The course doesn’t assume any previous knowledge of corporate systems, and begins by explaining the key elements of corporate computing leading to current “thin client” and web-based designs. It covers the important issues of reliability, scalability and security, and these themes are extended into software, which is addressed in three main categories: application software, middleware systems, and operating platforms. Core areas such as eXtensible Markup Language (XML), the Java 2 Enterprise Edition environment (J2EE), and the .NET platform are put into perspective, along with emerging trends such as the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and strategic products such as WebSphere and WebLogic.
If you’re looking for an overview of component-based technology and the concept of distributed objects, which will enable you to evaluate different technologies, QA’s Distributed and Component Technologies (OODIST-3) is a one-day course that provides an overview of Microsoft’s COM+ and .NET, CORBA and J2EE, and discusses how they interoperate. For a more in-depth approach, Understanding Distributed and Web-based Systems (CSCOMP1) sets out to show how the power available on the desktop can be applied to corporate data. Client/server has become an industry catch-all phrase, and many people have gained an overly simplistic view of the technology and are not aware of either its power or implications. This course explains distributed computing and demonstrates its capabilities, and describes how the key components of multi-tier architecture fit together. It will be of particular interest to companies that are currently considering “rightsizing” options. It also covers the common interconnection and client application development products. By the end of this three-day course, which includes hands-on sessions using a selection of commercially available database and front-end applications, delegates will understand how the Internet infrastructure fits into multi-tier architectures, be able to define e-commerce and discuss its issues and benefits, and understand database middleware and why it is important.
As a follow-on from Understanding Distributed and Web-based Systems, QA offers a four-day course that examines the process, from architecture through to the design of distributed enterprise systems, focusing on the key choices that need to be made. The use of the three major component technologies in building flexible distributed computing architecture: client/server; Microsoft component technology; and the CORBA/Java Beans model; are also studied in Architecture and Design of Distributed Enterprise Systems (CSDOM2).
As well as a knowledge of client/server concepts, having some familiarity with OO (object-oriented) and ER (Entity-Relationship) modelling is also an advantage for this course, as models of both types are used in its design sessions and case studies. By the end of the course delegates will be able to design client/server architectures and understand how components fit together; understand the structure of different database models and their limitations; map OO designs to relational databases; and choose between a variety of database, component and middleware options, and be able to make objective evaluations of them.
The concept of an architectural framework is sufficiently new for there to be no standard methodology for developing enterprise architecture. One of the emerging procedures is The Open Group Architectural Framework (TOGAF) Method for developing Enterprise Architectures. It is a tool that enables you to design, evaluate, and build the right architecture for your organisation. It is published by The Open Group on its public web site, and can be used free of charge by any organisation wishing to develop an information systems architecture for internal use. TOGAF can be used for developing a broad range of different IT architectures. It describes a method for designing an information system in terms of a set of building blocks, and incorporates a set of tools, a common vocabulary, and a list of recommended standards and compliant products.
The Open Group’s goal is to make TOGAF an industry standard method, and in 2003 it introduced TOGAF certification. Initially this was only for TOGAF Version 7 (Technical Edition), but in February 2004 this was extended to Version 8, TOGAF Enterprise Edition. In the UK, Architecting-the-Enterprise Ltd offers TOGAF training using three methods – public courses, e-learning via webinars, and personal training based on CDs combined with workbooks and mentoring.
The four-day course TOGAF 8 Certification for Practitioners has been certified by The Open Group, and is scheduled to run in London on July 6th to 9th. Aimed at IT Architects, Enterprise Architects, and other experienced IT professionals such as system analysts, systems integrators, application designers, data designers and senior developers, it examines the benefits of well-designed Enterprise Architectures, and shows how the TOGAF Method can be used in association with a number of other architectures and frameworks.
The course outlines the approach required to define the process for developing an Enterprise Architecture, and to managing its lifecycle. It explains how to use Architecture Views, Viewpoints and Business Scenarios. It goes on to demonstrate the use of TOGAF in implementing an Enterprise Architecture, looking first at business requirements, architectural and solution building blocks, principles and patterns, and then at alternative architectural perspectives and viewpoints. The course also covers using TOGAF to develop and populate other Architectural Frameworks such as the Zachman Framework.
If you want to know about the Zachman approach to Enterprise Architecture, you may be interested in a series of seminars organised by IRM UK, specialists in strategic IT training. The next cycle starts in London on September 27th with a two-day seminar, Enterprise Architecture: A Framework for Information Management and Enterprise Change, presented by John Zachman himself. Designed for both management and IT professionals, the objective of this seminar is to build an understanding of the concepts of Enterprise Architecture and develop a sense of urgency for implementing those concepts in a modern enterprise. Delegates will be provided with a ‘language’ (i.e. framework) for improving enterprise communications about architecture issues, an understanding of basic Enterprise ‘physics’ (i.e. the principles that govern enterprise implementations), and an ‘engineering design’ philosophy, together with a strategy for reducing time-to-market for systems implementations, and some pragmatic approaches for implementing enterprise-wide strategies.
The next seminar in the series, Business Architecture Fundamentals: Show Me the Models is a one-day event targeted at Enterprise Architects, IT Architects, and Solutions Architects and Applications Architects, which includes hands-on sessions to familiarise delegates with the constructs under discussion via a case study. Its presenter, Stan Locke, explores the business ideas in the Zachman Enterprise Architecture, and provides an overview of the current state of business analysis and abstraction accuracy. He helps delegates to understand the differences in planning and implementation models, to gain an insight into basic framework models and their business use, and to appreciate the role of repositories and software tools in managing the models.
For those who want to go further, the next two-day seminar (again presented by Stan Locke) is on Enterprise Architecture Implementation Strategies. It looks at how to reconcile two apparently opposing conditions – the short-term need to deliver a solution on time and within budget, and the long-term adaptability requirements of the enterprise – using the Zachman approach, with real world examples. Among its learning objective are providing an insight into basic framework implementation strategies and the rationale for their use, and understanding the role of object technologies and the implications of binding framework cell contents.
The final three-day seminar, Strategic Modelling for Building Enterprise Architecture, which takes place after an eight-week interval and is given by Australian expert Clive Finklestein, is even more practical. It addresses questions such as “What Methodologies are used to Implement Enterprise Architecture?”, “How can Enterprise Architecture be used to identify Priority Areas?” and “How do these Methods work in a Practical Workshop Environment?”. During its first three workshop sessions, delegates start by using case studies to align strategic planning statements with related data, business activities and organisation components, then analyse the strategic model and identify sub-projects, to build an enterprise architecture incrementally. Finally, the strategic model is expanded into tactical model data maps. A final workshop is devoted to reviewing the enterprise architecture implementation methodologies developed in the previous workshop, ensuring that delegates understand the role of each method, technique and tool used.
Enterprise Architecture is a relatively new and fast-maturing area, and courses are being developed almost as soon as new techniques and technologies emerge, so (as the newspapers used to say) – watch this space.
Sue Gee would like to hear from those of you who have attended courses, not only at these establishments, but from any developer training organisation, with a view to including your comments in a future article that explores the consumer viewpoint.
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