Three and a half Roses

  • Quantify the complexity of your application landscape

    Quantify the complexity of your application landscape

    n today’s evolving business landscape, grasping the intricacies of enterprise application architecture is crucial, yet challenging for many. Recent research introduces comprehensive metrics to measure this complexity. These metrics are categorized into three: Heterogeneity-focused (highlighting diverse technologies), Topology-based (analyzing structural aspects like application count and customization levels), and Common Industry Metrics (benchmarking against industry standards).… Continue reading

  • Set up your Azure cloud with Landing Zones

    Set up your Azure cloud with Landing Zones

    A while back, someone pointed me to the Azure Landing Zones concept as an excellent way to organize an Enterprise Cloud environment in Azure. Classic enterprise networks In a classic enterprise network, you will find network segments like a DMZ for the front-end applications, another segment for back-end systems, and so on. Your enterprise network… Continue reading

  • The IMD Smart City Index 2020 report reveals interesting trends (with Excel download)

    The IMD Smart City Index 2020 report reveals interesting trends (with Excel download)

    Not long ago, the  Institute for Management Development (IMD) published their Smart City Index 2020 report, ranking cities worldwide according to their “smartness” levels.  For the IMD, “a ‘smart city’ continues to be defined as an urban setting that applies technology to enhance the benefits and diminish the shortcomings of urbanization for its citizens.“. The… Continue reading

  • Customer Journey Diagrams

    Customer Journey Diagrams

    Customer Journey diagrams have been around for a while now. They are another great tool to help you think about the interactions between you and your customers.  You can use them to analyze or convey the positive and negative interactions (a.k.a. paint-points) your customers have with your company or brand. Here’s an example of what… Continue reading

  • Determine your business integration strategy

    Determine your business integration strategy

    In order to apply a sound IT (Integration) Strategy in a multi-entity environment, it is important to understand the business integration strategy. Continue reading

  • Uber’s Domain-Oriented Microservice Architecture

    In the blog post “Microservices and SOA” written four years ago, I wrote that I thought Microservices Architectures were Service-Oriented Architectures done right. Of course, when designing Microservices, no-one prevents you from making a lot of exquisite short-term decisions that, in the long-term, become millstones around your neck. A few days ago, Adam Gluck introduced… Continue reading

  • Capability Wheel: a nice variation on the iceberg diagram

    Capability Wheel: a nice variation on the iceberg diagram

    The Capability wheel is another representation of the Iceberg Diagram.  It represents all the capabilities that matter above sea-level and below sea-level in a circular fashion as depicted in the diagram below: It is a visual appealing way and shows in a blink of the eye how much is hidden under the surface.  In the following… Continue reading

  • Being S.M.A.R.T. About your objectives

    Being S.M.A.R.T. About your objectives

    Goals and objectives are often used interchangeably, but they are different. Here’s a good definition that I found on the michigan.gov website: Goals are general guidelines that explain what you want to achieve in your community. They are usually long-term and represent global visions such as “protect public health and safety.” Objectives define strategies or… Continue reading

  • The rise and growth of the UI Layer

    The rise and growth of the UI Layer

    In the early days of the browser-based internet, the UI layer was gold-paper thin. Browsers were not even capable of processing user input from day one. Computers were slow and didn’t have a lot of memory or video capabilities. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), the iPhone, Android hadn’t been invented yet. And so the logical consequence… Continue reading

  • The RACI Matrix

    The Responsible-Accountable-Consulted-Informed (RACI) matrix is another useful and widely used communication means. A good one clearly and concisely shows which person or organization has a stake (and which one) in specific tasks. This helps to clarify who is supposed to do what. It also makes sure everyone clearly now what is expected of them. Let’s… Continue reading

About Me

As an experienced enterprise architect with a deep-rooted passion for cloud, AI, and architectural design, I’ve guided numerous companies through the management of their existing application landscapes and facilitated their transition to a future state.