Model-Based System Architecture

Chapter 19Making It Work in the Organization

19.1 Overview

None of the authors has so far seen an organization that was founded with a system architecture department in place. Most organizations discover over time that development of their products or other systems of their interest require systems architecting for instance for the sake of efficiency and quality or to be competitive. Introducing system architecture in an organization is an organizational change process, and it is not an easy one: while some organizational changes aim at making the same work more efficient, the introduction of systems architecting in an organization may lead to a different kind of work, which requires a different kind of thinking and acting.

Even in case systems architecting is well established in an organization, it has to be kept operational during future organizational changes. A continuous organizational roll-out of the methods and the mindset of systems architecting is required from those who are convinced that systems architecting is one of the enablers for success—no matter how much has been established before. In organizations that are used to systems architecting, this continuous process ensures a reminder for most and an introduction for new employees. In organizations that have not been doing it before, the process ensures that the organization learns to explicitly architect its systems of interest.

It does not matter whether systems architecting comes top-down from management or ...