The History of the Software Fortress Model

As I look back over the last year, the time during which I formed the basic ideas of the software fortress model, I can see clearly several threads that came together to form this tapestry .

First, I have been teaching master's classes for enterprise software architects for most of the last decade. For a decade before that, I was heavily involved in building enterprise infrastructure technologies. During most of this time, I have been preaching a consistent message: The two major issues facing the enterprise are interoperability and security . I have been looking for a modeling methodology that would focus on these critical issues.

Second, I have always been interested in the modeling ideas that were known as data silos . Those ideas seem to capture a key idea of data ownership.

Third, the architectural ideas introduced by transaction processing monitors ”namely, the three-tier architectural model ”gave us some important clues to understanding what was needed to build highly scalable software systems. I have been working in the middle- tier technologies for many years now, and these ideas have been extrapolated into the software fortress model.

Fourth, Pat Helland of Microsoft has been proposing a model for autonomous computing. It is based on what he calls software fiefdoms , with emissaries linking together different fiefdoms. This model has been very influential on me, especially because it seems to capture the idea of systems working together to accomplish a higher goal. I will discuss Helland's ideas further in Chapter 10 (Internet Fortresses ), where they are most relevant.

Fifth, the readers of the ObjectWatch Newsletter , now more than 20,000 strong, have read earlier drafts of my software fortress ideas and have written back with excellent insights.

Sixth, participants at my two-day workshop have added immeasurably to my understanding of software fortresses. I have been fortunate to work with very high-level enterprise architects, with many years of collective real-world experience in building large enterprise systems. These participants have contributed valuable insights.

Finally, I have had opportunities to present the software fortress ideas at perhaps a dozen conferences to over 3,000 enterprise architects in the last year. The feedback of my audiences has been tremendously helpful.

I am grateful to all of these sources for the insight each has contributed to the ideas discussed in this book. I am also grateful to you, the reader, who I hope will be helping to advance these ideas in the near future.