Recent Posts by Bob Rhubart

The winners of the 2008 Oracle Magazine Editor's Choice Awards have been announced, and I'd be falling down on the job if I didn't take a moment to give props to the winners in the Architect categories:  Green IT Architect of the Year Jan Shook, Principal Member, Applications Staff, Verizon Wireless Orangeburg, New York SOA Governance Architect of the Year Bryan A. Mjaanes, Vice President, Zurich Financial Services Group Schaumburg, Illinois Oracle Enterprise Manager Architect John...

It's difficult not to be distracted these days by the sucking sound coming from the general direction of my 401k.  A sluggish economy can be a scary thing, but you know what they say about what happens to some people when the going gets tough, right? In a recent post, Insight-Driven Retailing blogger David Dorf observes the behavior of retailers who exemplify the "tough get going" attitude: They are always reducing costs, especially in IT. But they know that sometimes in order...

In a recent post InfoWorld blogger David Linthicum poses an interesting question regarding the role of technology and tools in an effective SOA governance practice: Can SOA governance technology be distracting?  In answering that question Linthicum offers this: The real issue is how you defined SOA governance. If you define it as a systemic concept to SOA, and build it into your SOA project plan as a concept, that's fine. If you define it as technology or tools, then chances...

A couple of months before the clock started ticking on Joe the Plumber's fifteen minutes of fame, Technology Edge blogger J Schwan used similarly named characters (Bob the Business Stakeholder, Pam the Project Manager, Art the Architect) to illustrate an important point about communication, cooperation, and the responsibilities that connect the proliferate roles in IT. The names may be corny, but the issue Schwan addresses -- and he does it quite well -- is as serious as...

Last spring, back when getting through the front page of the Wall Street Journal didn't require a handful of powerful tranquilizers, I wrote a post about the importance of innovation in an unforgivably competitive business environment. These days, with the Magic Economic Eight Ball offering tepid prognostications that range from "Reply hazy, try again" to "Better not tell you now," does innovation still matter?  Ask Insight-Driven Retailing blogger David Dorf:  What will...

This is my third post in as many days on the effects of the the tanking economy on IT, and threat to Wall Street pedestrians increasing hourly, it looks like there will be ample opportunities for more... In this economy it is inevitable that already snug IT budgets will become tighter than the t-shirt on a champion pizza eater. But really, hasn't IT always been about cutting business costs, even when budgets were more generous?  So is what's going on now really all that...

In a recent post I referenced ZDNet SOA blogger Joe McKendrick's comments on how the current economic situation makes SOA even more attractive. My post drew a comment that asked which of SOA's benefits "become especially prominent during economic downturns." Just after replying to that comment I discovered Joe McKendrick's post from earlier today about Thomas Erl's presentation at the SOA Symposium underway in Amsterdam. McKendrick's post offers another angle on SOA's value...

Three new OTN TechCast podcasts present a series of panel discussions featuring Cathy Lippert (Mix profile), Sharon Fay (Mix profile), and Mike Stamback (blog), all members of the Oracle SOA Governance team. Part 1: SOA Governance Misperceptions Faulty assumptions and misunderstanding about SOA governance can cause expensive headaches. Part 2: SOA Governance - Hitting the Sweet Spot Overcoming obstacles to well-balanced SOA Governance Part 3: SOA Governance Without...

Two recent posts by ZDNet SOA blogger Joe McKendrick present a kind of good news/bad news scenario for IT architects and those who aspire to that role. In a Sept 29th post, McKendrick discussed a recent report by Forrester’s Marc Cecere that found that the current economic downturn could trigger an increased demand for those with architecture skills and experience. In a Sept 18th post, McKendrick reported on a conversation with IT consultant David Foote, who observed that most...