I’ve discussed some of the challenges that companies are facing today when changing technology and when just trying to keep up with their competitors seems insurmountable. The first thing to understand is that these systems weren’t built overnight. The problems weren’t created overnight either, and it takes time to make all the necessary changes. The longer it takes to get a sound strategy in place, the more confusing the application landscape can become. I once met an architect who said that it didn’t matter in what the application components were written—if he had a Java developer. He insisted, he would have that component written in Java; if not, he would let the developer write the application in whatever language the developer knew. Just think about the problems he created for the company! Such a strategy allows the corporate landscape to dictate what the applications will look like. At some point you need to take a side and say, “This is how we build out systems.” This is a challenge but if you want to build successful business applications, there needs to be a consistent approach.
Getting the applications back on track will take time—it takes time to know if you are successful. For each action you may not know the consequences of your changes for months afterward. The question is whether you have the time to wait—usually three- to six-month increments—to see if your changes are having an effect. What benchmark metrics do you use to see if you are taking the company further ahead or causing more problems?
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