Why We Use UML
Our team has experienced great success with visual modeling based on the Unified Modeling Language. I am not going to define UML nor describe its origin in any detail, – you can review the UML section of our Leveraging UML as a Standard Notation for Enterprise Architecture presentation for that – but instead focus on what we perceive to be the foundation benefits of choosing UML as our “go to” diagramming notation.
One Artifact, One Vision
We have found that in a conversation with five people, each leaves with different threads resonating. Working as a team on a central artifact – a diagram, a list, a use case, whatever – is an extremely effective way of brokering clarity across a project team.
In the decentralized model, everybody takes personal notes with personal interpretations of the discussion. In some cases, perhaps a project manager or analyst scribes the entire meeting as “meeting notes”. Both are better suited for defense than success. Read more
Architect or Diplomat?
I was approached by a colleague after a recent architecture design meeting who remarked, “Wow, you are quite the diplomat!”, which made me stop and think. This is a common refrain we hear at client sites. While we believe our technical knowledge and experience enable us to bring significant value to clients, we rely just as heavily, if not more, on our diplomacy to broker architecture designs to conclusion. Creating a great design is just a piece of the architect’s puzzle. This led to some ruminations on an Enterprise Architect’s “soft skills” that are not directly related to core technology capabilities and some thoughts regarding architecture diplomacy.