineering —
Developing user documentation in an agile
environment.

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Frameworks.

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People.

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I wear many different hats.

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I am The Architect.

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BDUF

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Those two perspectives seem to be at complete odds, don’t they?

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The speed of change makes you wonder what
will become of architecture.
Tadao Ando, Hon. FAIA
https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/12624-tadao-ando?
April 2002

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The Hill of the Buddha
Sapporo, Hokkaido
Tadao Ando
Opened in December 2015

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Are we at the death of architecture?

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Before you decide…

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Services Marketecture

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Real Life…

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Think of the goals of architecture.

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SystemsBuildings
Intra System Scope Inter System Scope Domain Scope

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…these objectives are still valid.

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In order for Architecture to co-exist with Agile,
Cerner found that we need to
change some of our expectations
around the practice of architecture to be
successful.

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5 Changes You Should Consider Making

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one size does Not fit all
Acknowledge that one size does not fit all.
We must allow for both large complex systems
and small well-contained services.

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role, not title
Shift from an architect title and “anointed one” mentality to having
this as a role that can be filled by several people.

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community
Shift from governance role or board to creating a community and
“brain trust” approach to assist

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diagrams, diagrams, diagrams
Let go of the level of details that are required in your architecture
diagrams. There are many types of diagrams, allow the team to
capture the architecture in the way that best suits their needs
(network, software, data, hardware, etc).

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agile architecture
Allow Flexibility. You must learn from each iteration and consider
impacts to architecture, just like you do within your agile coding
practices.
Discovery Delivery

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Recap: 5 Changes We Applied when Architecting
1. Acknowledge that one size does not fit all.
2. Shift from an architect title and “anointed one” mentality.
3. Shift to creating a community
4. There are many types of diagrams, allow the system to capture
the architecture that best suits their needs (network, software,
data, hardware, etc).
5. Allow Flexibility in architecting.

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We have to realize that the "age of discovery"
has brought with it a disruption of the
environment. Now architects are facing the "age
of responsibility." When you design and build
something, you have to consider what you are
taking away from the earth or the environment in
order to make something new.
Tadao Ando, Hon. FAIA
https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/12624-tadao-ando?
April 2002

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Shanghai's Poly Grand Theater, completed by Tadao Ando in 2017

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About Me.
• I lead Enterprise Architecture for Cerner, a company focused on creating
intelligent solutions for the health care industry. My team creates and
influences the technical strategies in the areas of information
management, emerging technologies, engineering practices, and IT
systems’ architecture.
• With over 18 years of experience in the telecommunications, banking and
federal, and healthcare IT industries, I’ve held strategic leadership
positions in both IT and Business domains across Data Management,
Finance, Marketing, CTO-Research, Architecture, and Application
Development.
• I hold a BS in Management Information Systems and an MBA in
Management.
Jennifer Lim
Enterprise Architecture
Cerner Corporation
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferchaselim/