Model the Business, Not a System

The following quote is a good idea for increasing collaboration among IT and Business. I guess the architect is in between reason why I always dislike when anyone tries to categorize me into one or the other. I am technical when I have to work with IT resources to implement an application that full fills business requirements for which I have to be able to communicate and understand the business team. Therefore, I can not be limited to be one or the other when in fact I have to work with both. If anyone needs to give a label to my kind, how about solutions provider? On the other hand, data architect works just fine with me.


"The most critical mistake you can make is treating models as if you personally own them. The models should be presented as belonging to the business and stewarded by the modelers. That means sharing them openly, providing access to those who want it, keeping extra printouts available, offering training on how to read them, and making every effort to make them clear and understandable.

Models and their underlying metadata are corporate assets to be managed by a partnership of architects and the business. In fact, we call all the data and process modeling we do Business Models to demonstrate that these models are not just temporary inputs into the development process of a single project but also longer-term corporate assets.

We create business logical models and business physical models. Keeping the emphasis on the business side of things reinforces the fact that we architects want to solve real problems, not just technical curiosities."


Karen López, I.S.P.
Collaborating with Developers and DBAs: 7 Steps to an Easier Project, a Better Product and a Stronger Team
InfoAdvisors, Inc.
www.infoadvisors.com