Chapter 5. Methodology Overview

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

Thomas A. Edison (1847 1931)

Our protagonist, Myles Standish, understands today's technology projects are faced with steadily increasing expectations. Software has to be developed faster, better, and cheaper. Simultaneously, complexity of systems grows logarithmically as new technologies are introduced not only to extend the enterprise but also to bring legacy up to the foreground of company intelligence. In managing these conflicting factors, Myles relies on an armada of methodologies that can be used to reduce risk and deliver technology solutions on time and on budget.

Methodology is an amorphous term used in the technology industry that describes the processes and procedures used during the delivery of a technology effort. Over the past two decades, a number of formalized methodologies have evolved to assist in managing the processes associated with technology delivery in areas such as software architecture, software development, and systems management. This chapter covers the details of five popular methodologies that are used across the industry:

• eXtreme Programming

• SEI/CMM

• Zachman Framework

• Model-driven architecture

• Rational Unified Process

Each of these methodologies focuses on different aspects of technology processes, but all are similar in the vision of a flexible and disciplined approach to software and systems development. These methodologies are illustrated in practice through the experience of our faithful systems architect, Myles Standish, whose agenda is to create a consolidated and focused enterprise architecture approach to each of the technology efforts throughout the enterprise.

The discipline of software development by itself is an extremely complex process to manage. A great majority of corporate IT projects related to software development run over budget and beyond schedule. An estimated 50 percent of all corporate software development projects in 2000 were delivered over 180 percent above expected cost (Chaos Report, The Standish Group © 2002). Along with that, about a third of all software development projects are cancelled even before the first release of an application. This leaves a mere 25 percent of projects being delivered successfully and on time/budget. With dramatically poor industry statistics as this, it is obvious why processes and methodologies for mitigating the risks of project delivery is a primary concern for the enterprise architect.

Software methodologies trace processes and mitigate against risk areas that cause projects to fail. For architects, software development is a key part of their horizon of responsibilities and one of the most important for them to manage well. As the architect for Canaxia, Myles Standish understands that he needs to have exposure to all the software development projects throughout the enterprise. He's looking to provide the projects with processes, tools, and frameworks to more reliably deliver projects on time and on budget. At the same time, he's interested in building a set of enterprise services that leverage business intelligence and business applications across the various groups in Canaxia.