Confessions of an Enterprise Architect

The book goes a long way toward raising the profile of the invaluable role enterprise architects play in major software initiatives. For this reason, I have confidence that if organizations take these insights to heart and leverage them effectively, they will begin to deliver consistent, real returns on their IT investments. Will this book make a difference? Time will tell, but my sense is that it very well can.--William M. Ulrich, President at Tactical Strategy Group, Inc.

Confessions of an Enterprise Architect is the insider's track on how to succeed as an enterprise architect despite the politics, budgets, setbacks, personnel issues, and technological challenges. It includes theoretical and pragmatic discussions about the discipline, imparts constructive recommendations born of personal experience, and presents a set of best practices for developing professional-caliber architectures that deliver professional-caliber systems.

The book also features numerous '"Confessions," which are practical tips, warnings, and guidance from a practicing enterprise architect garnered over a career of independent practice. A sample of confessions includes:

• Accommodating change is the sole constant in the professional life of an enterprise architect
• Many enterprise architects don't appreciate that their decisions not only affect system design but also impact the development environment and influence the structure of project teams
• In many cases, initial project estimates are so inaccurate that approvers would be better off developing their own assessments
• In many project teams, the user is the last consideration

The insights contained in this book, typified by its "Confessions" and "Pro Tips," offer organizations a way forward with enterprise architecture. This book also explains how enterprise architects can engage senior business leaders as effectively and as fluently as engaging business analysts, developers, business professionals, program managers, and fellow architects. In addition, it demonstrates how to communicate sophisticated, leading-edge concepts in clean, simple ways that facilitate buy-in at every level. Most importantly, the book makes the case that a professional enterprise architect--and, by extension, a professional-caliber enterprise architecture--sets the foundation for continued success in an industry accustomed to failure.

這本書在提升企業架構師在重大軟體專案中不可或缺的角色方面有很大的幫助。因此，我相信如果組織能夠深入體會這些見解並有效地利用它們，他們將開始在IT投資上獲得一致且實質的回報。這本書會有所影響嗎？時間會證明一切，但我覺得它很有可能會有影響。- William M. Ulrich, Tactical Strategy Group, Inc.總裁

《企業架構師的告白》是一本內幕指南，教導如何在政治、預算、挫折、人員問題和技術挑戰等情況下成功擔任企業架構師。它包含有關這一學科的理論和實用討論，傳授基於個人經驗的建設性建議，並提供一套開發專業級架構並交付專業級系統的最佳實踐。

這本書還包含許多「告白」，這些是一位實踐企業架構師在獨立實踐生涯中獲得的實用技巧、警示和指導。其中一些告白包括：
- 適應變化是企業架構師專業生涯中唯一不變的事實
- 許多企業架構師並不意識到他們的決策不僅影響系統設計，還影響開發環境並影響項目團隊的結構
- 在許多情況下，初始項目估算如此不準確，以至於批准者最好自行進行評估
- 在許多項目團隊中，用戶是最後考慮的因素

這本書中包含的見解，以其「告白」和「專業技巧」為代表，為組織提供了企業架構的前進方向。本書還解釋了企業架構師如何與高級業務領導者進行有效且流利的溝通，就像與業務分析師、開發人員、業務專業人員、項目經理和其他架構師進行溝通一樣。此外，它還展示了如何以簡潔明瞭的方式傳達複雜而尖端的概念，以促進各個層面的認同。最重要的是，本書提出了一個觀點，即專業的企業架構師（以及相應的專業級企業架構）為一個習慣於失敗的行業的持續成功奠定了基礎。

Charles F. Bowman is a respected Enterprise Architect serving numerous prestigious clients, including the New York Stock Exchange and the United States Patent Office. He has taught graduate and undergraduate computer science courses at St. John's University, the City University of New York, and St. Thomas Aquinas College. Mr. Bowman has published numerous books, including How Things Work: The Computer Science Edition (Chapman & Hall), How Things Work: The Technology Edition (Chapman & Hall), Algorithms and Data Structures: An Approach in C (Harcourt Brace/Oxford University Press); Objectifying Motif (Cambridge University Press/SIGs Books); Wisdom of the Gurus (Cambridge University Press/SIGs Books); and Broadway: The Complete Internet Architecture (Addison/Wesley). In addition, Mr. Bowman has served as Editor-in-Chief for The X Journal, UNIX Developer, and CORBA Development; and Series Editor for the Managing Object Technology book series of Cambridge University Press/SIGs Books and the How Things Work Series for CRC Press. He is also a regular contributor to many respected journals and magazines. A graduate of New York's prestigious Brooklyn Technical High School, Mr. Bowman also holds a BS degree in Computer Science from St. John's University and an MS degree in Computer Science from New York University.

Charles F. Bowman是一位受人尊敬的企業架構師，為許多知名客戶提供服務，包括紐約證券交易所和美國專利局。他曾在聖約翰大學、紐約市立大學和聖托馬斯阿奎那學院教授研究生和本科計算機科學課程。Bowman先生出版了多本書籍，包括《How Things Work: The Computer Science Edition》（Chapman＆Hall）、《How Things Work: The Technology Edition》（Chapman＆Hall）、《Algorithms and Data Structures: An Approach in C》（Harcourt Brace / Oxford University Press）；《Objectifying Motif》（劍橋大學出版社/SIGs Books）；《Wisdom of the Gurus》（劍橋大學出版社/SIGs Books）；以及《Broadway: The Complete Internet Architecture》（Addison/Wesley）。此外，Bowman先生還擔任《The X Journal, UNIX Developer》和《CORBA Development》的主編；並擔任劍橋大學出版社/SIGs Books的《Managing Object Technology》書系和CRC Press的《How Things Work Series》的系列編輯。他還是許多受人尊敬的期刊和雜誌的定期撰稿人。Bowman先生畢業於紐約著名的布魯克林技術高中，並擁有聖約翰大學的計算機科學學士學位和紐約大學的計算機科學碩士學位。