Field Notes: Architectural Principles and Design Notes

This Field Notes series chronicles my experiences with a major transformation project I’ve been involved in for the past eighteen months. I have worked on almost every aspect of this project, from application rationalization to portfolio management to reconstructing business processes and aligning and synchronizing IT with the business.

Managing Change: More Notes from the Field

Companies are still facing an era of unprecedented and continuous change. In fact, perhaps the most striking feature of today’s business environment is its dynamic nature. While change is often unexpected and disruptive, companies that adapt quickly can gain a competitive advantage. I’ve said this many times in the past, and it still rings true …

Posts from the Field: Application Portfolio Rationalization

I recently spent four months mired knee-deep in a large enterprise transformation project, analyzing and working directly with the customer on a bloated application portfolio rationalization. This isn’t easy, especially with a very large, diverse enterprise. Companies of this type have multiple business areas, some of which in turn have multiple business units, each with its own complexities and quirks. These areas and units …

In Cloud, Cost Is Everything

The use of the cloud is not governed by technology so much as it is governed by cost: the cost of on-premises management, support, expertise, and environment vs. the cost of cloud services and outsourced expertise, management, etc. The cost differential must be high enough in the short term to allow it to become valid …

Necessary and Sufficient for 100% Public Cloud

When we talk about transforming to the cloud, we often talk about hybrid cloud and what it will take to transition to it, leaving discussions about 100% cloud usage purely to the new startup (greenfield) organizations. What is needed to move 100% off-premises to a public cloud? What is sufficient, what is necessary, and what …