Practical Enterprise Architecture

Update history:
2023-12-22:
  1. Added: Links to English Videos.
  2. Added: References include a new blog from Forrester.
  3. Added: Question and answer for establishing EA Office.
  4. Update: Some textual changes after including En videos.

I have made a presentation for "Practical Enterprise Architecture - Introducing CSVLOD EA Model". 

This post contains a link to the presentation (English) and the video session in (Arabic/English), plus some frequently asked questions on those sessions.

Target audience are: 
  1. Tech Leaders New to Enterprise Architecture.
  2. Enterprise Architects.
  3. CxO, CIO, CTO, CDO, EPMO, ITPMO.

💡I hope it is beneficial for someone out there.


The slides can be viewed/downloaded here

Arabic Video Series

English Video Series
Practical Enterprise Architecture - Part 1
Practical Enterprise Architecture - Part 2



Why is CSVLOD preferred over other EA frameworks (Based on the book author)?

You can either:
  1. Read the author published paper. Svyatoslav Kotusev (July 2016), "Enterprise Architecture Frameworks: The Fad of the Century". It is brief and answers this question.
  2. For a more detailed understanding, read Appendix A from the book "The Practice of Enterprise Architecture: A Modern Approach to Business and IT Alignment".

Why I'm recommending CSVLOD?

  1. A simple EA Model that is easy to understand, communicate and implement.
  2. Realistic & practical EA Model, based on empirical industry practice that I find aligned with my day-to-day activities.
  3. More adaptive to organization processes (Demand Planning, procurement, project management) where the architecture is considered supporting activities rather than a process/methodology.
  4. Promote the concept of “There is no-one-size-fits-all”:
    • Figure 17.2: The dependence of the structure on the size of an organization.
    • Figure 17.3: The dependence of the structure on the degree of decentralization.
    • Figure 17.9: The structure of Governance committees in different organizations.
  5. Introduced practical solutions to EA challenges:
    • Chapter 5: The Dialog Between Business and IT. This chapter solves one of the toughest challenges facing any EA practice, if the business strategy is not published, how can EA align to business?
    • Chapter 19: The Lifecycle of Enterprise Architecture Practice. This chapter introduces multiple practical ways to establish EA practice rather than the traditional way of starting with strategy, portfolio, goals, projects, ... etc
  6. Chapter 19: Introduces three types of productive EA consulting engagement.
  7. IMHO, this is the most practical EA that an organization without any consultancy services can start with.
  8. I'm not ignoring other frameworks, rather than using their artifacts or detailed templates if needed only. I'm not questioning their maturity level.

How to establish Enterprise Architecture practices in organizations?

  1. For a detailed walkthrough, read Chapter 19: "The Lifecycle of Enterprise Architecture Practice" from the book "The Practice of Enterprise Architecture: A Modern Approach to Business and IT Alignment".
  2. In my opinion: Start with a chronic problem (Pain point) that is facing everyone (The organization, division, department, unit).
  3. You have an idea to solve this problem, pick the best EA artifact that you can utilize to express your solution.
  4. After using two or three types of EA artifacts; make a presentation showing the benefits of EA to your organization as a whole, and link it to pain points or opportunities for improvement and new ideas.
  5. Involve management with external consultants on the best way to establish EA office, and get budgetary figures for consultation & implementation of 1st phase to have the framework.
  6. Build the team.
  7. Introduce modification to existing processes to incorporate EA artifact to serve a specific purpose.

References:


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The Practice of Enterprise Architecture - 2nd Edition - Book Review

I would like to share my experience in reading "The Practice of Enterprise Architecture, A Modern Approach to Business and IT Alignment, 2nd Edition".

The intention of doing a book review is to provide: 
  1. Objective feedback for potential readers. 
  2. Constructive feedback for the authors.

( eBooks link, Amazon link, Scribd ), below you will find links to my review.

Hope you enjoy it.


Video for the book review
The slides can be viewed/downloaded here


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Solutions Architect's Handbook - 2nd Edition - Book Review

I have decided to add a new dimension to my channel. I would like to share my experience reading technical books. 

The intention of doing a book review is to provide: 
  1. Objective feedback for potential readers. 
  2. Constructive feedback for the authors.

I started this interest in the channel by reviewing the book "Solutions Architect's Handbook: Kick-start your career as a solutions architect by learning architecture design principles and strategies, 2nd Edition". ( Packt link, Amazon link ), below you will find links to my review.

Hope you enjoy it.


Video for the book review
The slides can be viewed/downloaded here
Templates mentioned in the video book review Solution Architecture Document (SAD) template (Based on the book - Chapter 18)

Client Assessment (Gathered from multiple book chapters)
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CKAD Part 3: Tips

If you like to view the video version of this blog post, you can click on the video.

Exam Registration

Use only Chrome browser to check exam requirements to be able to access all peripherals including webcam (I used MS Edge and it was giving the test is ok although the webcam test was not performed!!!).

Desk / Computer Setup

  1. If using a laptop, add a new screen but disable the laptop screen monitor (Link to disable main laptop screen on Windows).
  2. Make sure the laptop is fully charged and plugged.
  3. I prefer to use a wired USB keyboard, and mouse, and avoid wireless devices, as you never know the behavior of the new terminal and browser.
  4. Please make sure to have an external good-quality webcam with an autofocus feature, you will be asked to scan the room, under the table, under the keyboard, under the laptop, or behind the monitor, it is better to have movable webcam. Autofocus is required as you will need to scan your id/passport with a clear name displayed. I used Logitech C922.
  5. Make sure the room is well-lit as normally webcam needs good lighting.
  6. You will need to disable the following features/applications (Other software might be listed by the browser before you begin your exam session):
a. Hyper-V
b. VMware
c. Docker
d. Zoom

Exam tips

  1. Open the following help pages to be ready:
    2. Direct Link Kubernetes documentation navigation
    Command line tool (kubectl) Doc -> Reference -> Command Line tool
    Kubectl commands with examples Doc -> Reference -> Command Line tool -> kubectl Commands
    kubectl Cheat Sheet Doc -> Reference -> Command Line tool -> kubectl Cheat sheet
    API doc in one page Doc -> Reference -> One-Page API Reference for Kubernetes
  2. Make sure to run the context command before answering the question, you should find a red warning on every question with the correct cluster.
  3. Make sure to use the correct namespace while answering the question, after answering, please verify the creation in the correct namespace.
  4. Read the question carefully, some can be tricky to understand.
  5. Partial scoring is supported. The Linux Foundation will calculate a score based on successful subtasks. Also, they will consider if some subtasks are harder than others.
  6. Edit ~/.vimrc to include either the following:
    7. Short form Long form
    :set ai cuc cul :set autoindent cursorcolumn cusrsorline
  7. Execute the following command to create 20 folders:
    8. mkdir `seq 20`
  8. Every time you want to copy text from Firefox into Terminal it shows a warning “Unsafe Paste”. You can just confirm this. You can also disable this in the Terminal Preferences -> General -> Show unsafe paste dialog.

Time management tips

  1. Use imperative commands as much as possible to get things done quickly, you can add using dry generate the output to yaml file as initial step then you edit the yaml file answering the question requirements:
    2. kubectl run nginx --image=nginx --labels="app=hazelcast,env=prod" --dry-run=client –o yaml > pod.yaml
  2. Try to use short names (ns, pv, pvc, cm, cj, hpa, as, svc, quota, deploy) as much as possible.
  3. Don’t wait for a graceful deletion of objects.
    4. kubectl delete pod nginx --force
  4. Consider using replace instead of deleting and then creation or apply. 
    5. kubectl replace --force -f pod.yaml
  5. Use the following command to search for fields/specs quickly:
    6. kubectl explain pod.spec --recursive | grep -i -B 30 serviceaccount
  6. My strategy in solving question was to solve easy quick questions first to gain as much as I can quickly as I know some topics will require more time to solve or troubleshooting, so I decided to skip and mark quetions of these topics for review later as usually require lengthy changes or validation: Network Policy, Ingress, Custom Resource Definition (CRD).

I hope this post will help someone out there, see you soon, bye.


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CKAD Part 2: Practice, Practice, Practice

If you like to view the video version of this blog post, you can click on the video.

CKAD is an online, proctored, performance-based test consisting of a set of performance-based items (problems) to be solved in a command line within two hours. It is not a multiple-choice exam.

You will be given access from a Ubuntu terminal to 4 clusters (Details), and you will have 15 - 20 questions to be answered with different weights. Partial scoring for each exam is calculated so your sub-tasks to achieve an answer are supported.

On Jun-2022, the testing platform received a massive change in the exam environment, I have collected the most important links to show the changes and new restrictions:

  1. Important Instructions: CKA and CKAD
  2. Linux Foundation Proctoring Platform – Migrating to PSI Bridge
  3. Update on Certification Exam Proctoring Migration
  4. Youtube: Kubernetes Certification Updates | PSI Exam Updates | KodeKloud
  5. Candidate handbook (Using PSI BRIDGE Proctoring platform)
  6. CKS CKA CKAD changed Terminal to Remote Desktop

Practice is a must to pass this exam, so the following are the practice resource I have used to pass the exam and my opinion:

1. Dimitris-Ilias Gkanatsios: CKAD exercises: It is free and better to solve once you finish the course.

2. The following are two exam simulators and a comparison between them:

CKAD Killer.sh CKAD k8simulator
Exam environment availability 36 hours, so you can check your answers, plus during these hours your environment is evaluated again (Every 7 or 8 minutes) if you make changes, your exam score will change based on your modification. 2 hours (Exam only), I was not able to check my actual answers with the exam answers
Partial scoring supported as a real exam Yes No, you may score very low because of this.
Answer Explanation Provided, and very comprehensive as a learning mode Provided, and sufficient
Exam sessions 2 Identical 2 Different
Flag questions for review No Yes
Difficulty level compared to exam Longer and more difficult Similar somehow
Price Free included when booking the exam 16.99 - 24.00 Euro
Exam coverage Nearly covering most of the curriculum Hoping for better coverage for the curriculum
Exam typos or issues No Several issues in typos, and character sensitive

To Be Continued ...

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