Kevin Francis:: Yes, but... : Object

Waxing Lyrical About Cloud

Kevin Francis — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:05:00 GMT

At Tech.Ed is this year I spent most of the time talking about challenging the role of the Architect, but I did get some time to sit down with Darryl Chantry from Object and talk about another area that I've been spending a fair bit of time analysing of late - clould computing. In a wide ranging discussion we talked about a comparrision of the different cloud platforms, the issues for organisations chosing a platform and moving to the cloud and the role of the Architect in cloud. The video of the discussion is available from the Tech.Ed site here.

Presenting at BA World

Kevin Francis — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:13:00 GMT

I'm going to be brave over the next couple of months and present a few times at the series of BA World conferences in Australia. I'm presenting the following at Business Analysts World in Sydney 6-8th July and then in Melbourne 13-15th July on Business Analysts v Architects. You did know there was a war, right? Here's the adbstract:

There is much tension in all IT shops and all projects about the role of Business Analysts and Architects. The point where the roles meet is subject to much contention, and even anguish in some cases. This issue has been further exasperated by the advent of agile approaches and new design tools that further blur the line between Architects, Developer and Business Analysts. In his presentation, Kevin Francis, who is an experienced Architect and senior manager of Architects, Developers and Business Analysts will examine this issue. He’ll provide best practices in integration between Business Analysts and the rest of the development team in a pragmatic manner that can align with agile. He’ll also discuss the use of tools in enabling this interface.

Learning Objectives:

Understand the points of interface between Business Analysts and Architects from an Architect’s perspective
Learn the best practices available in the space and the division of labour across the roles
Review tools available to support the analysis, design and architecture of solutions

I'll post the presentation to my SlideShare page after the conference.

I'm also presenting at BA World in Canberra on September 21st-22nd on Requirements for Sustainable IT Systems. More details on that to follow later.

Early Bird Registration for Australian Architecture Forum

Kevin Francis — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:03:00 GMT

Just a quick note to let you know that Early Bird registration is open for the Australian Architecture Forum until July 15. We are assembling a fantastic line-up of international speakers and Open Space participants from across the breadth of the IT landscape. The conference is looking like better and better value all the time, and it is even better value if you register early.

Hope you can come and join us!

Australian Architecture Forum

Kevin Francis — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:36:00 GMT

I’ve been involved with the Australian Architecture Forum for some time now, from the outside through an involvement with IASA. Now that I’m with Object I have an opportunity to be involved from the inside, given that Object run the conference, and I’ve been putting a lot of time into the planning of this year’s Forum.

It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce that the Australian Architecture Forum (AAF) is ready to accept registrations.

We’re very proud of what we have planned for AAF this year. We’ve leveraged the best ideas from conferences around the world, such as our use of Open Space Technology and a unique approach to opening our preparation to partners.

We’ve also selected tracks to target some of the hottest architectural topics at the moment – cloud and sustainability, as well as a general architecture track to target architecture as a profession.

Have a look at the Australian Architecture Forum web site. Registration is coming soon. I’ll also be blogging on that site as our preparation continues.