The NIST definition of Cloud Computing from 2011 has now become so much an oversimplification that it is more often than not unhelpful, e.g. when trying to base your policies on it. Cloud or not-cloud was important when we had no clue what we were dealing with and while it was maturing, but that phase has passed. So, forget about 'IAAS' and 'PAAS', end your 'cloud policies' or cloud-specific procedures. Instead, concentrate on managing the key generic issue underlying it: the ever more complex mixes of owned and outsourced algorithms and data, regardless of oversimplistic 'cloud' concepts.
Category: Management and Organisation
Will McKinsey be the first ‘big consultancy’ that gets (enterprise) architecture right?
McKinsey seems to be the first 'big consultancy' that really frees itself from outdated, ineffective, orthodox enterprise architecture notions.
Dev, Test, Production — “It’s Turtles All The Way Down”
Most IT exists to support other IT, not your business directly. A part of this is that stack/web of platforms on which your applications depend. How does that for instance affect #informationsecurity in your designs?
Amateurs talk Strategy, Professionals talk Logistics — that is kind of true in IT as well
It is an old adagium of warfare: Amateurs talk Strategy, Professionals talk Logistics. Maybe surprisingly, this is true in IT as well. Maybe it is true in any complex and unpredictable situation, which 'big IT' is more and more turning out to be. Logistics considers Strategy a small snack.
Wanted: IT advisor. No real IT insight required.
IT is one of the few fields where it is generally considered you do not need to understand it to make decisions about it.For good IT advisors, the kind that actually understand what they are advising about, the phrase 'we need an IT advisor who above all understands the business' is a warning sign that can easily mean an environment where being an IT advisor is like being a farmer sowing seeds on hard rock.
For the Board: Essential Reading on IT Strategy
IT is notoriously hard to manage and it has been so for decades. As a result, the execution of new strategies is often exceedingly difficult. These 4 articles (2 serious, 2 a bit tongue-in-cheek) are meant to enlighten non-IT-savvy board members.
Should you derive your IT Strategy from your Business Strategy? Probably not too much.
It is generally accepted that IT Strategy must follow Business Strategy. It seems a no-brainer. But is it? There are reasons to look at it differently, reasons that become more pressing as organisations become more digital.
From Dark Scrum to Broken SAFe — some real problems of Agile-at-scale. And a way out.
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.
Don’t become an Enterprise/IT Architect…
With increasing IT volumes in the world, landscape change is getting harder and harder, and we need to adapt to that fact. Upper management is very slow to adapt and the Enterprise/IT Architect/Strategist's position becomes more frustrating as a result.
Flexplekmaffia
Dit verhaal gaat over een nieuwe hype over 'Het Nieuwe Werken'. Maar we gaan eerst even ver terug in de tijd. En schijnbaar naar een volstrekt ongerelateerd onderwerp. Logisch klinkende simplistische onzin Ergens in 1999 waren 'wij' zwanger van onze eerste. Samen gingen wij naar de borstvoedingscursus. En aldaar hoorden wij het volgende verhaal*): In…
R&A IT Strategy & Architecture 