Skip to main content

Changing Principles



In EA, architecture principles set a framework for making architectural decisions.  They help to establish a common understanding across different groups of stakeholders, and provide guidance for portfolios and projects.  Michael Durso of the LSE gave a good introduction to the idea in a webinar last week for the UCISA EA community.

Many organisations take the TOGAF architecture principles as a starting point.  These are based on the four architectural domains of TOGAF: business, information/data, applications, technology/infrastructure.  These principles tend to describe what should be done, e.g. re-use applications, buy in software rather than build it, keep data secure.  See for example the principles adopted at Plymouth University and the University of Birmingham.

Recently though, I encountered a different way of looking at principles.  The user experience design community tend to focus more on how we should do things.  E.g. we should start with user needs, use iterative development, get feedback from users, and so forth.  The UK Government Design Principles are an excellent example, often adopted by other organisations.  Our new Principal gave us another - all projects must include at least one student.
Our UX team leader and I put our heads together and looked at how we could learn from each other.  My take away was to add two new sets of principles: User Experience and Ways of Working.

By now, the number of principles was starting to become rather overwhelming.  Ideally, I'd like a few, powerful ideas that people will remember.  I was inspired by the way that Jim Phelps at the University of Washington presents just a few simple concepts.  Rather than those all the work we have already done, I have grouped all the TOGAF-style principles (including those in the new groupings) into a few strategic themes.  Our statement of principles now says:
Our services will be Strategic, User-centred, Data-driven, Reliable, Scalable, Secure and Sustainable.
I think this is easy for people to remember, and the detailed work behind each theme will provide appropriate guidance for people to use as they make decisions in their portfolios and projects.

Comments

. said…

LOVE IT ! Great article and hit the point!...this is very interesting and thoughtfully written.I am glad that you shared this helpful info with us.Thanks for the info!!!! This blog is very nice and collect good information for anyone who wants to know about this topic. i totally agree with u.nice work
href="https://nsdmacademy.com">NSDM Academy
4:15 am
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Webinar: Powering your business with Cloud Computing

On October 14th, I will be hosting a Grid Computing Now! web seminar on the topic of Cloud Computing. We have lined up two very interesting speakers who are using Cloud now to make businesses work. Ross Cooney had a good technological solution to sell but couldn't make it economic until Cloud Computing allowed him to pay for his computation only when he needed it. He will discuss the instant benefits and long term impact of cloud computing to the development, competitiveness and scalability of your application. Alan Williamson created the BlueDragon Java CFML runtime engine that powers MySpace.com. He advises several businesses and will give an overview of the different types of services available and how to avoid being locked-in to a single supplier. You can register for this event here .
Post a Comment
Read more

Business Model Canvas

A Business Model Canvas is a tool for mapping the core functions and capabilities of an organisation.  Compared to the Core Diagrams that I described in an earlier post , the business model canvas attempts to present more aspects of the business, starting with the value proposition – a statement of what the organisation offers to its users (in the business world, to its customers).  It shows the activities and resources, as Core Diagrams do, but also shows user relationships & channels, and also benefits and costs.  I’m not aware of any universities that have used this tool but you can find examples from elsewhere on the web. We are considering business model canvases as a tool for mapping the strategic capabilities of units at the University of Edinburgh.  Phil Taylor, our EA contractor, sketched an outline of what a business model canvas might begin to look like for HR: This is only intended to be suggestive: the real canvas would need to result from in-de...
2 comments
Read more