For CIOs

SOA: Dead Or Alive?

by Sharyn Leaver, July 10, 2009

Some recent buzz in the industry would have you believe that SOA is dead, but that just isn't the case — in fact, its use and influence are still growing. Stories of less-than-successful results may dent its reputation, particularly in today's climate . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

SOA Is Far From Dead — But It Should Be Buried

Doing SOA Right Opens The Door To A Much Bigger Architecture Vision

by Randy Heffner, May 11, 2009

Sparked by a tinderbox of economic jitters and technology backlash, a recent thread of industry discussion cries out, "SOA is dead!" Although many have had fun with the discussion, it is in fact quite misguided. No prior industry initiative for IT architecture . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Pharmaceutical Industry Trends Drive EA

The Impact Of Consolidation, Cost Pressures, And Networked Business Models On Pharma IT Means EA Practices Must Change

by Henry Peyret, April 28, 2009

The pharmaceutical industry faces enormous challenges — from changes in how pharmaceutical companies develop and source products, to pricing pressures, to increasingly stringent regulatory environments. These business changes are driving IT to both reduce . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

EA Pros: Must-Read Research In An Economic Downturn

by Gene Leganza, Randy Heffner, October 28, 2008

Economists are debating the length and depth of the economic impact of the credit crunch and the October market meltdown. What can enterprise architects do to survive or — dare we think it — excel during an economic downturn? Enterprise architects must . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

How To Get Started On SOA Policy Management

Increase Your SOA Strategy's Business And Technical Flexibility

by Randy Heffner, August 26, 2008

Policy-based processing increases flexibility by allowing key business and technical decisions to be easily visible and changeable rather than being hard-coded into applications. With service-oriented architecture (SOA), policy is emerging as a generalized . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Five Trends That Will Shape The EA Profession In 2008

by Larry Fulton, Randy Heffner, Jost Hoppermann, Henry Peyret, Jeff Scott, December 14, 2007

In 2008, enterprise architects will find themselves at the center of a struggle to change their organizations into significantly more agile enterprises. As solution delivery morphs from traditional in-house custom development to the integration of an . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

The Strategic Potential Of Microsoft's Oslo

Microsoft And Others Evolve Toward Forrester's Digital Business Architecture

by Randy Heffner, December 6, 2007

Microsoft recently announced Oslo, a strategic direction for several service-oriented architecture (SOA) and related technologies. Oslo has important near-term aims that will benefit Microsoft developers, but the long-term trajectory of Oslo is more critically . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

A Taxonomy Of Platforms For Your Digital Business

Seven Strategic Platforms As A Foundation For Digital Business Architecture

by Randy Heffner, July 3, 2007

With so much industry focus on service-oriented architecture (SOA), many firms are planning for their future SOA platform, but this is only one of multiple platforms emerging within the model of Forrester's Digital Business Architecture. As a top-level . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Solutions-Centric Ecosystems Disrupt The Enterprise Software World Order

Solution Providers With The Strongest Digital Business Networks Will Win

by R "Ray" Wang, May 7, 2007

A maturing software market with finite resources drives intense competition to design solutions for an increasing number of ever-narrowing market segments, industry verticals, and process categories. Partner ecosystems are essential for enterprise software . . .

Creating An SOA-Enabled BPO Platform

How Outsourcers Will Use Digital Business Architecture To Deliver BPO

by Bill Martorelli, October 13, 2006

Vendors seeking to deliver business process services must contend with diverse and complex customer environments, including disparate business process platforms, nonstandard business processes, and customizations. Faced with these challenges — and forced . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Increase Business Agility With BPM Suites

How BPM Suites Support Forrester's Digital Business Architecture

by Ken Vollmer, Colin Teubner, September 25, 2006

It's obvious that a solid technological foundation is necessary to conduct business operations effectively, but how to achieve it is not so obvious. Forrester believes that the reality of the digital age is that your business is embodied in your technology, . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Implementing Your Digital Business Architecture

Case Studies And Guidance For Evolving Your Future IT Architecture

by Randy Heffner, September 5, 2006

Forrester's Digital Business Architecture vision describes the future of IT architecture: A core of metadata that defines business processes, policies, and rules, and controls business operations across your diverse set of IT applications, computing infrastructure, . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

EDA, SOA 2.0, And Digital Business Architecture

How Event-Driven Applications Fit Into The Future Of IT Architecture

by Randy Heffner, September 1, 2006

Forrester has long considered event-driven processing to be an integral part of service-oriented architecture (SOA), but some industry players are just recently catching up. They are combining event-driven architecture (EDA) and SOA and calling it SOA . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Topic Overview: The Extended Internet

Getting Smarter With RFID And Sensors

by Christine Spivey Overby, Ellen Daley, April 4, 2006

Using a foundation of sensors and wireless networks, the Extended Internet (what Forrester calls the "X Internet") connects physical things like assets, products, and even people to the Internet and IT systems. With improved information on the identity . . .

Digital Business Networks

A Framework For Firms Competing As Networks Of Specialists

by Bobby Cameron, January 20, 2006

Firms increasingly operate and compete as part of networks of functions and companies —Forrester calls these Digital Business Networks (DBNs). Organizations participating in DBNs provide one or more of three specialist services: brokerage for orchestration, . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Digital Business Architecture: IT Foundation For Business Flexibility

An IT Architect's Introduction To Forrester's Digital Business Architecture

by Randy Heffner, November 7, 2005

Forrester's Digital Business Architecture lets diverse IT domains work together as one, enabling IT to deliver unified solutions to business problems that cross IT domains. This either: 1) drives down a firm's total spending on IT, or 2) lets IT deliver . . .

Digital Business Architecture: Harnessing IT For Business Flexibility

An Executive's Introduction To Forrester's Digital Business Architecture

by Randy Heffner, November 7, 2005

Many have said that "business depends on technology," but we're past that. The reality of the digital age is that your business is embodied in your technology, and your business can change only as fast as your technology can. Business executives who embrace . . .