Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
the desert took my thoughts to the words of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem,
“Ozymandius,” which tells of a magnificent creation of the past that had
long since fallen to ruin: “My name is Ozymandius, king of kings: Look
on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Nothing beside remains. . . . The
lone and level sands stretch far away.”
I was struck by the lesson inherent in that comparison—the contrast
in imagery between the bridge, standing strong and beautiful, and the
imagined lost cities of Ozymandius provides an illustration of the impact
that update and maintenance have on our creations' longevity. This chap-
ter addresses the importance of planning, guidance, and regular mainte-
nance to retain functionality, value, and purpose in the face of the many
changes and threats over a network's life cycle.
Project Management
The enterprise architect will develop a vision and extend this into a pro-
gram, which will in turn span a number of projects necessary to trans-
forming the enterprise into a cohesive and sustainable form. Success
depends on proper planning, effective transfer of guidance, and strong
control over change to avoid feature creep becoming a never-ending goal
of Sisyphean character. The vision is enduring, programs become a part
of the organizational business plan, and projects effect stepwise change
from one state to the next. Together, these describe a path that the enter-
prise will follow, milestones and checkpoints along the way, a timeframe
and criteria for completion, and metrics for measuring progress.
In addition to understanding the technologies, regulatory mandates,
and line-of-business requirements of an organization, the enterprise archi-
tect should have strong knowledge of project management techniques,
whether through application of a formal methodology such as PRINCE2
(Projects IN Controlled Environments) or derived from a standard such
as the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) produced by
the Project Management Institute (PMI). Projects differ from programs
by having a specific start and end date, defined deliverables, and a spe-
cific set of completion criteria. These factors are mandatory for effec-
tive change and provide a planned evolution to maintain sustainability.
Without a clear project scope, individual projects can mutate into ever-
evolving general goals that consume resources and fail to produce use-
ful output or end-state products. Continually changing end-state goals
