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Whitemarsh is providing two days of training at CIDC 2015. It is called,
Inductive Enterprise Architecture Development
- Is this some great new Clarion feature? No.
- Is this some great new technique to using Clarion? No
- Will this advance your knowledge of Clarion? No.
OK, then what is it?
What we all know
Enterprises or companies, whether they be industry, or government, or are small, medium or large, have all built multiple business information systems for say, HR, Inventory, Marketing, Sales, Transportation, Shipping, and financial aspects such as GL, AP, AR, Invoicing, Billing, and the like.
Likely Problem
All the different databases and application systems have either been developed through an end-to-end enterprise-based architecture or they have not. Most have not.
Lack of Architecture Consequence
When end-to-end enterprise architectures fail to exist, the problems are:
- Many small databases that generally serve a single functional purpose with the same data named differently or different data named the same, and with different (and possibly conflicting) properties. 9 Gender codes anyone?
- Many data records across these databases contain data that should have been defined once, collected once, stored once, updated through a single process. but now exists redundantly, in conflict and out of date one data set with another.
- Application programs that are multi-purpose that capture and update data in conflicting ways, that prevent consistent reporting, and "single-versions of the truth."
- Whole collections of application programs whose sole purpose is to extract, transform, and load (ETL) data from one application-centric database into a different application-centric database. Often the cost of these ETL systems significant in cost and are drag on IT productivity.
- IT budgets that require, design, build, and maintain application programs and databases that are not based on business-based justifications and sequences but are based on the "squeakiest wheel" syndrome. This bloats IT budgets, and over time just makes the problem bigger and harder, and more expensive to solve.
- Enterprises that become bureaucratically clogged, inefficient, and unable to reach their next business plateau specifically because of IT inefficiency, non-responsiveness, lack of overall quality, and inability to meet enterprise business objectives.
Is it all lost or can something be done?
Here are three alternatives:
- First, do nothing. That is, just watch IT databases and application systems grow bigger, increase their discordant reporting results over time, dramatically grow the quantity and cost of ETL systems that only sap IT resources, and have a bigger backlog of unaccomplished business objectives.
- Second, gather up all the evidences of the problems, and propose that all IT databases and application systems be scrapped, and that a really new, shiny, and wonderful enterprise architecture be created, and that everything be accomplished over again from scratch based on the new enterprise architecture.
- Third, lay out a road-map of figuring out what the existing architecture is, design a better one, and over time, transform the "As-Is" set of databases and application systems from the "As-Is" architecture to the "To-Be" architecture, and be enabled to accomplish this improvement continuously over time.
The first only requires that you do nothing, watch your company slowly become increasingly conflicted because of IT, be unable to migrate its way out of this morass, and that you slowly recognize that your only hope is to "dust off your resume" and move on before the business craters. Want to be the one whose silence enabled that?
The second requires trashing all the developed databases and application systems, certainly costs a fortune, has a high probability of failure, and almost definitely is not correct as time marches, requirements change. Want to be the one to champion that strategy?
The third retains, at first, all the developed and application systems, constructs an "As-Is" architecture, a "To-Be" architecture, and then lays out a road map, that, over time, sets out projects in a business-need sequence to accomplish the transformation, and that results in a complete set of Enterprise Architecture of IT work products that are stored in a database, whose transformation can be managed through an contained enterprise-architecture migration project management system, and whose very existence enables continuous enterprise architecture improvement. Want to be the one to champion this strategy?
The Whitemarsh Enterprise Architecture Strategy
First, its name is Inductive Enterprise Architecture Migration. As its name implies, it is bottom up and is engineered to be executed over a long time within an enterprise as time and resources allow. Each segment produces value to the enterprise so that even if slowed or stopped for a period of time, the accomplished work has value.
The Enterprise Architecture Migration strategy employs the Metabase System so that the Enterprise Architecture work products are captured and stored in a Metabase System database. These work products are captured or created over a well defined, event-driven sequence and schedule that can be done in either a concentrated time frame (usually in four calendar months of full-time consultant and enterprise-staff effort), or spread out over a year through monthly training and workshops of one week each.
All the materials, training, workshops, and the Metabase System already exist. It is just a matter of learning it, applying common sense, and executing it in a client-setting with the significant participate of the client.
Of course, the Metabase System is 100% Clarion. It was built almost entirely through the standard Clarion data-centric and data-driven menu-browse-form paradigm of code generation, IDE-accomplished modification, the use of several third-party templates, and a number of significant-sized procedure routines. The Metabase System is of course, Client-Server, but through Thin@ is accessible over the Internet.
Can all this be learned in two days?
Simply put, no. Accomplished in two days of co-located training at CIDC-2015 is:
- Explanation and exposition of Enterprise Architectures and the problems that exist when they are ad-hoc.
- Explanation and justification of the overall process necessary to construct the "As-Is" Enterprise Architecture. These topics are supported by Metabase System demonstrations.
- Explanation and justification of the overall process of building the "To-Be" Enterprise Architecture as the "target" of the Enterprise Architecture migration. This is be supported by Metabase System demonstrations.
- Explanation and justification of the construction of Enterprise Architecture Projects including generating work plans, allocation of staff, and the generation of required resources and schedules.
- The delivery of a production-ready Metabase System license for five concurrent users that is Thin@ ready. (The Thin@ license is not free, however.)
- The identification and links to all Whitemarsh materials that support Inductive Enterprise Architecture Management projects.
- Links to a complete set of the eight sessions (90 minutes each) of the training that are a combination of PowerPoint and Metabase System demonstrations. These were recorded in advance of CIDC-2015 but not released until after CIDC-2015.
Why do I Target this to Clarion Folks?
It is actually very simple. Clarion folks are masters of many skills. Foremost among them are:
- Thorough knowledge of Clarion application development. It is very likely that client-specific import routines and specialized reports will have to be created. Who best to do that than already knowledgeable Clarion Folk?
- Clarion developers are masters of virtually every aspect of business requirements, architecture, database design, application specification, Clarion-base application RAD/prototyping. Few sets of IT staff have such a broad knowledge, all of which is needed on these projects. So, again, who better to be successful than Clarion Folk?
Links:
Training Session Details
- This two-day training is offered on Monday, September 28, 8:30 to 5:00 PM and Tuesday September 28, 8:30 to 5:00 PM. These are two days prior to the actual CIDC Conference.
- There will be refreshments during breaks and also lunch.
- The price of $350 is an "Early Bird" price and will rise after June 30.
- Our minimum number of registrations is 6. If you are coming, please register before June 30.
- We are going to have a Go/NoGo on the class on June 30. If there insufficient registrations by that date, we are going to cancel the class. We will contact your regardless.
- Provided for free will be a link to the pre-recorded lectures of all eight sessions. So, if you are buying this, do NOT purchase the "Recorded Lectures."
Registration and Purchase
This is accomplished through ClarionShop as follows:
- $350 pays for:
- Both Training days including refreshments and lunch.
- Download of Metabase System for 5 concurrent users.
- Complete set of videos of all the training.
- Access to all Metabase User guides.
- Access to Whitemarsh Skype or GoToMeeting Tech Support
- $250 pays for:
- Complete set of videos of all the training.
- Access to Whitemarsh Skype or GoToMeeting Tech Support
- The class size will be strictly limited to a maximum of 24.
- Your Credit card will NOT be charged until August 1.
Please contact me directly for any questions not addressed by the description. The email address is mmgorman@wiscorp.com. Our phone number in the U.S. is 1-301-249-1142.
Hope to have you as a student.
Regards,
Mike Gorman
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