 | Level: Introductory Michael J. Welsh (writer@roninwriter.com), Senior Writer, Ronin Writer
11 Sep 2007 Building great IT architecture takes time and planning. By assessing what is already
in place, then visualizing what it should be, you can make great enterprise architecture
a reality. To achieve your dream architecture, learn what to build, how to build it, and what
to build it on in this article.
In this article, learn what to build and how to build it. Let's assume
that as the IT architect, you're not lucky enough to work in a
clean environment—a place in which you get to build the enterprise IT
architecture from scratch. Like most IT architects, you will be building around a
current environment in which good intentions stopped short of being perfect. Maybe
your enterprise has grown from a small IT staff to a congested data center full of
legacy servers. Or perhaps you have to integrate the IT departments of several small
companies that your organization has acquired. Now is the time to determine the current
resources and fine tune the flow of information.
For IT architects, building and design can seem one of the easiest phases of enterprise
architecture. This simplistic view comes from seeing physical results—servers
loaded into place, the gentle hum of fans, and the blinking lights. And while this may
seem like a good time to get a few new toys for the server room, you have a lot of work
ahead. IT architects wear many hats: project manager, leader, diplomat, and content
expert. Building a successful enterprise architecture requires collaboration with all
areas of the company, and you will have worn each one of these hats by the end of the
project.
Building and design: What to build
Consider a warehouse that's changing from a manual "print and select" method to an
automated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or wireless barcode system. The
ordering system shifts from a call center to an IBM® WebSphere®
application. While the back-end system will remain an IBM AS/400®
platform, many of the warehouse terminals will be replaced with wireless
transceivers. So, while the main business of delivering products to customers
hasn't changed, the method of collecting and processing orders will. While this
project seems straightforward, as an IT architect, you must see the whole picture.
It has an obvious impact on the warehouse staff, but it's also a radical shift in
business operations.
Skills and competencies
Before making any new plans, you must assess the current environment. Whether
you're working in a large multinational corporation or a small family-owned
business, the IT landscape may hold several components—
pitfalls
—that you must identify. But how do you
really know what exists unless you do an in-depth assessment?
Start by looking at the physical environment. With the right tools, such as IBM
Information Server, you can find most of the physical equipment. Also, don't
forget to consider space and location. Are you dealing with one location among
multiple sites? How is the network set up? Are you dealing with legacy
equipment? Is there enough room to handle growth? Be sure to consider the whole
impact that new equipment will have. Electrical, heat, and network resources
must be part of any growth equation. Be sure not to overlook network bandwidth,
especially when dealing with multisite environments.
Next, assess the various platforms that exist. Here, you may find a mixture of
Microsoft® Windows®, Linux®, AS/400, or even
legacy platforms such as Microsoft Windows NT® or IBM OS2®.
Identify the types of databases the organization has: You may need to move
various databases that currently don't share data under the new architecture.
Finally, review the business model and data flow. Understand how data originates,
where and how it's processed, and the result. A full review of how the
business operates will help improve efficiency, but more important, it will
help avoid disruptions when work begins.
Server and network utilization is also important. Some server managers prefer
the "one server, one function" method, so a single server runs a single
application. It is a logical approach, because in the event of a server
failure, only one application is at risk. The downside to this method is that
resources may be underused and wasted. The alternative is to load a single
server with several applications so that the organization gets the full total
cost of ownership (TCO). However, this method increases the possibility of
failures, such as network problems or memory leaks, affecting the performance
of several applications. Taking the server down for maintenance means
disrupting the applications it hosts and can have a wider impact on the
business.
Apart from the physical assets currently available, you must also consider the
human resources necessary for a successful enterprise architecture. For
example, to develop new applications, you must have programmers. Those same
applications require support for users. Technicians must be dispatched to
address problems that cannot be handled remotely. The human factor is harder
to judge, because data is built around two principles: what has worked in the
past and what has failed. Okay, that's not really helpful, but short of pulling
out a crystal ball or hiring an oracle, the best you can do is keep learning
from the past. Stay flexible. Cross-training allows people to assist in
congested areas. The existing systems and applications must still be supported
as you bring the new architecture online. This process can significantly
stretch your human resources to the breaking point.
Tools and techniques
Standards are the level ground upon which everything is built. Having good
standards when you begin to build your new IT architecture helps fill in gaps
along the way and keeps you from starting over every time changes are required.
The use of standards assures consistency throughout the enterprise, which in
turn simplifies delivery and hastens support.
Several IT architectural standards are available for you to use. One of the
more popular frameworks is The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF). The
standards used within that framework are proven from experience.
When choosing standards, remember to consider the organization's industry.
Medical, financial, and credit card companies have separate standards that can
affect how an IT environment operates. The good news is that most of these
industry-specific standards follow common-sense IT practices and are included
in TOGAF.
The following list of learning resources will help start your standards quest:
Milestones
Creating milestones in the preplanning stage helps make a clear case for
bringing in additional resources:
-
Set the objectives. Create a plan of what should be accomplished
and when, and then establish guidelines for how the results should be
formatted. Doing so results in a clear goal for everyone involved with
the project, so that all know what is expected of them. Build a team
to help get the best from their areas.
-
Determine your requirements. You will need hardware, software,
and network expertise. Tools that can run autonomously are available
through various software vendors or through open source software
channels.
-
Establish standards. Understand your standards and stick to
them! Choose standards that the team can follow, and look at what the
IT department requires from an industry view. Data security, retention,
and management will be part of your standards discussion as well as
programming conventions.
-
Know what you already have. At the end of each G.I. Joe cartoon
from the 1980s was the line, "And knowing is half the battle!" That's
true now. Possessing accurate facts of what already exists will help
get the most of what is available and will reduce costs.
-
Determine whether outside services will be needed. It may make
sense to have an external group perform the audit. Professional
auditing groups can do a thorough job of finding all resources and
asking the right questions. Outside services can be especially helpful
if you don't currently have the proper tools to perform a detailed
assessment.
-
Assign roles. Delegate tasks that
best suit the team members, and set them loose.
-
Maintain documentation. If you haven't begun creating
documentation prior to starting this step, it's time to start. Collect
operating procedures, code changes, and help desk procedures. It may be
a good time to have team members document what they actually do instead
of what they were hired to do.
 |
Construction techniques: How to build it
Now that you have a complete map of the IT landscape, put it to good use in building
your enterprise architecture.
Skills and competencies
With the whole IT picture in hand, map out how the information flows from start
to finish. By creating diagrams and descriptions of the data flow, you can see
the business flow's weaknesses and strengths. It's true that one picture is
worth a thousand words, and diagrams best illustrate single points of failure
and other weaknesses when discussing the matter with management.
Knowing the ins and outs of the business model may be the biggest weapon in your
arsenal. Request that specialists be brought in to help assess non-IT areas,
such as electrical and cooling needs. Your server and applications specialists
should be able to give sound advice based on the data you collected. Because
IT affects all areas of an organization, your project management skills must
be sharp. To make changes, department managers must be advised and able to
offer input.
As you build the new architecture, this time presents an ideal opportunity to
insert redundancy and increase efficiency. Review disaster recovery options
at all levels. For example, if the facility closed because of a natural
disaster, could the organization divert production? Consider the use of
offsite data centers for redundancy. Many data centers have flexible costs based
on services, space, and use.
Because data is so critical to the organization, making decisions about how data is
stored and who can access it is imperative. How much data is being processed?
How is it physically stored? Consult the hardware assessment to see how much
storage is still available and make choices about what additions to make.
Discuss the advantages of a storage area network (SAN) over traditional server
storage with the server staff. Perhaps it's time to move from several small
databases to a robust Structured Query Language (SQL) environment.
Tools and techniques
Whether you need help building an SQL database on a SAN or must learn how to
implement the latest hardware changes, IBM has a wealth of knowledge that can
help:
Milestones
Simple milestones help keep you on track as you begin to implement a design
plan. While you may have your own ideas, as an architect, you need input from
your team. The following points will help you get started:
-
Establish milestones. Learn the business inside and out. Set
objectives and dates for understanding how departments operate and how
they affect the organization as a whole. For example, if Accounting
can't function, customers aren't billed and staff members aren't paid.
-
Maintain standards. Keep the standards that have been agreed
upon, and see to it that they're enforced.
-
Track your budget and costs. Armed with facts and figures about the
existing environment, start estimating the costs to build the new
enterprise architecture. Hardware, software, and consulting costs are
important, but also remember to include employee hours. Consider
overtime and after-hours labor costs, and be sure to include a training
budget.
-
Keep vendor listings of software and hardware. It pays to know
where you can get the equipment you're looking for as well as price
estimates.
-
Bring in outside help, if necessary. Will you need to bring in
outside help? Such help could be as simple as techs answering calls
during the deployment stage or having developers come in to build the
new applications. Now that you understand each person's job and work
load, consulting services can fill in gaps.
-
Assign roles. Put your experts to work calling vendors, testing
network load, and so on.
-
Document your procedures. Document ideas, even if you aren't
100% certain how you're going to get there. Having the dream on paper
can inspire you and your team to think of new solutions. Get quotes and
draft a budget. Gather all quotes in one place, and make comparison
listings in a spreadsheet to find the best price. Because you're working
in a dynamic environment, document any changes that happen after
completing the full assessment.
|
Choosing platforms: What to build it on
After you have gained an understanding of the data flow and established standards,
you now have a plan. It is time to decide which platforms to build upon. Legacy
systems may have a role in deciding which platforms you can use and how data will
transfer.
Skills and competencies
While it may be easiest to stay with platforms with which staff members are
familiar, growth may be worth the effort. For example, changing from a Windows
environment to a Linux environment may at first appear to produce an immediate
reduction in costs until you factor in the cost of training support staff.
After you and the team have decided on the operating system, choose the
application. Whether it's common, store-purchased software, an industry-specialized
product, or an application that was written in-house, assess how it will
function in the new enterprise architecture. This discussion must occur as
you consider platforms, because some programs are platform specific.
Tools and techniques
Standardization of hardware and software helps remove many of the problems that
multivendor datacenters have. When problems arise, such as a drive failure,
you have only one number to call.
Looking at the human element, consider what impact the changes will bring. Will
training need to be provided to programmers and administrators? For example,
rewriting a Web application from one language to another may require
educational refresher courses for developers. Leaving the Windows realm for
Linux may create shortfalls in expert knowledge among the systems
administrators. Will new personnel need to be brought on board?
Learning resources
Consider the following resources from IBM:
Milestones
Decisions on which direction your hardware and operating systems may go require
input from the team. If you will be changing platforms from existing hardware,
you may need to bring in educational services to help the support team feel
comfortable in the new setting. Consider these points:
-
Establish milestones. Learn the advantages other technologies
can bring to help make the dream a reality. Set dates for vendors to
discuss platform options with your team.
-
Communicate with resources. Continue to keep management, staff,
users, and vendors informed.
-
Track your budget and costs. Work with vendors to get costs on
hardware and software, and start adding up the numbers. Be sure to
calculate additional delivery, installation, and maintenance costs.
-
Determine whether outside services are needed. Whether you're
going to be integrating several different platforms or you're moving
into unfamiliar waters, bringing in expert advice is a good idea.
-
Assign roles. As you prepare to roll out new hardware and
software to the proper groups, maintain communication.
-
Document your procedures. Now you know what you have, what you
want, and how it will work together. As you move forward, remember to
document what you and your team did—especially if you're
pursuing your IT Architecture certification.
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Summary
The platform to support your new enterprise must be solid, robust, and able to grow
and change. Planning and communication are the mortar that holds the IT foundation
together. By knowing what the organization wants and listening to what it
needs, you can get the hard work done to help make the rest of the project easier. Careful
consideration of how to connect the pieces takes time and knowledge, not only
of the technology but also of the organization and the people that will support it.
By outlining the new platform and creating a bridge from the existing environment,
you can make the change without creating a huge impact on the enterprise. Building
a solid foundation to hold your IT infrastructure ensures success.
Resources Learn
Get products and technologies
-
Download IBM
product evaluation versions and get your hands on application development tools
and middleware products from DB2, Lotus®, Rational®, Tivoli®,
and WebSphere.
Discuss
About the author | | | Michael Welsh is a 15-year IT professional specializing in IT security, disaster
recovery, and networks. He is also knowledgeable in operating systems, hardware, and
many server-side applications such as Microsoft Exchange Server. Michael writes
technical articles and documentation for Web sites and businesses. |
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