Strategic advice to leverage new technologies

Let me start by explaining my use of the word “coalition” and set the context for using it with respect to enterprise architecture (EA) and Internet of Things (IoT) alliance or synergy. According to Merriam-Webster, a coalition is “a body formed by the coalescing of originally distinct elements.” While EA and IoT are distinct and unsimilar disciplines, my interest is the inherent synergy between them. In my opinion, this originates from the fact that EA and IoT each supports digital strategies for disruptive business operations.

In the past decade, the field of neural networks has evolved very rapidly as a result of new insights obtained in the mid-2000s, when several researchers published articles on deep learning. The number of algorithms has grown rapidly. For example, there is now a whole class of algorithms often termed deep learning, deep machine learning, or deep neural networks that have become popular. This topic can be a bit confusing as “deep” is currently being used in multiple different ways.

Cognitive computing is starting to impact the enterprise by changing the way data is analyzed and the manner in which employees and customers interact with computerized systems. This is happening across various industries, ranging from healthcare and retail to banking and financial services. 

The challenge for the enterprise architect is to figure out what the enterprise chorus lines are; in other words, what we might think of as the “core” architecture.

Watson Ads is the first application of Watson to advertising. The goal: make ads more appealing, interactive, and engaging; in effect, heighten the consumer experience by allowing them to make more personalized, informed decisions at the point of consideration. Instead of clicking on an ad and receiving a canned marketing spiel about a product or service, consumers will be able to ask specific questions in plain natural language and receive information with real, contextual relevance to their individual needs.

A conversation is taking shape about the role of ethics in software projects, all the way from the algorithms that implement those projects to the projects themselves. Interest is especially focused on auton­o­mous vehicles, the cyber espionage and cyber warfare fields, and many consumer products such as the Web and video authoring tools that have played essential roles in new media and publishing projects — as well as terrorism and child pornography. Note that “software projects” and “system development” are used in a very broad way to encompass apps on mobile devices, complex systems running across an elaborate network of hosts, and websites and Web apps of all types and sizes.

Digital solutions are intelligently and seamlessly wrapping themselves around the complex lives of consumers in a bid to deliver deeply personalized services as and when required. Consumer expectations of the digital world are heightened by the resulting experiences, which ultimately creates further demands on organizations. If we wish to take advantage of this virtuous cycle, we must gaze into the future and consider the complex systems of interactions that will emerge between more demanding humans and smarter technologies. 

If we could for a moment ignore the terms "enterprise architecture" and what does or does not constitute one, and "solution or system architecture" and what does or does not constitute one, we might reach some agreement on the concepts that underlie enterprise architecture. In that spirit, here is my take on enterprise architecture, without using the word (until the end).