Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Reference Models are meant to be referred to

I have seen many organizations adopt, and in some case pay money, for reference models - with no real idea of what a reference model is and how it should be used. Reference models should be referred to not just instantiated and bastardized.

For example an industry reference model may indicate a set of functions that are common to an industry (or a set of information objects an industry will usually need). The reference model should have within it the relationships between the reference models functions and the reference models information.

If a business relates its functional to the RM-Functions and its information model to the RM-Information that analysis if possible of inferred relationships and gaps.

If a business just copies the RM-Functions, RM-Information objects, etc. and makes its own hacked versions of those their business-models, information-models; abandoning in the process the ability to link their models to the Industry Reference models they lose the ability to "refer" the RMs and updated versions of them. They can no longer easily determine where they differ and why. They fundamentally don't understand what a "Reference" model is.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Why don't EA's want to change?



Max Planck said "A scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. ". 

I think this can be generalized to "A better approach or more accurate way of seeing the world, does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it". 

Oh if only it were true what William Blake said "Truth can never be told so as to be understood and not be believed"

But in perhaps we need to look to George Orwell for the explanation in industries dominated by fashion, lead by marketeers "In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act". 

Matthew 7:6  also bears reading