12.01.11
Separating Traditions and Principles
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It is sometimes hard to separate traditions from principles. Even though the development of new applications can be defined by stating requirements, it is important to separate the requirements derived from principles and those derived from traditions.
The distinction is important to maintain flexibility. Principles do not need to be flexible and do not need to be developed using techniques to support the ease of change. Requirements based upon traditions, on the other hand, should utilize techniques that support the ease of change.
For example, it would not be necessary to build software applications that use a different method of tracking dates other than day, month, and year. Remember the Y2K scare of disasters that would come on the year 2000 due to software developers not using the full year? This little deviation from the principles cost business millions if not billions of dollars to correct.
In accounting, I have reviewed software that would change past account posts to correct errors. The software was done by not recognizing the principle of only moving forward. When accounting errors are made, the accounts are corrected by applying adjustments. Following this principle will result in a complete record of the error and the adjustment.
Black Friday has traditionally occurred on the day after Thanksgiving. This year, some retailers decided to start earlier. They still called it “Black Friday”, but they did not start on a Friday. Could it be that the whole idea of a “Black Friday” may eventually disappear and become Christmas in July?
Traditions like “Black Friday” are difficult to identify. They appear to be principles because this event has been around for decades. The key in this case is that this date was designated as a marketing program and we all know that these types of programs will change. Change is inevitable as marketing looks for more ways to encourage shoppers to buy their products.
For marketing, we only need to look at what has been done with Christmas and the creation of Valentine’s Day. So, one way to identify a tradition is to uncover whether it is a marketing-created tradition. If so, it will change.
The best approach is to understand the principles. These are not simply application requirements that developers need to code. These are absolutes that must be implemented according to the professionals responsible for having established the principles.
This is where the Enterprise Architect must come in as the referee. The Enterprise Architect must give the authority to the professionals in the principled area. This can sometimes be difficult, because there are often duct-taped solutions that can be applied by the developers that will go around the principles.
The business and technical understanding of Enterprise Architects gives them the ability to identify the principles versus traditions buried in application requirements. Having this identification will then allow the development staff to apply the appropriate development techniques to support future change.
The Enterprise Architects can see what is coming and are already preparing. They know that this will be their time. Corporations will be able to completely focus on their business, and automation will be viewed as an agile enabler. Automation will finally become the self-service contributor that the Corporate Office has always wanted it to be. –Enterprise Architects Masters of the Unseen City
Closing the Business / IT gap.
