The IT Architecture Practitioners' Conference at Miami was a conference
organized by IT architecture practitioners, for IT architecture practitioners, and for those
directly involved in the management and oversight of IT architecture.
It was a conference
about best practice in IT architecture, with Open Group members and non-members alike
coming together to share insights and perspectives on some of the key issues and challenges that
enterprise
IT architects, and executives overseeing architecture, face
today.
Conference Plenary
The conference plenary focused on the concept of disciplines of IT
architecture, and the need of the industry for an accepted definition of
the expected technical competencies of IT architects in the different
fields involved in professional architecture engagements.
Just what is it about a security specialist's knowledge, skills, and/or
experience that warrants the title of "architect"? If the scope of an
enterprise architect's responsibilities is enterprise-wide, just how much
depth of technical knowledge does that imply for a particular area such as
SOA, networking, or application integration?
Labels such as "Enterprise Architecture", "Business
Architecture", "Security Architecture", and "Network
Architecture" are commonly used within the industry
today, but it is not at all clear whether the role of the
"architect", and the depth of technical knowledge, skills, and
experience involved in each of these roles, is the same.
The Open Group has led the way in the IT industry in launching a
program to certify the skills and experience levels of IT architects - The
Open Group IT Architect Certification program. To what extent is the
concept of disciplines relevant to this program?
The conference plenary investigated these important topics and sought
feedback from the industry on the need for an adequate industry definition
of IT architecture disciplines.
Conference Streams
The parallel streams at Miami provided experience-based insight into the approaches and
methods that have proved most effective for developing architectures around the
world.
The conference took a highly practical, hands-on approach, combining presentations and
discussions on best practices with interactive workshops, case study reviews, and
demonstrations of the latest tools.
The conference underlined the continuing role of The Open Group Architecture Forum in providing a
truly global forum in which IT architects from all sectors of the industry can come
together to discuss best practice in IT architecture, hone their skills,
find new ways to solve problems, share experiences, and learn from each other.
Summary
The agenda for this IT Architecture Practitioners' Conference covered 86
individual presentations, structured into nine streams across up to four parallel
tracks.
The event provided a wealth of current case study and tutorial material,
summarized below.
The presentations referenced below are freely available only to
members of The Open Group and conference attendees. A Proceedings CD-ROM containing all
the presentations made available at the Miami IT Architecture Practitioners'
Conference will shortly be available for purchase by members and
non-members alike.
Opening Plenary Track
The opening-day plenary track saw some superb presentations by leading
figures in the IT industry.
IT Architecture Disciplines
Welcome
Allen Brown, President & CEO, The Open Group
STREAM #4: Architecting-to-the Edge
(hosted by The Open
Group Real-Time and Embedded Systems Forum)
Rationale for a Secure Messaging
Architecture and Introduction to Email Security Mike Lambert, Fellow of The Open Group & Executive Director, The
Open Group Messaging Forum
The presentations, tutorials, and workshops at the meeting, and the associated
discussions and panel sessions, all provided participants with a wealth of
experience-based insight into current best practice in IT architecture, from leading
experts and practitioners around the world.
Participants at this unique event were able to:
Participate in highly practical workshops and tutorials teaching best IT architecture
practices
Review case studies from organizations who have put theory into practice, and learn from
them what works and what doesn't
See demonstrations and presentations on leading tools supporting open architecture
methods
Network with leading architecture experts, vendors, and peers in the IT architecture
field
Next Steps
This Eighth IT Architecture Practitioners' Conference was a tremendous success,
confirming the global need for this unique event.
Interested in presenting or participating at Lisbon or at
other future IT Architecture
Practitioners' Conferences? Contact John
Spencer, Director of The Open Group Architecture Forum.
