Architecting for the complete systems lifecycle March 5, 2009
Posted by chriseaton in IT Architecture, architecture, architecture method, artitecture, methodology, methods, total lifecycle thinking.Tags: architecture, architecture framework, architecture method, architecture methodology, artitecture, IT Architecture, it-it gap, method, service delivery, systems lifecycle, technical architecture, technology, total liifecycle thinking, waterfall
add a comment
Architecture is often focused on the implementation of a successful solution and it is easy to understand that the immediate concern of an architect and the project itself is to successfully go live.
I suspect that few (perhaps even zero!) architects or indeed project managers are incented on the long term success of the implementation and success of a solution over a number of years. The following diagram is my own version of the waterfall model.
The model looks pretty close to any other version of the waterfall model, but includes linkage to IT Strategy and Enterprise Architecture, and at the tail end to Service Delivery, Service Management and the eventual decommission of the system. The architectural thinking should included all these phases. The later end is often forgotten with little consideration to how Service Delivery/Service Management will run, diagnose, recover and ensure the solution meets the required service levels. This is often referred to the IT-IT Gap, where the implementation project does not talk to the service delivery/service management world, and at handover from project to run… there are issues which could have been avoided by total life cycle thinking.
The artITechiture solution architecture method makes explicit reference to each phase in the recommended documentation, the documentation should be considered both a formal document but also a prompt for thinking about all aspects of the systems life-cycle.
artITechitecture Solution Architecture Method March 4, 2009
Posted by chriseaton in IT Architecture, architecture, architecture method, methodology, methods.Tags: architecture, architecture decisions, architecture diagrams, architecture method, architecture methodlogy, architecture overview, architecture risk, change cases, method, non functional requirements, project lifecycle, risk, solution architecture, solution architecture method, technology, waterfall
add a comment
Today I am publishing the artITecture architecture method. This is a complete architectural method to think about and document a solution level architecture. An overview of the artITecture method can be found in this presentation.
All work product descriptions and templates can be downloaded from this page.
This is the first draft, comments are corrections are welcomed, i am certain it is not error free nor that I have managed to consider every aspect of solution architecture – more minds will improve it.
I am particularly interested in contributions to data and infrastructure architecture, i will credit any contribution but it must be given freely and without any copyright implication.
