They had a great life and were very useful during their hay days, but when their time came to die with grace, no one would let them; unable to live either, they wander as zombies sucking blood from unwitting organisations. Isn’t it time we killed the zombies for ever and let them rest in peace?
#1: Microsoft Active Directory had made its way into the list of indispensable technologies in almost every organisation’s infrastructure, thanks largely to explosion of Windows and distributed computing. Along with it came ability to manage these distributed windows systems in a reasonably effective manner albeit with high cost and complexity. However, as organisations start moving into cloud and adopt as-a-service technologies, most still cling on to their active directories without recognising the diminishing returns from the continued investments. Almost everything an active directory infrastructure provides is now available through low cost and simpler technologies, so why bother with it anymore? Isn’t it time this Zombie is put to rest?
#2: Enterprise Architecture frameworks like Zachman, TOGAF, FEAF aim to bring order to the way organisations design and deploy technologies with processes and standards. These principles work great in theory; however, I have seldom seen an organisation that has deployed an EA framework successfully and delivered true business value with it. These also tend to stifle innovation by resisting change in the name of standards that commit organisations to previous generations of technologies. Yet, organisations continue to commit resources in customising and building such EA frameworks and drain critical resources. Shouldn’t organisations instead develop structures that deliver focus on practicality and true business value?