Abraham Maslow; Architect

The title of a posting is intended to solicit readership... did I catch you on this one?

As a St. Cloud State undergraduate in the College of Liberal Arts, I found intellectual refuge and meaning in Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It explained a lot, and gave me a basis for further study in human behavior.

I still refer to this model today (along with others, such as Festinger's Frustration-Aggression theory) when I consider motivators and forces that drive us as individuals in Corporate IT America.

As an IT Architect, I use models daily to describe and communicate framework and separation/layering principles which support effective and cost efficient solutions. A recent model is my (well, er... my implementation of) a Solution Hierarchy, based on our Marketing Services Architecture ©.

Here is a comparison of the two models:














The core feature that spans both models is the relationship that each layer has to the layer directly below it. Higher levels can be achieved only when lower level needs/attributes are satisfied.

Does this model contrast/comparison resonate with you?

What's been your experience with Maslow, with Architectural Laying?

Cheers,

- KeelFish

Process or People?

As I suspect of most of my valued readers, I've worked in many different IT shops... each with their own unique culture and development methodologies.

Have you noticed a common theme of those which are successful in developing solutions which served the business well?

In this post, I posit a foundational element of my core belief system... that people, not processes are the central key to successful IT efforts. I'll also comment on basic structural process components which (when applied in small doses) can support the development team and help them thrive in Corporate America IT.

Stay tuned!

KeelFish; A Brief History

What's in a name?

When my business partner (who happens to be my darling wife) and I merged our independent consulting firms, we settled on retention of her corporate identity, Windward Software and Consulting.

All the relevant domain names were taken, and we were anxious to extend our internet development practice, so scrambled to find a domain name we liked.

Both being sailors (she crewed and skippered a Laser 2 Class boat in the 1990's) we choose to incorporate the moniker 'Keel' in our brand. I added 'Fish' as a reference back to the days when I would jump under our family scow-hull (skippered by my brother John), grab the keel and 'fly' underwater.

KeelFish was born.

As I work in and observe Corporate America, I often do so from the Keel... under the vessel.

The view from the engine room and cockpit are equally insightful!

I hope your journey is an interesting one.

- KeelFish

It's the Relationship, Silly.

Promoting positive relationships as a key to successful project teams in Corporate America IT while describing my valued readers as "Silly" seems counter-intuitive... if indeed I was describing my readers.

No shame intended, it's my (early career) self I'm describing!

This post will share my POV on the significance of positive working relationships, trust, respect and leadership to overcome the challenges of working in cross-functional teams.

Viewed from my humanistic vantage, positive relations make sense intuitively... it's the right thing to do and feels good. A more calculating approach focuses on the economic value for positive working relationships... they pay benefits in my ability to get things done.

What experiences have you had in Corporate America? Does collaboration work for you?

Stay tuned!

Marketing Services Architecture

In October 2007 my work mate Ben Leonard and I formalized our thinking on SOA adoption within the Enterprise Engagement line of business for Carlson Marketing Worldwide, describing the essentials of a model for our Marketing Services Architecture ©.

Key requirements for our model include:

• Reuse of functionality from our legacy portfolio
• A clear roadmap toward seperation of architectural layers
• Ease of integration for new services
• A supporting implimentation model based on flexibility, reponsiveness and value (aka low cost)

Primary solution implementation candidates for the model focus on employee engagement/loyalty and sales/channel performance incentive Clients across most vertical markets (e.g. financial, technology, telecommunication, pharma, transportation, etc.)

This post will further describe the Marketing Services Architecture © (aka MSA) and document our challenges and (hopeful!) success stories with its adoption.

Stay tuned!