Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Where the Only Constant Is Change
In this text, we will examine the strategies that allow an enterprise to be
agile enough to take advantage of new opportunities, while at the same
time being stable enough to allow recovery and continuity in the face of
disaster, regulatory mandate, or significant shift of business focus. Before
walking that path, it is important to be forewarned: Change is often
opposed. This opposition pervades the entire spectrum of information
technology solutions—which may seem odd in an environment where the
only constant is change.
Lilliput and Blefuscu
In Jonathan Swift's
Gulliver's Travels
, the primary character encounters
the tiny inhabitants of an island called Lilliput. Lemuel Gulliver discovers
that the people of Lilliput are embroiled in a bitter war with their neigh-
bors on the island of Blefuscu. The war is being fought over a difference
in the way that eggs must be eaten (Lilliput legislates that eggs must be
eaten only from the smaller, pointed end, while Blefuscu claims that eggs
must be eaten only from the larger, rounded end). The big-end/little-end
difference separates these people so strongly that a long and bitter war has
been fought over the issue.
Because both solutions allow an egg to be eaten, the choice of starting
at one end or the other seems a poor cause for conflict. This is nothing
compared to the passionate manner in which technologists are divided,
with arguments over who “gets root” (has an administrative level of system
access) or which method of log-on authentication to use escalating to heated
brawls or thousands of pages of research “proving” the One True Way.
It is said of the popular dish
pad Thai
(Thai noodles) that there are
as many recipes as there are chefs who prepare it. This is also true for
technology, as every technologist will have his or her own One True Way
and every enterprise will have its own set of needs and preferences. Before
we begin our study of the strategies that may be used, it is important
to understand that entrenched information technology professionals will
have their own best option.
An architect must have the strength of vision necessary to stand firm
and persuade these individuals that some choices must be made from a
