Service-Oriented Architecture Governance for the Services Driven Enterprise

7.3. MARKS' LAW? ORGANIZATION REFLECTS FUNDING

A complement to Conway's Law is a phenomenon I have observed for many years: Organizational structures, and thus the IT and enterprise architecture, are reflections of the funding model of the enterprise. As the corporate leadership funds the organization, so do they design the organization. The organization chart of an enterprise is a reflection of the financial structure of the organization. Thus, the Conway's Law upstream corollary is what I will call (tongue-in-cheek of course) Marks' Law: Funding models directly impact organizational models, which directly affect the IT and enterprise architecture of an enterprise, as well as the software systems developed by that organization. The funding model either enables or inhibits an optimal design of a software system by virtue of the organizational model that creates it. Organizations reflect funding models.