Enterprise Architecture Executive Report Abstracts

2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000

2009 | Volume 12
EA Meets SOA in a Challenged Global Economy (Vol. 12, No. 6)

Many approaches to enterprise architecture (EA) are based upon ideas that are rooted in the 1970-1980s world of internal IT shops, which puts the focus on the framework as an instrument for keeping internal IT assets in order. These approaches tend to neglect both the "soft" people-related factors that are central to successful EA and the fact that business is increasingly conducted in a collaborative fashion, using distributed Internet technologies. In this Executive Report by Paul Allen, we provide guidance that addresses the needs of organizations operating in a continually challenged global economy by harnessing ideas from service-oriented architecture (SOA) in an EA context.

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Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth: Adopting Open Software and Content (Vol. 12, No. 5)

The "open revolution" is now the mainstream. In addition to traditional markets for software and content, individuals and firms can also now look to the enormous "commons" of information and software that is openly available. This Executive Report by Joseph Feller looks at what's available, discusses how firms might use these goods, and offers some guidelines to bear in mind during the assessment and adoption process.

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Incremental SOA: Facing Reality, Coping with Change, and Improving Your Chance of Success (Vol. 12, No. 4)

This Executive Report by Douglas K. Barry describes an incremental service-oriented architecture (SOA) technique that improves project selection in such a way that the chances of success for that project are also improved. Five principles provide the basis of the technique: (1) make projects as small as possible, (2) involve stakeholders appropriately and as much as possible, (3) make decisions as late as possible, (4) reduce the restraining forces within the project as much as possible, and (5) realize that your SOA will never be done.

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Service-Oriented Architecture: Foundational Elements (Vol. 12, No. 3)

"Service-oriented architecture" (SOA) is a powerful term regularly abused by its constant reference to developmental technologies rather than its architectural approach. This Executive Report by Dr. Amit K. Maitra discusses SOA in the context of "services" as the term applies to architecture and to "architecture" as it applies to exposing the services. The new service concept is revolutionizing and accelerating the way enterprises accomplish business integration by providing a foundation for business agility with minimal cost and full potential for application reusability. This report first defines the foundational elements of SOA then argues that just as the Enterprise Service Bus connects applications to services in an SOA, a similar approach with the potential benefits of architecting a messaging foundation for the functionality of "information as a service" could and should be undertaken.

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Release Management Framework: Part II (Vol. 12, No. 2)

This Executive Report by Sebastian Konkol is the second in a two-part series focusing on the practice of release management. Release management is a method of coordinated introduction of various software modifications to the production systems environment. While the first report looked at the methodological aspects of release management implementation, this report offers a pragmatic view on the various issues directly related to release management. It provides examples of concepts employed and presents two real-world case studies.

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Producing Agile Applications (Vol. 12, No. 1)

Application developers need to handle a surprising amount of software technology. Platform suppliers cater to many architectural styles, thereby leaving a gap between their platforms and an application's business function. Filling this gap takes time and effort and reduces the "agility" -- simplicity and resilience -- of the application code. This Executive Report by Oliver Sims first identifies how software technology can be clearly separated from business function and then proposes simplifying approaches that can make the business function more "agile." Together, these elements can significantly reduce the time needed to develop distributed enterprise applications.

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2008 | Volume 11
Joined-Up Service Sourcing and Usage (Vol. 11, No. 12)

While effective service sourcing strategies are absolutely critical for effective outsourcing, they are commonly misunderstood and ill defined. Worse still, the execution of these approaches tends to be somewhat isolated, both from the domain of software architecture and development and the world of business decision making. In this Executive Report by Paul Allen, we take an inclusive approach to service sourcing, explaining in particular how SOA can be used to facilitate decisions on outsourcing and how an SOA center of excellence can work as a unit to join up what are often disparate functions. We take the lid off the service sourcing can and explain how best to organize it in terms of processes, policies, roles, and artifacts.

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Release Management Framework: Part I (Vol. 11, No. 11)

This Executive Report by Sebastian Konkol focuses on the release management framework, which is a method involving the coordinated introduction of various software modifications to the production systems environment. The method aims at global optimization by building business value through the delivery of software modifications. The framework consists of a release implementation process, which provides a skeleton for work organization and progress assessment; strict definition of the release contents able to be altered throughout the process run; a set of environments giving means of iterative release contents validation; and interrelations with other processes related to technology management, such as configuration management, problem handling, or project management. The report also discusses a means of risk management, which is embedded in the method, as well as how the method relates to business value delivery processes.

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10 Key Skills Architects Must Have to Deliver Value (Vol. 11, No. 10)

As the complexity of IT grows, more and more organizations are realizing the need for architecture. But the definition of what architecture is, the titles that architects have, and the role of an architect vary widely from one organization to another. Business, IT, management, and even architects don't necessarily know what a good architect does to add value in his or her organization. This Executive Report by Michael Rosen discusses the role of the architect and describes 10 activities that architects should perform to add value to projects.

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Building an SOA with Infrastructure, Application, and Orchestration Services from the Ground Up (Vol. 11, No. 9)

A large amount of information is available describing the potential benefits of service-oriented architecture (SOA) as well as the best practices, architecture guidelines, and design patterns to achieve them. However, putting SOA to the test in a real-world project always provides the most valuable insights. This Executive Report by Max Dolgicer and Gerhard Bayer discusses a comprehensive case study based on a project that was conducted for one of the world’s leading chauffeured services companies.

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Getting Past "But": Finding Opportunity and Making It Happen (Vol. 11, No. 8)

Innovation is a key to the competitive differentiation equation, and technology factors strongly in that equation. To find differentiating opportunities, we need insight into customer needs, what technology makes possible, and our position in the value network. In this Executive Report, Ruth Malan and Dana Bredemeyer present a story that with charming acuity conveys key principles of innovation, and relate the lessons to system development. Next, the authors share pragmatic practices for enhancing the effectiveness of system concept generation, elaboration, and refinement. The process pulses through cycles of divergence (opportunity generation, problem and solution finding) and convergence (decision making). The authors emphasize tools that foster ideation while creating alignment, balancing exigency with just enough design up front to orchestrate the socio-technical process of innovation.

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RIAs: UIs, Platforms, and Architecture (Vol. 11, No. 7)

Responsive, highly functional, and customizable, rich Internet applications (RIAs) are more than a cool front end for a traditional Web application. A RIA turns the browser into a fully programmable platform, relocating user interface (UI) code, cleaning up the application architecture, and simplifying the development job. Several vendors offer products for developing RIAs; some are terrific and some have a ways to go, as explored in this Executive Report.

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UML Metamodeling for Enterprise Architecture (Vol. 11, No. 6)

Modeling your enterprise architecture in a consistent, concise, and precise manner so that all of the stakeholders' views are addressed can be a formidable task. Making that architectural model readily available and understandable to those who need it can be even more challenging. This Executive Report by Terry Merriman discusses an approach to doing so in a UML model that is guided by a metamodel refined for that purpose.

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Enterprise Architecture by Example (Vol. 11, No. 5)

Enterprise architecture is a broad, complex, and confusing field. It covers many aspects from frameworks to programs but almost always encompasses the concept of architectural domains, including business, information, application, and technology. In this Executive Report, author Michael Rosen looks at some examples of architectural artifacts for each of these domains under the premise of a sample application to implement a telecom portal.

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SLA Metrics in the Context of an EA Program and Its Processes (Vol. 11, No. 4)

Service-level agreements (SLAs) represent formally negotiated contracts between two parties: the provider and the recipient. These are extremely important documents that provide a common understanding about the levels of availability, serviceability, performance, operations, or other attributes of a service such as billing and penalties. SLAs related to IT service delivery contain numerous service-performance metrics with corresponding service-level objectives, such as call-abandon rate, average speed to answer, time-service factor, and first-call resolution. Many SLAs track to ITIL specifications when applied to IT services. This Executive Report by Dr. Amit K. Maitra presents a paradigm shift by embracing a wide range of issues, including alignment of infrastructure network-element performances, applications/business-relevant performance metrics, and specific enterprise architecture-related high/low strategic objectives.

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Mobile Enterprise Architecture: Model and Application (Vol. 11, No. 3)

Mobility in business implies two keywords: location independence and personalization. This Executive Report by Bhuvan Unhelkar discusses the mobile enterprise architecture (MEA), which synergizes the crucial aspects of mobility in an architectural framework. The MEA enables an enterprise to achieve the advantages from mobility while reducing the risks associated with its implementation.

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Packaging Architecture for Reuse (Vol. 11, No. 2)

In industries other than IT, an architect's skills and experience are often packaged and reused across multiple projects without the architect necessarily being involved. This Executive Report by Oliver Sims describes how, for systems or applications of a similar kind, the same can be achieved in IT. The report shows how software architecture can be packaged and reused across multiple projects. In this way, the reach of scarce architecture skills is multiplied, resulting in faster project completion and higher architectural quality.

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The State of SOA Today (Vol. 11, No. 1)

This Executive Report by Andrew Schwarz analyzes the state of service-oriented architecture (SOA) today based on data from a recent survey of 97 global firms; this survey updates a 2006 Cutter survey on a similar topic. Based upon the results, I examine the adoption of SOA and propose an SOA governance framework and corresponding SOA governance matrix to enable firms to begin thinking about their own SOA initiatives. I conclude by challenging executives to shift from systems to service thinking to enable SOA to be a driver for enterprise-wide redesign.

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2007 | Volume 10
Enterprise Architecture as a Discipline for Strategy Execution (Vol. 10, No. 12)

This Executive Report by Tanaia Parker introduces the Strategic Enterprise Architecture FrameworkSM (SEAFSM) as an approach to address the strategy-execution dilemma. Taking the position that enterprise architecture (EA) is not about technology, discussion focuses on the relationship between EA and strategic management and how EA is about (1) aligning capabilities with mission and strategic direction, (2) developing and maintaining an actionable plan, and (3) presenting a decision-making sounding board that is relevant to all enterprise players.

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Enterprise Business Integration Through IT Governance (Vol. 10, No. 11)

Public and private enterprises struggle with the effectiveness of IT governance structures. A governance strategy requires a foundation that specifies the rules, procedures, and organizational structures for ensuring accountability through appropriate participation and handoffs. This Executive Report by Dr. Amit K. Maitra provides a landscape for managing ownership and stewardship by explicitly linking IT business value to focused business performance goals and their respective owners. It also discusses processes for involving more business executives in the definition and approval of IT decisions. This involvement is critical from the standpoint of enforcing, as well as building support for, the governance directions, model, and technology strategy.

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Data Architecture and Beyond: Strategies for Improving Your Data Ecosphere (Vol. 10, No. 10)

The goal of data architecture is to provide a foundation from which data quality is ensured through supporting activities within your IT department. Effective data architecture is absolutely critical to the success of your organization, but it is only part of the overall picture. This Executive Report by Scott W. Ambler explores that data architecture is but one component of your IT architecture, and it is an important part of your data ecosphere, but it is not sufficient for data architecture efforts to be successful in their own right; instead, they must be successful within the context of your entire IT ecosphere.

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Measuring Alignment in Agile Architecture: Part II -- EA Program Effectiveness (Vol. 10, No. 9)

"Aligning IT and business" is one of enterprise architecture's (EA's) biggest promises yet it's not something that is easy to assess. This Executive Report by Jim Watson is the second in a two-part series describing how we meaningfully measure and assess the alignment of IT and business. While Part I focused on measuring alignment at the system level, this report focuses on measuring alignment of the EA program in general.

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Measuring Alignment in Agile Architecture: Part I -- Systems (Vol. 10, No. 8)

"Aligning IT and business" is one of enterprise architecture's (EA) biggest promises, yet it's not something that is easy to actually assess. This Executive Report by Jim Watson is the first in a two-part series that examines a measurement-based approach to this alignment. While this part focuses on measuring alignment at the system level, the second will focus on measuring alignment of the EA program in general.

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The Four Degrees of Service Orientation (Vol. 10, No. 7)

This Executive Report by Max Dolgicer and Gerhard Bayer defines practical criteria that can be used to evaluate the degree to which software products and business applications are service-oriented. After defining these criteria, the report then applies them to services that are SOAP/WSDL-based, REST-based, and asynchronous, as well as to lightly coupled components.

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Architecture for Digital Ecosystems: Beyond Service-Oriented Architecture (Vol. 10, No. 6)

The theory behind the business ecosystem is based on the dynamic interaction of organizations; over time, these groups co-evolve their capabilities and roles and tend to align themselves with the directions set by one or more companies that drive the evolution of the environment. This Executive Report by Pierfranco Ferronato illustrates the need to extend service-oriented architecture in order to face the challenges that are unique to digital ecosystems. The report also introduces the features of a new architectural style, which the author calls ecosystem-oriented architecture (EOA).

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Integrating BPM and SOA: The Emerging Role of OMG and MDA (Vol. 10, No. 5)

Business process modeling (BPM) and service-oriented architecture (SOA) began as two separate movements, but because end users want an integrated end-to-end solutioning process, not multiple disjointed solutioning paradigms, now they need to converge. This Executive Report by Michael K. Guttman and John H. Parodi focuses on how the Object Management Group is leveraging Model Driven Architecture as a catalyst for unifying these two very popular approaches to automating business systems.

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Achieving Enterprise Architecture Maturity (Vol. 10, No. 4)

This Executive Report by Clive Finkelstein discusses the four stages of enterprise architecture maturity and describes methods used to identify potential standardized processes for evolving to the later stages of EA maturity as well as ways to develop a strategic model from business plans and ways to derive project plans from the strategic model. The report also presents real-life case studies in which these methods have been applied, both in the private and the public sector.

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Agent Technology: What Is It and Why Do We Care? (Vol. 10, No. 3)

Agent technology is now necessary to reduce costs; to improve efficiency and effectiveness; and to support the requirements of individuals, groups, companies, and universities as they collaborate globally. More importantly, this type of technology enables us to create and support a whole class of IT applications and approaches that we previously could not have developed. In this Executive Report by James Odell, we discuss what agent technology is as well as how and where it is currently being used in various industries.

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Business Architecture: Linking Business, Data, and Technology (Vol. 10, No. 2)

Business architecture is now on the front burner in many organizations. And it is the link between business and technology -- current and future, especially future. This Executive Report by Ken Orr offers the latest thinking about the structure, methods, and modeling approaches involved in business architecture. The report discusses the major phases of business architecture: strategic intention discovery; business context modeling; business value chain modeling; business value stream modeling; and business process modeling.

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Enterprise Architecture Trends 2007 (Vol. 10, No. 1)

While 2007 looks like another interesting year for enterprise architecture, what will be most important? What are the trends? To answer these questions, this Executive Report assembles a collection of articles from several Cutter Senior Consultants on some of the more important topics.

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2006 | Volume 9
Business Reference Modeling: A New Rosetta Stone for Managers (Vol. 9, No. 12)

Business reference models (BRMs) are becoming an important tool for large organizations to quickly analyze their major business processes and identify their strengths and weaknesses vis-à-vis industry best practices. This Executive Report by Ken Orr provides an overview of the various models by looking at the three major categories of BRMs: value-driven BRMs, industry-driven BRMs, and functional-driven BRMs. In particular, the author discusses the Supply-Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model in detail as one of the leading-edge models. The report also highlights examples from all of the other BRM categories and discusses future developments.

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Designing Service-Oriented Applications: Part II -- Analysis and Design Process by Example (Vol. 9, No. 11)

Many IT organizations are beginning to implement service-oriented architectures (SOAs), yet some of their most common questions are "What does a service look like?" and "How do I go about designing a service?" This Executive Report by Michael Rosen presents a case study that illustrates an SOA analysis and design methodology that answers these questions and gets IT organizations started in the right direction.

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Designing Service-Oriented Applications: Part I -- Architecture and Methodology (Vol. 9, No. 10)

Everyone is talking about service-oriented architecture (SOA), but few people really understand how to do it. In this Executive Report by Michael Rosen, we examine the goals of SOA and how architecture can be used to meet them. But having an architecture is only half the battle. The value of architecture comes from applying it to IT systems. We put SOA into this context and describe a methodology that integrates architecture into the design and implementation of IT systems.

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Getting Your Enterprise Architecture Metrics Right (Vol. 9, No. 9)

Principles of enterprise architecture (EA) and portfolio management can be incorporated along with consistent lifecycle processes while integrating business applications. However, practitioners must measure, manage, and improve the flexibility of their enterprise through the use of EA metrics when attempting to successfully deploy integration initiatives. Establishing the right parameters for the EA metrics and understanding its significance in monitoring EA activities is the key. This Executive Report by Dr. Tushar K. Hazra discusses how to leverage organizational structure, corporate culture, customer-oriented strategy, and adaptive business goals to develop and govern EA metrics in practice.

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Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) Distilled (Vol. 9, No. 8)

Although the Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) has unavoidable origins and context drawn from the US federal government, it has something to offer the broader enterprise architecture community. This Executive Report by Jim Watson focuses on FEA, describing its strengths, weaknesses, and how it can be incorporated into an EA program.

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Web 2.0 (Vol. 9, No. 7)

The blogosphere and, increasingly, the media are humming with excitement about Web 2.0. But what lies behind this catchy new buzzword, and does it really represent a step forward from the "old" Web? Even enthusiasts do not agree on just what defines a "Web 2.0 site," and when they brainstorm the question, the resulting feature lists can grow to remarkable lengths. This report by Tom Welsh examines Web 2.0 from all sides, including its potentially revolutionary social implications.

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Enterprise Architecture: It's Not Just For IT Anymore (Vol. 9, No. 6)

Business-IT alignment is an oft-stated goal of enterprise architecture (EA), but EA often flounders from exactly the misalignment it assumes to address. Business architecture must ultimately be the source of requirements for IT architecture. Yet, business owners are not accountable for how their applications affect the overall enterprise. This Executive Report by Jeroen van Tyn and Mike Rosen describes a process for EA to use the interaction between applications -- that is, the business processes that span applications -- for requirements and sponsorship of the enterprise architecture.

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Service-Oriented Integration: A Report from the Trenches (Vol. 9, No. 5)

With so much hype around service-oriented architecture (SOA), it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between what we would like to do and what can be achieved with the technology that is available today. In this Executive Report, we present what we believe to be a true picture of the current state of the art of enterprise SOA.

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The Open Source Ecosystem: A Study in Fractal Complexity (Vol. 9, No. 4)

Free and open source software (F/OSS) has achieved some highly visible successes recently. For example, the Apache HTTP Server, the Eclipse integrated development environment, and the JBoss Application Server have all become worldwide market leaders. But these are just the lead elements of a formidable army, which will soon be advancing on all fronts. This Executive Report by Tom Welsh analyzes the irresistible rise of F/OSS and zooms in for a closer look at three of the leading communities: the Apache Software Foundation, the Eclipse Foundation, and the ObjectWeb Consortium.

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Service Orientation: The Architecture Dimension (Vol. 9, No. 3)

This Executive Report by Paul Allen is the second in a series that aims to guide organizations through the challenges they face on their way to service orientation, with a focus on service-oriented architecture (SOA). Despite receiving a great deal of attention, SOA is commonly treated as a niche subject only for the initiated, resulting in a decoupling from real-world concerns such as business process improvement and runtime software execution management. This report focuses on the design and runtime aspects of SOA.

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Developing a Practical Enterprise Architecture Curriculum (Vol. 9, No. 2)

Because enterprise architecture (EA) is considered to be a new activity and because there are so few people with both training and experience, most organizations must train and coach their best and brightest in order to field a team that can get the organization on track. This Executive Report by Ken Orr assists organizations by defining the necessary "committee of skills" and core EA curriculum.

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SOA or SOS? Rationale for a Semantic Service-Oriented Infrastructure (Vol. 9, No. 1)

This Executive Report by Arun K. Majumdar provides an architecture for semantic service-oriented infrastructures (SSOIs), addressing communication, coordination, cooperation, collaboration, command and control, interoperability, and scalability. A detailed look into barriers and concerns is included from John F. Sowa and Cutter Consortium Senior Consultants James Odell, Ken Orr, André LeClerc, and Mike Rosen.

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2005 | Volume 8
Rapid Delivery of Enterprise Architecture (Vol. 8, No. 12)

The use of enterprise architecture within government, defense, and commercial organizations has exploded. This Executive Report by Clive Finkelstein examines methods used for rapid delivery of enterprise architecture for business integration in the form of priority business activities and business processes that are able to be delivered into production in three-month increments. These rapid-delivery methods lead to the improved cost-effectiveness of business processes with dramatic cost savings.

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Securing Web Services (Vol. 8, No. 11)

The Web services vision of Internet-scale integrated applications is very attractive, but it will only succeed if services and information can be properly protected. In this Executive Report by Paul Greenfield, we look at the state of Web services security standards and technologies and see what we can do to meet the security requirements of a number of typical distributed applications.

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Service Orientation: The Business Process Dimension (Vol. 8, No. 10)

This Executive Report by Paul Allen is the first in a series that aims to guide organizations through the challenges they face on the way to service orientation. In this report, we clarify the key concepts of service orientation and present some of the required changes in mindset and culture. We also review the business process dimension by considering the position of business process management and focusing on techniques for tackling service-oriented business process redesign.

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to Enterprise Architecture Roadmapping (Vol. 8, No. 9)

This Executive Report by Sebastian Konkol presents a technique that supports the development of the enterprise architecture roadmap. Our goal was to design an agile approach that can be seen as a core process for enterprise architecture management that can be used as is or modified as needed. The report concludes with a review of case studies in which the principles of enterprise architecture roadmapping (EARM) have been successfully adopted.

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Microsoft's Indigo (Windows Communication Foundation) (Vol. 8, No. 8)

First talked about as early as 2001, Microsoft's Indigo, the code name for a major project to reorganize the part of .NET related to Web services, is scheduled to have its first true beta release in August 2005. This Executive Report by Tom Welsh offers a background on Indigo and explains, among other things, what's new, how it works, and why it is necessary.

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Enterprise Architecture Rollout and Training (Vol. 8, No. 7)

Though enterprise architecture has become a necessity for any large enterprise, most organizations are struggling to get the desired value and results. Introducing the architecture to the enterprise, business, and development organizations is as much of a challenge as creating the architecture itself. This Executive Report by Michael Rosen describes a rollout strategy, architecture program, and training curriculum that can overcome these challenges and deliver on the value and promises of enterprise architecture.

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Enterprise Architecture as Strategic Differentiator (Vol. 8, No. 6)

This Executive Report by Ruth Malan and Dana Bredemeyer explores the role of enterprise architecture in creating a path to better alignment of IT with the business and, more importantly, creating a path to a more effective strategy and successful execution of the strategy. It allows the organization to consider what capabilities to build at the enterprise level in order to deliver value across the business and establish strong competitive advantage through leverage and synergies. This is the route to strategic differentiation through making the enterprise greater than the sum of its parts, which is, after all, the goal of system architecture.

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Lightweight Consumer Web Services: Amazon, eBay, Google, and Yahoo (Vol. 8, No. 5)

Internet-based e-commerce, touted in the 1990s as the next big thing, apparently fizzled. Since then, Web services and SOA have taken over, but despite many announcements, specifications, and products, no "killer application" emerged. Now it transpires that some of the household names of the new Web age -- giants like Amazon, eBay, Google, and Yahoo -- are using minimalist, commodity Web services to open up their databases to thousands of enthusiastic partners worldwide, who are continually devising new and creative ways to use the information. This Executive Report by Tom Welsh summarizes the progress in lightweight consumer Web services and explains why they matter.

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Grid Computing in Industry: Improving Efficiency and Creating New Business (Vol. 8, No. 4)

Grid computing is fast becoming a viable technology that can be used both within and between organizations to provide new, cost-effective solutions for large-scale computational and storage problems and to support collaboration. This Executive Report by Alex Alexander and Roberta Gigon presents a technical review of grid computing, focusing on its relevance in commerce and industry and showing the specific benefits to be gained. It lists the various components that are used to create a grid and compares mainstream vendors' products. It discusses the challenges of implementing a grid and gives guidance on selecting the appropriate technologies.

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Business Enterprise Architecture Modeling (Vol. 8, No. 3)

In most large organizations, how quickly the organization can respond to critical market changes is directly related to how well it manages its business-IT assets and infrastructure. The need for reduced cycle time has spurred a growing interest and investment in enterprise architecture. In recent years, a number of breakthroughs have occurred in enterprise architecture that help organizations better manage their business-IT assets; Business Enterprise Architecture Modeling is a new framework that incorporates these breakthroughs.

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The Enterprise Unified Process: Extending the Rational Unified Process for the Fortune 1000 (Vol. 8, No. 2)

The Rational Unified Process (RUP) is a well-accepted, prescriptive software process developed and supported by IBM Rational. Although RUP is comprehensive, it does not address operations, support, and cross-system issues such as enterprise architecture, portfolio management, and reuse (to name a few), which midsized and large organizations need. In this Executive Report, Scott W. Ambler examines the Enterprise Unified Process (EUP) which extends RUP to make it sufficient for both Fortune 1000 and government agencies.

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Service-Oriented Integration: Aligning SOA with Enterprise Integration (Vol. 8, No. 1)

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) provides the opportunity for enterprises to upgrade their IT infrastructure to a more modern, agile, and flexible environment. To achieve the benefits of SOA, existing applications must be integrated into the enterprise and exposed as services. This Executive Report by Michael Rosen and Boris Lublinsky defines the two types of services (integration and business) required to achieve the integration and enterprise business goals. It also discusses how integration services are used to construct business services as well as how to use Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) technology to implement enterprise-wide service-oriented integration (SOI).

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2004 | Volume 7
Conversations on Open Source (Vol. 7, No. 12)

Open source software (OSS) is increasingly important in enterprise IT, and the critical issue driving its adoption is cost reduction. Issues inhibiting the use of OSS include training, support, and documentation. These and other trends in the uptake of OSS are explored in this Executive Report by John Parodi and Jason Matthews, which presents five conversations on the open source topic.

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MDA: What's Real, What's Illusory, and What's in the Works (Vol. 7, No. 11)

Model Driven Architecture (MDA) has been greeted enthusiastically as a way of integrating disparate platforms, future-proofing applications, enhancing software quality, and boosting the productivity of developers. There are plenty of tools to choose from and a growing number of success stories. But MDA is still a work in progress. No two products are the same, largely because the underlying standards framework is incomplete. This Executive Report by Tom Welsh analyzes what has been accomplished, what remains to be done, and how much MDA can realistically deliver.

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EA, The "Logical" Way (Vol. 7, No. 10)

If enterprise architecture (EA) is such a good thing, why are there so few EA success stories? The key to a successful EA strategy lies in its approach; it should focus on how the organization approaches technology rather than on technology itself. This Executive Report by Jeff Scott introduces the concept of the "logical architecture" -- a roadmap for achieving optimal EA.

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Applying EA Roadmapping: An SOA Roadmap (Vol. 7, No. 9)

Agility is emerging as the most important feature of successful organizations. And an agile organization must have business-IT alignment. This Executive Report by Bartosz Kiepuszewski, Michal Paluskiewicz, and Borys Stokalski, with contribution from Sebastian Konkol and Maciej Ruszynski, discusses how enterprise architecture roadmapping can be used to further the alignment goal and also provides a detailed example of a service-oriented architecture roadmap.

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What It Takes to Be a Great Enterprise Architect (Vol. 7, No. 8)

Enterprise architects have an exciting opportunity before them in helping shape organizations. But what makes an enterprise architect great? Talent, of course, but also the skills that help leaders and managers excel. This Executive Report by Dana Bredemeyer and Ruth Malan spells out the necessary qualities for great enterprise architects.

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Implementing an SOA with Common Technologies (Vol. 7, No. 7)

In the quest to become an agile real-time enterprise, a business-driven service-oriented architecture (SOA) is the goal. In this Executive Report by Michael Rosen, you'll learn about the platform required to meet the technical and business requirements of an SOA and discover the common technology solutions available to the SOA platform.

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Empowering a Collaborative Enterprise Architecture (Vol. 7, No. 6)

Amid today's reality of the globally dispersed workforce lies the need for greater collaboration, with IT as the key enabler. This Executive Report by Dr. Tushar K. Hazra looks at the concept of the "collaborative enterprise architecture," which brings together technology, business processes, and widely accepted frameworks and processes.

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An Agile Approach to Enterprise Architecture (Vol. 7, No. 5)

When working as if they can do anything they want, project teams often open the door to chaos in the form of system conflicts, skyrocketing costs, and other problems. To avoid these downfalls, an effective enterprise architecture (EA) program is required. This Executive Report by Scott W. Ambler explores an agile approach to EA, one that can evolve as your organization applies the approach to more and more projects.

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Wiring Up for Wireless Services (Vol. 7, No. 4)

Mobile business holds the key to the future of electronic commerce. Linked with mobile content, mobile business will transform how business is conducted. This Executive Report by Arun Majumdar gives you the strategic insight you need to plan how your organization, using mobile service-oriented architectures, can transition to the mobile world.

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Business Process Management: The Real Driver of SOA (Vol. 7, No. 3)

Service-oriented architecture (SOA), to date, has been synonymous with Web services. But the chief focus of SOA is business process management (BPM). This Executive Report by Clive Finkelstein examines the concept of BPM languages and reviews the competing technologies in the BPM field.

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XML: One Metalanguage to Rule Them All? (Vol. 7, No. 2)

What is XML really all about? Is it the language of computing to end all previous languages? Does it really simplify the problems of software integration? This Executive Report by Tom Welsh takes the cover off XML, explaining what it is, what it's not, where it works, where it doesn't, and where it might be heading.

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The Three Faces of Enterprise Architecture (Vol. 7, No. 1)

Just what is enterprise architecture? CIOs and CTOs must not only be able to answer this question but also must understand what enterprise architecture can do. The accompanying Executive Report by Ken Orr is intended to give business and IT managers and professionals new perspective on a rapidly evolving discipline.

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2003 | Volume 6
An Application-Centric Approach to Understanding Architectures (Vol. 6, No. 12)

Over the past five to 10 years, much effort has been devoted to defining software and enterprise architectures. But little of that effort has tied the two areas together, resulting in either an enterprise architecture that seems irrelevant to developers or a software architecture that inadequately addresses the concerns of the enterprise. This Executive Report by Michael Rosen and Terry Merriman focuses on bridging that gap by taking an application-centric approach to enterprise architecture.

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Business Integration for Rapid Business and IT Change (Vol. 6, No. 11)

Technology and business are at a dramatic crossroads. The Internet and its associated technologies have greatly shortened the time it takes to work and conduct business, and they are transforming today's organization. But while technology has mushroomed, business processes have failed to keep up. This Executive Report by Clive Finkelstein examines how business integration, which involves such factors as processes, people, and data, can be accomplished through enterprise architecture.

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Grid Computing and Enterprise Architecture: A Match for the Future (Vol. 6, No. 10)

There is a lot of hype surrounding grid computing, but what is it really all about? As this Executive Report by David Loshin explains, grid computing in an enterprise architecture is an interesting approach to merging technology and organizational behavior to provide what could be the architectural platform of the future for on-demand utility computing.

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Employing Web Services Technologies to Deploy Collaborative Enterprise Architectures (Vol. 6, No. 9)

While many companies are relentlessly fighting battles for survival, others are forging ahead with efforts to build their collaborative enterprises. As a business or IT leader, are you addressing the question "How can you employ Web services technologies to build your collaborative enterprise?" This Executive Report by Dr. Tushar Hazra presents practical challenges and issues that today's practitioners are experiencing in establishing a collaborative enterprise architecture in which the foundation lies in "role-based interactions" between business components. The report reviews trends in the financial and healthcare industries and offers a checklist for preparing your organization for deploying a collaborative enterprise architecture. Finally, the report elaborates a pragmatic approach to delivering and deploying a collaborative enterprise architecture based on Web services.

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Where Enterprise Architecture Meets the Semantic Web (Vol. 6, No. 8)

What does semantics have to do with the Web? A lot when it comes to its potential for businesses to find better ways to deliver traditional -- and sometimes truly innovative -- products and services. Semantics, in terms of enterprise architecture, is not an entirely new issue; as you will read in this Executive Report by Diego Lo Giudice and Michael Guttman, however, the importance of semantics has been magnified by the explosion of the Web and the use of Web-based technologies by mainstream organizations.

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Lingua Franca or Polyglot Babble? A Comparative Survey of Web Services Platforms (Vol. 6, No. 7)

On the surface, Web services provide a universal medium of communication through which any and all platforms, such as Unix and Windows or Microsoft .NET and J2EE, can exchange data and invoke operations. With this in mind, it does not matter how Web services are implemented or on what platforms they are deployed. Quite the contrary -- organizations should feel free to choose the most appropriate hardware and software for each specific task, in the confidence that they can all be linked together by Web services. This Executive Report by Tom Welsh examines the leading Web services platforms and how they might fit into your enterprise architecture.

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Free at Last? Applying Open Source to Service-Oriented Architectures (Vol. 6, No. 6)

As IT organizations strive to control costs, open source software is increasingly being recognized as a way to achieve that goal. This Executive Report by Diego Lo Giudice and Michael Guttman digs deeper into the open source phenomenon to show how it can be used to support a more flexible and cost-effective enterprise architecture that can solve other vexing IT problems, such as how to accelerate time to market, improve quality, and integrate disparate systems.

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Understanding and Evaluating Modeling and MDA Tools (Vol. 6, No. 5)

Models, writes Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant Michael Rosen, are a key deliverable of any architecture. And in the creation of an enterprise architecture, models are all the more important. In this Executive Report, Rosen outlines the models used in a Model Driven Architecture (MDA) approach and the process used to define and create those models. He then describes MDA tools, how and where these tools can be used, and provides a framework for evaluating these tools.

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Information Integration in the Real World (Vol. 6, No. 4)

As a concept, information integration is certainly attractive. But is it real, or is it just a variation on an old theme? Real or not, many CIOs and CTOs once again are looking at information integration as a way to get management and end users off their backs. But why is it difficult to do? This Executive Report by Ken Orr tries to answer that question by examining all the data and information that an IT organization must deal with today.

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Applying Enterprise Architecture (Vol. 6, No. 3)

Enterprise architecture is having a profound and pervasive impact on the way enterprises deal with IT. This impact is having a more significant effect than any other discipline in software history, and it's paving the way for the maturity of IT as an industry. This Executive Report discusses the concepts, principles, and modern and pragmatic approaches to enterprise architecture, as well as its relationships with other disciplines that are key to IT today.

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Frameworks and Processes for Developing Enterprise Architectures (Vol. 6, No. 2)

Getting value from enterprise architecture (EA) is still an emerging process. Organizations are just beginning to figure out where EA fits and how it can best be utilized. If your organization is beginning to "do enterprise architecture" in a serious manner, this Executive Report by Ken Orr will help you understand some of the issues, skills, toolsets, and management approaches that can speed up the process. If your organization is already deeply involved in EA, then this report will shed light on how to improve and maintain your information systems architecture with the appropriate tools and guidance. Getting the most out of your technology will be a major concern in the 21st century; those organizations without EAs stand the chance of falling behind in this critical time period.

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MDA in Action: An Anatomy of a Platform-Independent Model (Vol. 6, No. 1)

The way companies do business today is changing more rapidly than ever, and the underlying technology that supports them is changing even faster. How can IT departments hope to satisfy these fluid business requirements while the ground beneath them is moving? In this Executive Report, author Terry Merriman explains the Object Management Group's Model Driven Architecture (MDA) and illustrates how its platform-independent model can address this classic IT problem. Merriman clearly explains "why MDA is such a compelling concept to those of us -- business analysts, system analysts, system architects, programmers, and test analysts -- who work with it every day." Also included in this report is a case study demonstrating how platform-independent modeling works.

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2002 | Volume 5
Transitioning Business Application Components to Web Services (Vol. 5, No. 12)

Is your company considering or preparing a transition to Web services? This Executive Report by Dr. Tushar Hazra presents strategies, an overview of technologies, and a road map to transition existing business applications to Web services. Hazra proposes a direct path for companies that want to realize the business benefits of Web services. He draws on his own experience and includes case studies from the healthcare and financial industries. Hazra asserts, "Business leaders must guide their teams to transition and deploy applications as services leveraging a service-oriented architecture (SOA). However, a clear understanding of an SOA before embarking on a Web services initiative is imperative."

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Enterprise Integration Architecture and Web Services (Vol. 5, No. 11)

Given the current IT pressures, how can companies develop applications that are both cost-effective and create agile IT systems for enterprises? "Now more than ever, businesses depend on strategic relations with their partners and suppliers to create value chains that will provide a competitive edge in the market.... Enterprise integration, implemented with a process-driven service-oriented architecture (SOA), can result in flexible systems that transform existing applications into reusable corporate assets," write authors Boris Lublinsky and Michael Rosen. This Executive Report examines different approaches to implementing integration, explains the role of business processes, details SOA, and discusses the place of Web services.

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Building a Real-Time Enterprise: Why It's Worth the Effort (Vol. 5, No. 10)

"The real-time enterprise is the name given to companies that have the ability to react rapidly to any significant changes in the marketplace. The technologies that make the real-time enterprise possible are changing how information is gathered and processed within large enterprises and how it is linked to our computer-aided decisionmaking processes," states author and Cutter Business Technology Council Fellow Ken Orr. In this Executive Report, explore how your company can develop a world-class real-time enterprise to enable it to compete profitably, even in a down economy.

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Legacy Revaluation and the Making of LegacyWorks (Vol. 5, No. 9)

"IT needs to get back to business basics by optimizing business process management and using and leveraging corporate knowledge assets, legacy assets, and core business workflow," assert authors André LeClerc and Arun Majumdar. This Executive Report presents a real case study that describes the development of a solution for companies today facing problems with legacy systems.

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Getting Ready for a Service Oriented Enterprise Architecture (Vol. 5, No. 8)

This report by Doug Barry provides practical advice on how to prepare your organization to take advantage of future changes in software. Find out how to position your organization to benefit from the information technology that makes the best business sense. Here, Barry presents a data-centric approach that will help you get your organization ready to leverage a service-oriented architecture.

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The Evolving J2EE Architecture & Web Services (Vol. 5, No. 7)

In this report, author Frank Coyle presents an overview of Web services and its related technologies, focusing on SOAP as the enabler for the Web services revolution. This is followed by a look at J2EE to gain an understanding of its basic architecture, and an examination of how J2EE's evolution is allowing Java enterprise applications access to Web services technologies. This report clearly illustrates the latest developments for the J2EE architecture including the component, the Message Driven Bean (MDB), and the release of the Java Web Services Pack.

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Integration Versus Transformation: Leveraging Legacy Information Assets (Vol. 5, No. 6)

Author, William Ulrich, discusses the challenges that legacy applications and data structures place on organizations attempting to meet a wide variety of business requirements along with options for addressing these challenges. Ulrich writes, "Leveraging legacy applications to meet time critical business requirements is not a luxury in today's competitive business environment -- it is a necessity. To meet this need, organizations must utilize a combination of integration and transformation strategies, techniques and technologies." This report discusses enterprise application integration and legacy transformation options, where Ulrich presents strategic advice for companies on where and when to apply one or a combination of approaches in the context of an overall information management strategy.

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A Component Architecture (Vol. 5, No. 5)

This Executive Report presents examples of the types of models required as basic designs that apply to many application development projects. In particular, the report focuses on: component architecture, application architecture and provides a picture of what this all looks like to the business developer. Writes Oliver Simms, "The purpose of the kind of architecture discussed here is to provide the necessary design foundation for high-productivity application development. Without these architectures, an attempt to establish such an environment is very likely to fail. The component and application architectures are a necessary condition for success in meeting the time-to-market and productivity goals of the IT organization."

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Making Enterprise Integration Real (Vol. 5, No. 4)

Author, Eric Aranow suggests the following to organizations who want to reap the benefits of enterprise integration: "If you want to make a real difference that will endure and open the doors to new business capabilities, then the hard road of enterprise integration is the best -- and perhaps the only -- road to take." In this report, Aranow proposes an enterprise integration program in 4 phases, which include: 1) Setting up Foundations, 2) Start Up, 3) Pilot Implementation and 4) General Roll Out. Writes Aranow, "The critical elements in successful EI are planning, preparation, skillful analysis, competent management, and careful attention to organization and people issues." For those companies who achieve true EI, they will enjoy agility despite size, and be able to rapidly respond to changing market conditions.

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Web Services in Context (Vol. 5, No. 3)

Writes Tom Welsh, "The great strength of the Web services model lies in its reliance on universally accepted standards like XML and HTTP. Even the trio of SOAP, UDDI, and WSDL -- which are still in the process of gelling -- already has the blessing of bodies like W3C and OASIS, which transcend partisan bickering. At the very least, Web services hold out the promise of allowing programmatic communication between any applications that can obtain access to the Internet or an intranet." In this executive report, Welsh critically examines the evolution of web services, provides an overview of the developing technologies, and presents a market analysis to sift through the hype and confusion surrounding discussions of web services.

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Agile Modeling on an Extreme Programming Project (Vol. 5, No. 2)

"Modeling is an important part of any software process," writes author Scott Ambler. "Yes, even Extreme Programming (XP) includes modeling techniques. Contrary to what XP's detractors will tell you, XP does not abandon modeling; instead, it minimizes modeling efforts by taking a test-first approach to design in which you develop your tests before you develop your code. This forces you to think through how you will build your software before you actually build it, exactly as traditional design modeling does." This report provides an introduction to Agile Modeling, addresses the issues concerning modeling on XP projects, elaborates on the fit between Agile Modeling and XP, and describes the phases of Agile Modeling throughout the XP lifecycle -- as well as offering suggestions on how to make Agile Modeling work.

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Anticipating the Market: The Value of Business Models (Vol. 5, No. 1)

In business modeling, points out author Haim Kilov, it is not necessary to start from scratch. As in any business or traditional engineering, we reuse the basic business patterns of that business. Reuse means recognizing situations in contexts. Examples in finance include such explicitly specified concepts as an "option," a "trade," or a "confirmation." Even if we do not have applicable business-specific business patterns, we can always reuse the generic ones such as "composition" or "contract." This report contains several simple examples of such usage, including a small model of a traditional and a modern corporation. It also describes the following important concepts (which tend to be reinvented now): egoless modeling, non-fungible knowledge workers, and the role of technology to increase business value over the increase of efficiency.

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2001 | Volume 4
Enterprise Integration: Business' New Frontier (Vol. 4, No. 12)

This report by Eric Aranow presents the first part, of a two-part series, on achieving true enterprise integration. In this report, he sets the groundwork for enterprise integration by examining the industry changes driving companies to embrace it, clearly stating the goal of enterprise integration. He provides the guidelines, and elements of the architectural formula for making enterprise integration a reality. To be prepared for the future, he asserts, companies must consider the benefits, and possibilities accompanying the realization of enterprise integration. Aranow writes on the enterprise integration approach, "Enterprise integration is larger and more encompassing than a traditional integration effort. To accomplish both business and systems integration requires an approach that is more effective than the data integration attempted in enterprise data warehouse and more powerful than the application integration of enterprise application integration (EAI) approaches. This new approach takes the form of service integration."

Model Driven Architecture (Vol. 4, No. 11)

This report, by author Tom Welsh, outlines the OMG Model Driven Architecture (MDA) initiative announced in March 2001. The OMG is extending its original Object Management Architecture (OMA) into a new dispensation that embraces COM+, Microsoft's .NET, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), message-oriented middleware (MOM), and Web services, as well as CORBA. The MDA vision holds out the alluring prospect that developers will be able, for the first time, to write pure business logic. Because it is independent of all platform or middleware dependencies, this logic could easily be kept in step with changing business processes. According to OMG, the benefits of MDA will include: reduced cost throughout the application lifecycle, reduced development time for new applications, improved application quality, increased return on technology investments, and rapid inclusion of emerging technology into existing systems. Productivity, quality, future-proofing, return on investment -- it's all there. As it is hard to deny that these benefits flow naturally from the MDA vision, the real question that we need to ask is: can the vision be realized? Or is MDA just another beautiful pipe dream like artificial intelligence and CASE? This report will explore these issues surrounding the MDA initiative, as well as the advantages and risks, UML Profiles, pervasive services and domain models, and the industry vendors supporting MDA.

Web Services and Service Oriented Architectures (Vol. 4, No. 10)

Within the Web services space, according to author Peter Herzum, and in the directly related "service-oriented architectures" (SOA) space, the software industry is slowly creating the technical, architectural, methodological, and functional frameworks required to support the current business realities and the associated new types of information systems. This Executive Report will properly place Web services in context, illustrate some of the many related dimensions, and analyze other aspects of the Web services and SOA space. In particular, this report briefly introduces the various types of standards and presents the main commercial offerings; introduces the four levels of information exchange and an interoperability reference model; analyzes various important characteristics of Web services, including a discussion of the importance of registries, negotiation; discusses the relationship between Web services, SOAs, including components and CBD; and illustrates the slow shift of the software industry to the challenging world of federation of business systems, meaning the shift from architecting individual systems to large sets of cooperating systems.

Making Components Work (Vol. 4, No. 9)

In this report, author Oliver Sims contends that very few organizations have accepted the fact that making drastic changes in productivity -- akin to a new industrial revolution -- requires more than just technology. It means changes in mindset, processes, and organization. Above all else, it requires a set of underlying concepts that could make it all happen. These underlying concepts form the architecture of component development. Although process, organization, and overall mindset must also be addressed, in this executive report Sims concentrates on architecture, writing that the crucial architectural factors are (1) separation of application development artifacts from those of the technical infrastructure on which applications are developed and run, (2) a clear component architecture for business developers that defines what a component is, determines what artifacts can be reused, and deals with enterprise issues such as scalability, security, and dependency management, and (3) raising the level of abstraction for the application developer.

Microsoft .NET: A Vision and a Revolution (Vol. 4, No. 8)

This report describes .NET as a vision of a future Internet in which people have access to their personal information and services from any device, anywhere. Writes author Paul Greenfield, ".NET is Microsoft's attempt to turn this futuristic vision into a reality, shaping the nature of computing along the way, and, incidentally, ensuring that its products continue to play a major role in that future. It has been joined in this grand endeavor by other major industry players, including Sun and IBM, who have announced their own Web services plans and visions, all using the same XML-based standards. Together, they are hoping to transform the Web into a platform for open, distributed, computing... How successful they will be in this ambitious venture is an unanswered question."

XML and Distributed Computing Architecture (Vol. 4, No. 7)

This report, written by Frank Coyle, describes how XML is revolutionizing distributed computing. Says Coyle, "XML-based messaging over HTTP provides an alternative to the object-based distributed computing models of CORBA, RMI, and DCOM." The report begins with a concise overview of XML, focusing on those aspects of XML essential to understanding XML's role in distributed computing. It then looks at the important role played by HTTP in providing a distribution mechanism for XML across the Web. It is this synergy between HTTP and XML that makes XML messaging possible. The final section focuses on several important XML-based distributed computing protocols and initiatives, including ML-RPC, SOAP, UDDI, WSDL, and ebXML.

CORBA in Context (Vol. 4, No. 6)

This report puts CORBA in context with other distributed computing technologies. Writes author Tom Welsh, "CORBA is pervasive, but hardly noticed -- like the air we breathe. It allows organizations to reuse design, rather than code, in a systematic way. Together with OMG's other standards -- UML, XMI, CWM and the upcoming Model Driven Architecture -- it fits in with the architectural approach that is indispensable for success in building large distributed systems."

Designing Scalable Enterprise Javabeans Applications (Vol. 4, No. 5)

J2EE-based application servers bring definite benefits to building enterprise applications, and the EJB component model and associated services are a key component of J2EE. However, the J2EE technology doesn't do away with the need for sound architectural principles: the use of component-based design suited to the application needs and serious consideration of performance tuning and scalability. Successful J2EE solutions don't magically appear out of the box; they require skilled engineers and sensible, proven designs. It's all too easy in the constant technology hype to forget this basic tenet. Sound engineering is likely to remain a staple of successful enterprise applications, no matter how rapidly the underlying technology evolves.

Off-the-Shelf Security Solutions (Vol. 4, No. 4)

This report introduces two technologies for securing enterprise networks: firewalls and virtual private networks (VPNs), helping the reader understand the issues surrounding these technologies well enough to be able to make an accurate determination of what security technologies they should use to protect their networks from attack. Even though many companies have already deployed a firewall on their network, it's critical to should make sure it's the right kind of firewall for the enterprise and has been properly configured. The report also recommends considering VPN technology to improve the security of one's network with minimum fuss. The report introduces some key concepts to be aware of when making a purchase decision and offers recommendations for technologies that are best suited for a variety of companies.

Peer-to-Peer Computing in E-Business (Vol. 4, No. 3)

Report author George Reese describes peer-to-peer (P2P) computing as a phenomenon that very much resembles the Web. Says Reese, "Like the Web, it is a distributed application architecture that empowers the individual user. Whereas the Web connects individuals to institutions, P2P connects individuals directly to other individuals. From a business perspective, this direct connectivity means that a business partner can bypass all your marketing efforts and get the real scoop on a particular issue directly from any employee in the P2P space. This relative anarchy scares businesses -- but it excites individuals doing business."

AI and E-Commerce (Vol. 4, No. 2)

This report discusses the status of artificial intelligence in today's e-commerce activities, concentrating on the potential role of intelligent agents. Writes author Jesse Feiler, "Agent-mediated e-commerce is well-established now. The manual process of searching and buying on the Internet is tedious, but sending an agent (or a flock of agents) onto the Internet to shop is not difficult. For purchasers, this means free (or nearly so) shopping time as agents cast a wider net for goods and service. For sellers, it can mean wider markets as agents search for bargains and features. In fact, it is not inconceivable that some e-commerce businesses will start marketing to nonhuman agents -- making certain that intelligent purchasing agents are aware of their sites."

OMG, CORBA, and the Whole Nine Yards (Vol. 4, No. 1)

This Executive Report takes a concentrated look at CORBA and OMG, including the recent history of CORBA and the OMG, the current version of CORBA, CORBA's relationship to other middleware standards, and other significant OMG infrastructure standards. Says author Tom Welsh, "Rather than forcing everyone to use a single model and a fixed set of tools, CORBA encourages a luxuriant proliferation of products in the marketplace. Developers can choose whichever languages, platforms, networking protocols, and persistence techniques they prefer. They can interoperate with COM+, J2EE, DCE, or other types of middleware. They can wrap legacy applications and data sources and then treat them as CORBA objects. And if things go wrong or requirements change, they always have the option of switching vendors and trying a different CORBA-compliant ORB.

2000 | Volume 3
Risk Management for E-Business (Vol. 3, No. 12)

Writes author Carole Edrich, "The idea of formal, consistent, transparent corporate governance (in particular, risk management) was initially triggered by the perception that increased operational risks are inherent in the rapidly increasing global pace of change. The requirement for such systems and processes achieved prominence as a result of a number of spectacular operational risk events -- including the US space shuttle Challenger disaster, the Barings banking incident, the discovery by Perrier of excessive sulfur in its mineral water, and the collapse of Banque Credit Commerciale Internationale, which left many individuals and small businesses in a very precarious financial position." This Executive Report explores the nature of e-business risk, along with current tools and techniques. It examines the risk management lifecycle and its principal characteristics, discusses self-assessment programs, then looks at the role of auditors. It also discusses the implementation of risk management structures, tools, systems, and processes and predicts future developments.

Beyond Supply Chain Management: Supply Chain Synthesis and Technology (Vol. 3, No. 11)

Despite all the excitement over B2B, few companies clearly understand how to use B2B or what technologies they need to support it. Companies must master B2B commerce and provide an expanded form of B2B that I call B2B2B2B2B2C. They must move beyond supply chain management to supply chain synthesis (SCS). This report discusses the various forms of B2B and the technologies available for supply chain design, planning, and execution. It defines B2B2B2B2B2C and SCS, outlines the path to SCS success, and concludes with insights to remember when applying technology and SCS.

XML Data Server Architectures (Vol. 3, No. 10)

This report outlines various architectural options for an XML infrastructure, with an emphasis on application development in the middle-tier of Web sites. After reading this report, you'll be able to make decisions about the type of XML data server that is best suited for your application needs. Says author Doug Barry, "XML is an exciting development for the Internet. It is already seeing significant use as a means for exchanging data for business-to-business applications. As these XML applications continue to expand, it becomes important to determine how XML data will be stored and retrieved since these functions are necessary to support e-commerce. In this report, we will look at various architectures for storing and retrieving data for XML applications. As is often the case, one size does not fit all, and this Executive Report delves into the characteristics and features that make a specific architectural choice appropriate for a given situation."

Application Servers: The Next Generation of Web Processing (Vol. 3, No. 9)

Author Jesse Feiler explains that today's application servers have emerged from core products in each of the three main architecture tiers: databases (from the high-end Oracle iAS to FileMaker's Web Companion), middleware and transaction processing products (CICS, WebObjects, iPlanet), and Web authoring tools (Sapphire Web, ColdFusion, etc.). Much of the variety of application server products today stems from their diverse origins.

Says Feiler, "Application servers are used for anything that fits into the architectural model: they respond to requests for Web pages from users (normally using Web browsers). They typically generate those Web pages dynamically using templates and stubs, as well as data from databases. The important thing is that the dynamic construction of the Web pages and access to databases and legacy systems means the architecture can support not only e-commerce but also document sharing and enterprise application integration."

Using Microsoft Distributed Object Technology (Vol. 3, No. 8)

This report takes an in-depth look at the current state of Microsoft's distributed object technology in the form of COM+. Writes author Paul Greenfield, "Building high performance systems using this approach requires the right type of system and database design. Stateless application design, as promoted by MTS and COM+, is the key to good performance and high availability. A stateless application just takes a request, processes it, and is finished with it. No trace of the request is left behind on the server that is running the application, and the next request from the same client may go to another server altogether. Stateless designs scale well, as new servers can be added on the fly, and they are highly available because servers can fail without halting the entire application. Load-balancing software, such as Microsoft's Network Load Balancing and Component Load Balancing products take care of allocating tasks to servers and reallocating work after failure. These technologies have been used to build extremely large and powerful transaction processing systems, far exceeding the capacity of any Unix or mainframe system."

Internet Banking: An EJB Case Study (Vol. 3, No. 7)

This report provides an overview of a mission-critical Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) project: the creation of a system to provide banking services to corporate customers over the Internet. The report examines the issues faced throughout the lifecycle of the project, starting with a description of the requirements and objectives of the application and continuing through a discussion of the system's architecture, implementation issues, and how the economics of the project were affected by the decision to adopt an EJB-centric architecture. The client on this project was a large securities bank with international corporate customers. Its competitors were already offering Web-based services or were in the process of developing them, and this company recognized the need to develop a robust, secure, online banking system in a minimal amount of time (a year or less) to stay competitive.

Agents (Part 2): Complex Systems (Vol. 3, No. 6)

This report focuses on the use of agents in complex distributed systems. Says author James Odell, "All of us are now connected through a global market of online customers and suppliers, supply chain partnerships, and international franchise competition. As Susan Kelly and Mary Allison suggest in their book, The Complexity Advantage , businesses that do not understand and take advantage of the nature of complex systems thinking will be at the mercy of an increasing number of sudden and unexpected shifts in the marketplace. As uncertainty grows exponentially with today's high rate of technological change and the fallout from it, so does the pressure of global markets.' Many executives try to respond to this with yesterday's mindset and linear cause-and-effect thinking. Often, these responses will intensify an already downward spiral. Despite well-conceived plans and well-intended actions, a company that operates without complex systems thinking will find itself unable to respond to the ever-increasing complexity of the business world."

Enterprise Architecture Executive Report Abstracts