I am Back....!!!

I am back. Well, after many months on hiatus, I am back in full force. In the last several months I sold a house, moved to an apartment, built a house, and had a baby (in that order). I am back in full force, and I have dozens of blogs in my mind. If you are one of the six readers of this site, check back often. I will be posting every few days…

My son was born on August 26, 2006 we named him Cael Andrew Kusky. The last month has been absolutely amazing!

Best Technology vs Right Technology
In the enterprise, the best technology does not always win. As an Architect, my job is to architect the right solution for a project. Many times projects will be influenced by non-technical factors that will sway the technology direction of a project. What am I talking about? This is not a post to slam office politics, or insinuate that companies are receiving kickbacks. It is a post to discuss the non technical factors in a project that will affect the technical decisions that are made.

Let me give an example. Thin Provisioning is all the rage in the storage industry now. Only a few products have this feature, and the vendors tout it as the next big thing? What is thin provisioning…read up on it here (http://www.lefthandnetworks.com/press/index.php?article=esgblogs_051206&aid=178 )In referenced blog there is a decent argument for and against thin provisioning. As an Architect, I see the potential for thin provisioning to save my organization money. We typically buy storage with 2-3 years growth in mind, it would seem thin provisioning could save us thousands of dollars on every project. However, our accounting model for storage does not allow for this. Our projects purchase storage up front, and we do not have the financial flexibility to purchase storage as the applications grow. In organizations where storage is charged back to user groups as it is consumed, thin provisioning could be a significant source of cost savings, however organizations that purchase storage in large quantities may not be see the same cost savings. This is an example of how a financial process affects the impact of a technology.

As architects we are tempted to try and implement the latest and greatest technology. In reality we need to take into account organizational maturity, business process, impact on support groups, and many other factors that may influence the decision to choose a specific technology. It is recommended that you analyze your environment, and choose the right technology for your environment vs the best technology.
Many Engineers and Architects tend to forget that technology projects in the enterprise are meant to save your company time and money. Do not lose sight of that goal.

I could post for months on this subject; however I have many other posts on my mind. There is a wealth of information on this subject on the internet. Specifically, check out the MCA program and the blog of Lewis Curtis http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/architect/overview/default.mspx http://blogs.technet.com/lcurtis/default.aspx