by Michael Blechar | April 29, 2011 | 1 Comment
A frequent question I get from clients is how to justify a metadata repository based on return on investment (ROI). I generally discuss issues with the client such as which information assets need improved metadata management to provide some quantifiable added value to some specific business opportunities and threats. This added-value (the positive ROI) must [...]
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by Michael Blechar | March 31, 2011 | 1 Comment
When I started programming in the 1960s, application development was predominantly an engineering discipline done by a handful of math/science-oriented “professionals”. Most of the early applications we built were foundational to the business, and as such required reliability as a major component. Estimation of effort, time and cost was more an art than a science [...]
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by Michael Blechar | February 27, 2011 | Submit a Comment
Did I get your attention there given that we generally hear about the need for more consistency and consolidation of applications and data. Let me first clearly state that I wholeheartedly support consolidation efforts where they make sense. But, there are enough cases where consolidation may not be the right answer that I thought it [...]
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by Michael Blechar | January 31, 2011 | Submit a Comment
Such was the question posed to me recently, and I chose information management (IM). So, after 17+ years at Gartner I am moving from the Applications team of analysts to the one focused on IM. Actually, this is not a new question for me…… I entered the computer field in 1968 as a programmer, and [...]
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by Michael Blechar | December 8, 2010 | 2 Comments
As I prepare to shut down operations for the year, I reflect on some of the most frequently asked questions I get when I visit Gartner clients – What is an application architect?, What does the application architect do?, and How does the role of the application architect relate to others, such as application developers, [...]
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by Michael Blechar | November 27, 2010 | 2 Comments
Now that I am back from the Gartner ADI Summit in Los Angeles, I thought it was time to post some musings on the questions which came up during my presentation sessions and face-to-face meetings with clients. One common thread to these questions I received involves the #1 attendee issue identified by our Gartner pre-conference [...]
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by Michael Blechar | October 29, 2010 | Submit a Comment
As someone who is in the “Application Architecture” group at Gartner, and with over 40 years of experience in various forms of application development, you would presume that I could easily define what an “application” is. But, increasingly, with the emergence of more granular software services being reused across shared processes and workflows the question [...]
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by Michael Blechar | September 30, 2010 | Submit a Comment
People sometimes ask me where I get my ideas from for my written research and presentations. The fact is that most ideas I get come from daily events in my life which appear to have nothing to do with computers but, in fact, help spark related ideas in my woe-begotten head. One constant source of [...]
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by Michael Blechar | August 28, 2010 | Submit a Comment
I have recently been very active, along with my colleague Brian Gammage, in writing on the topic of the “cradle to grave” threats and opportunities surrounding technology assets using a new Gartner brand of research called the “IT Market Clock” (see “Introducing Gartner’s IT Market Clock*” and “Understanding Gartner’s IT Market Clocks, 2010*”). The IT [...]
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by Michael Blechar | July 23, 2010 | Submit a Comment
Organizations are increasing expecting IT to rapidly deliver new applications – and ensure they can be changed in a more agile manner – than in the past. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) standards and technologies are helping to drive these improvements, but unless IT also changes its disciplines this will be constrained. I have just completed working [...]
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