Re: [AM] Article of Interest in CIO Magazine

[email protected] wrote:

> From my perspective, if 90% of the TCO of an application system
> is borne after it has been deployed, as has been suggested, it
> says more about an inappropriate system design and architecture
> than it does about the difficulty in p redicting the future
> requirments of the system.

What it says to me is that most people focus on the wrong thing:
the initial cost of the system.  One of my standard soapbox
speeches is about how most projects focus entirely on the
expensive pause at the beginning of the project (i.e.
development) and spend far too little time focussing on the
really important part from the business's perspective: the
profits (or other benefits) that the system generates.  If you
take this sort of system engineering view, then you concern
yourself with the 90% rather than the 10%.  Making sure the
system delivers business value is the important point.

As an example, I have seen a number of times a new system being
designed to replace an existing system.  No one seems to
concentrate on the important point from the business's point of
view: When can you turn off the old system?  Too often, the old
system and the new system are run in parallel and this costs the
company money.  Planning for an early turnoff of the old system
whilst still maintaining acceptable service levels is the key
here, and it addresses directly the 90% of TCO.

This is what an architect should be focussing on, not on defining
elegant internal layering and other ueber-techie concerns.

--
Hubert Matthews         http://www.oxyware.com/
Software Consultant     [email protected]

For more information about AM, visit the Agile Modeling Home Page at www.agilemodeling.com
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