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Research and white papers written by our consultants: EMMSAD 2002 - Method Evaluation in Practice: UML/RUP & Inspired Method A study by postgraduate students at the University of Cape Town compared the UML and Rational Unified Process (RUP) combination to the Inspired Method with respect to complexity, quality and efficacy using the Castellani and Method Points; Krogstie and colleagues; and NIMSAD approaches respectively. This paper summarises the findings, learnings and areas for future research from the earlier report. The results indicate that the UML is lacking in the area of business analysis, especially strategic alignment of information systems with business goals and business process modeling. The Inspired method offers improved business analysis support and a wider planning perspective, but does not provide as much detail in expressing software design as does the UML/RUP. The Inspired method provides a more economical notation, but is not well supported in third party tools. Observations are made regarding challenges of applying the methods evaluation approaches and areas for future research are suggested. SACLA 2002 Experience Using a Web-based Knowledge Management System in Support of
Postgraduate Part-time Course Logistics A new, South African-developed, web-based knowledge management product, dubbed Archi, has been used in support of a Postgraduate Part-time programme at the University of Cape Town during the past two years. This paper illustrates the meta model of the information maintained in the dynamic site, discusses the functionality provided in support of the courses, the experience of students using the site, the challenges involved in evolving the site from one year to the next, security considerations and what has been learned in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of such an application. The site was implemented extremely rapidly and has been able to evolve in response to changing requirements as these arose. Areas for future improvements and research are suggested. The Inspired Enterprise Architecture Frameworks A white paper introducing the principles behind, goals of and concepts employed in the Inspired architecture frameworks. Provides an overview of the first two levels of the frameworks. Also discusses implementation of the frameworks in the Archi KM tool. EMMSAD 2001 - PAMELA: A Proto-pattern for Rapidly Delivered, Runtime Extensible Systems
The paper describes a proto-pattern for a system architecture which facilitates very rapid development and extension of an application. The overall pattern has three major components: Overall Architecture,Process Patterns for standard editing, viewing and navigation, and Meta Data patterns for knowledge storage. The architecture level pattern uses meta-data held explicitly in a persistent store and accessible at run time to customize process patterns implemented in an interpreted language, rendering them executable. The meta-data structure in turn uses patterns which facilitate extensible data structures and relationships. The use of the proto-pattern in the design of a commercial knowledge management product illustrates its potential. Benefits are highlighted and areas for further work indicated. EMMSAD 2000 : Beyond Use Cases - Graham McLeod The author previously extended the Martin/Odell OOA/D methods to incorporate powerful stakeholder, enterprise, value chain and business modeling techniques. In 1998, equivalent extensions were proposed to UML to cope with enterprise and business process modeling. The approach has since been refined through experience and has proven effective in supporting sustainable business engineering. This paper reports the results of this experience and proposes the replacement of Use Cases and other dynamic models within UML with process models which transition seamlessly from stakeholder to design level. The suggested notation represents a Use Case and Activity Diagram superset Extending UML for Business Process Modeling and Business Engineering - Graham McLeod
Managing Methods Creatively - Graham McLeod We can learn valuable lessons from these findings to apply to engineering of new methods and management of the methods that we use. This paper explores some of these ideas, and suggests how we can balance many factors which at first appear irreconcilable. The approach includes a unique method model and management approach. The Influence of Project Method Fit on the Success of System Development Methodology Usage - Graham McLeod Information Systems project failure rates have been quoted as high as 70%. Formalized development methodology use has been empirically shown to improve probability of project success. However, other studies have shown that the benefits ascribed to methodology use are not always achieved. Hackathorn & Karimi found that no one methodology addresses all required issues. Butler Cox points out that organizations have a variety of project types and that these will not be successfully addressed by a single methodology. A contingency approach has been advocated, where an appropriate methodology would be selected per project. Indications are that this would be problematic, given the effort involved in learning a methodology and the complexity of comprehensive methods. Little empirical evidence could be found to substantiate the view that problems were caused by lack of fit between methodology emphasis and type of project tackled. This research explores the issue of methodology to project fit and finds support for the view that a mismatch of methodology to project type indeed contributes to benefits of methodology use not being achieved Enterprise Architectures:Comparison of the Inspired and C4ISR Enterprise Architectures
Recent years have seen the role of enterprise architecture frameworks, in the design and operation of enterprises, reach the point where few organisations of significant size can operate without them. Enterprise architectures provide organisations with a number of significant benefits. These include reduced expenditure, improved operational performance, greater agility, better alignment between business goals, and additional technological and systems capabilities. This paper begins with a literature review which introduces the concept of enterprise architectures. It then looks at three architecture frameworks in more detail. Firstly, a brief technical overview of the Zachman Framework is provided. Thereafter, the remaining two frameworks are covered in more detail; the military-based Computer, Command, Control and Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Enterprise Framework (C4ISR), and the business orientated Inspired Enterprise Framework. Finally, the literature review provides an overview of suitable comparison techniques for the evaluation of enterprise architectures, as well as metrics applicable to the three evaluation criteria (scope, rigour and integration). Having evaluated the applicability of the comparison techniques to the analysis, a methodology and suitable metrics are established for the comparison. As there is no theoretical and conceptual literature, nor suitable metrics for the comparison of the architectures with respect to the evaluation criteria, a more pragmatic approach was adopted as reflected in the research methodology and its metrics. As a result, the research is more conceptual than empirical. Following, the establishment of a formal methodology, the results and analysis of the comparison is presented. In order to add value to the initial analysis, the C4ISR and Inspired Enterprise Architectures are mapped, in terms of their content coverage, to the Zachman Framework. Thereafter, conclusions are made on the comparison of the enterprise architecture and, finally, recommendations for future research are made.
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