This site is a mix of posts on modelling in the ArchiMate language, posts on Enterprise Architecture (part of the governance on — mainly IT-based — transformation), and IT in general. Here is a list of articles that are what I consider to be my key posts on IT in general (technology, governance in organisations, society).
First: on the effect of IT on society, starting with what happens in organisations, ending in society at large (if you read only one, read the last one). Common foundation: logic is something that behaves differently than humans do and this has consequences.
 Blame the mathematicians! - Long ago, when computing started the ones starting it were mathematicians. This was logical as the machines were machines executing logic, the mathematician's bread and butter. This has led to a few side-effects that make it harder to manage IT well. |
 A tipping point in the information revolution - Because of the sheer volume of IT in the world, the behaviour of IT itself is becoming more and more an 'independent' factor, and we humans are adapting to it. Digital enterprise, digital transformation, Agile and DevOps are all illustrations of this tipping pont in the information revolution. |
 IT is us - The amount of IT we have brought in the world is turning the human species into something 'extended'. IT has behaviour and as such is an amplifier of our intentions. IT is us, it is inseparable from us. What culture does your organisation's IT embody? |
 Gossip, Trust and the Information Revolution (‘value’ vs. ‘values’) - Our massive use of IT (the information revolution with its information inertia and its fast but stupid behaviour) is enabling our innate behaviour to surge against our learned behaviour and that is severely damaging the social structures we humans have created. Why is this happening and what can we do about it? |
Next: two articles explaining (limits of) two key technology trends/hypes: Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing. These articles do not need prerequisite technical knowledge and can work as basic explanation of the technologies in question as well.
 Something is (still) rotten in the kingdom of artificial intelligence - Nobody can deny that artificial intelligence (or machine learning, deep learning, or cognitive computing) is booming these days. And — as before, as this is in fact the second (or third, depending on how you count) round for AI —… Read More Something is (still) rotten in the kingdom of artificial intelligence |
 To be and not to be — is that the answer? - If you believe much of the reporting done on quantum computing, it is around the corner. We look at how quantum computing works and how realistic it is that it will be available any time soon. With a small appendix on the continuum hypothesis. |
Three articles on some fundamentals of the Enterprise/IT Architecture trade:
 Agile teaches us the true meaning of Architecture - What is architecture? Not of cities or buildings, but the organisational version: enterprise architecture, solution architecture, application architecture, software architecture, business architecture, infrastructure architecture? My neck hairs generally rise a little when we architects turn to this particularly vexing and… |
The Great Escape: “EA is not about IT!” - As soon as you, as an enterprise architect, want to address the problem of the complex Business-IT landscape, and you actually acknowledge in a discussion that Enterprise Architecture has come into existence because of the complexity of modern IT-laden landscapes,… |
 Losing a Limpet – What happens when we don’t have Enterprise Architecture? - Recently, I had a conversation with someone about how to do enterprise architecture. I prepared that conversation by trying to condense my basic argument for the`enterprise chess‘ approach to the absolute minimum. I started out with the question: “Suppose we don’t… Read More Losing a Limpet – What happens when we don’t have Enterprise Architecture? |
Three articles on the governance and management of complex Business-IT landscapes:
 From Dark Scrum to Broken SAFe — some real problems of Agile-at-scale - There is a massive movement of organisations moving to agile-at-scale (e.g. SAFe). Ironically, it can turn into an organisation becoming one big 'project', the opposite of what agile wants to achieve. |
 How well does your top management understand IT? - I am proposing a way to 'measure' the 'understanding' the top of an organisation has — how capable it is of making informed strategic decisions — on a subject, e.g. legal, finance, or what is my particular interest: IT. |
 Lifecycle Management – Let the Sunshine in - Standardisation/rationalisation is a tool and a wish of many enterprise and it architects, focused as they are on simplification of the complex. But while superficially you can be very standardised, lifecycle events of all the parts can still turn the landscape into a 'hard problem'. Managing lifecycles is something organisations wrestle with because of the complexities. A model to manage lifecycles of items in your landscape — called Sunshine Lifecycle Management — is described. |
