architected_info http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/ How people, practices, and information are transformed into relationships and understanding. en Copyright 2007 Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:00:00 -0700 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.33 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss A Very Useful Engine A while back, I wrote about how useful it would be to be able to combine collaborative information and structured data. While Wikis and other collaborative information sources are great, I would argue that they aren't truly useful (yet).

Recently, ran across an organization that is turning Wikipedia entries into downloadable datasets that are available today. Very, very, very cool.

To learn more about this very useful engine and more, take a look at architected.info.

]]> http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2007/03/a_very_useful_e.php http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2007/03/a_very_useful_e.php Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:00:00 -0700 EC2, Licensing, and Competitive Advantage I have been working with Amazon Web Services (and EC2) a lot lately, and have made some observations that really fly in the face of conventional wisdom.

I work in ETL, which means I need to get a hold of big iron to crunch on big data. Machines are expensive, licenses are expensive, storage and networks are cheap. This is very different from Amazon's compute farm approach, which changes the economics of the game, especially with respect to software licensing ...

To learn more about EC2, licensing, and competitive advantage and more, take a look at architected.info.

]]> http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/12/ec2_licensing_a_1.php http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/12/ec2_licensing_a_1.php Fri, 08 Dec 2006 12:30:00 -0700 The Tyranny of the Average Seen and Not Seen has an interesting post about "the tyranny of the average" in the design world. This graphic tells the gist of the story very clearly:

This has got me thinking about a lot of things we do in the data world, especially with respect to business intelligence.

To learn more about the the tyranny of the average and more, take a look at architected.info.

]]> http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/11/the_tyranny_of.php http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/11/the_tyranny_of.php Thu, 16 Nov 2006 15:45:00 -0700 Millenial Culture Wars Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.

-- J.K. Rowling

One of the massive changes every organization is going to have to deal with in the coming years is the arrival of the millenials in the workplace. These are folks who have been raised on the Web, IM, and SMS. They are digital natives, who think nothing about taking two disparate systems and tying them together with AJAX or whatever is at hand. This is going to be a scary time for a lot of IT organizations, especially ones who are led by digital immigrants. It will be the changing of the guard, the face-off between two cultures who are both large, ego-driven, and don't want to be ignored.

In my time in the industry, I have seen (and heard recounted) the history of a number of cultural conflicts:

  • Mainframes vs. Midframes
  • Midframes vs. PC's.
  • Copybooks vs. Databases
  • Databases vs. Spreadsheets
  • Memos vs. Email

In each of these cases, the "old timers" resented the "young turks" who had no respect for how things ought to run. At the same time, the turks resented the fact that they had to work so hard to do somethng that was so obviously needed. In retrospect, it wasn't an issue of right or wrong, it was a question of new vs. established.

To learn more about the culture wars and more, take a look at architected.info

]]> http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/millenial_cultu.php http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/millenial_cultu.php Sun, 27 Aug 2006 21:45:00 -0700 The Millenial Culture Wars Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.

-- J.K. Rowling

One of the massive changes every organization is going to have to deal with in the coming years is the arrival of the millenials in the workplace. These are folks who have been raised on the Web, IM, and SMS. They are digital natives, who think nothing about taking two disparate systems and tying them together with AJAX or whatever is at hand. This is going to be a scary time for a lot of IT organizations, especially ones who are led by digital immigrants. It will be the changing of the guard, the face-off between two cultures who are both large, ego-driven, and don't want to be ignored.

In my time in the industry, I have seen (and heard recounted) the history of a number of cultural conflicts:

  • Mainframes vs. Midframes
  • Midframes vs. PC's.
  • Copybooks vs. Databases
  • Databases vs. Spreadsheets
  • Memos vs. Email

In each of these cases, the "old timers" resented the "young turks" who had no respect for how things ought to run. At the same time, the turks resented the fact that they had to work so hard to do somethng that was so obviously needed. In retrospect, it wasn't an issue of right or wrong, it was a question of new vs. established.

To learn more about the culture wars and more, take a look at architected.info

]]> http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/the_millenial_c.php http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/the_millenial_c.php Sun, 27 Aug 2006 21:30:00 -0700 Enterprise Web 2.0, Linux, and Ecclesiastes Lately I have been pondering the impact of things like SOA and
mashups in the enterprise context, blending in the web dialtone discussion that is happening on the O'Reilly Radar.

This has some interesting applications, especially withdata and ETL ...

You can read about enterprise web 2.0 and more at architected.info.

]]> http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/enterprise_web.php http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/enterprise_web.php Sun, 20 Aug 2006 18:30:00 -0700 8 Truths About Standardization (Especially for Data and ETL) The ongoing debate about the planetary status of Pluto is a really great example of how the standards-making process really works. Like most debates, everyone involved is supposed to be rational, thinking adults. The most rational, thinking people on earth: scientists.

This planetary debate is highly charged, personal, emotional, contradictory at times, and ended with a solution that defies logic and mollifies more than it satisfies. Of course, this reminds me of the times I have been sitting in a room trying to decide on standard ways to do or classify things. For the most part, this has been as a technologist (around data, ETL and architecture), but also as a member of a business and as a leader in a non-profit organization ...

You can read about the 8 truths and more at architected.info

]]> http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/8_truths_about.php http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/8_truths_about.php Sun, 20 Aug 2006 13:30:00 -0700 WWHD (What Would A Hacker Do)? Slashdot had an interesting thread on creative responses to security threats. The problem was that people were having others try to piggy-back over their private wireless network.

The solutions, ranged from scary to annoying to hilarious. Instead of taking the enterprise route (find a vendor, spend some money, integrate the system) it is interesting to see what a web hacker would do in the same situation ...

You can read about hackers and more at architected.info

]]> http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/wwhd_what_would.php http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/wwhd_what_would.php Tue, 15 Aug 2006 08:00:00 -0700 Versatility and Value Industry rag Computerworld has a great article about job skills and the marketplace. It predicts that:

[In] 2010 ... IT departments will be populated with "versatilists" -- those with a technology background who also know the business sector inside and out, can architect and carry out IT plans that will add business value, and can cultivate relationships ...

An interesting idea, but is it right?

You can read more about versatilists and more at architected.info

]]> http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/versatility_and.php http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/versatility_and.php Sun, 13 Aug 2006 20:45:00 -0700 Why Requirements are Difficult Having problems dealing with requirements from your customers? It could be worse … imagine if the placement of a single comma cost you $2.13 million! This story is a great reminder why creating, maintaing, and following requirements is so difficult in technology projects ...

You can find about this and more at architected.info.

]]> http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/_why_requiremen.php http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/_why_requiremen.php Sat, 12 Aug 2006 16:45:00 -0700 Bad Information Quality Can Be Devastating A New Jersey NBC affiliate reported on a shocking turn of events where a deceased infant was accidentally cremated, because:

one of the babies being registered inconsistently at the morgue and in the hospital’s admissions database.

And the real travesty is that this isn’t the worst part of the story ...

You can find about this and more at architected.info.

]]> http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/bad_information.php http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/bad_information.php Wed, 09 Aug 2006 21:30:00 -0700 Poor Information Quality Hits Home Due to a data processing error, the City of Muncie, Indiana incorrectly assessed property taxes on several large non-profit institutions. The inflated total was then used for budgeting, causing a huge shortfall.

Of course, the people most impacted were the first responders.

You can find about this and more at architected.info.

]]> http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/poor_informatio.php http://www.beyeblogs.com/architected_info/archive/2006/08/poor_informatio.php Tue, 08 Aug 2006 06:30:00 -0700