I wanted to share with all of you a new book called, “Reaching the Pinnacle: A Methodology of Business Understanding, Technology Planning, and Change (Implementing and Managing Enterprise Architecture)” by Sam Holcman. I've known and have worked with Sam Holcman over the past five or more years and hold his experience in extremely high regard. Specifically, his contributions with John Zachman to get the Enterprise Architecture profession going in it's very early stages. He was instrumental in putting a real method around the Zachman framework, which in my opinion really made it usable for architects.
I haven't read the book yet but I have ordered it and will be reading it when it arrives. I'm personally looking for how his thoughts have evolved past some of the initial concepts of Enterprise Architecture that leads us into how we are currently executing EA and how we will be doing it in the future. Also interested in what concepts get left behind or the anti-patterns of legacy EA. With or without addressing these questions I'm sure it will be a good read.
Check it out and share your thoughts.
Here is an overview provided by Sam on “Reaching the Pinnacle: A Methodology of Business Understanding, Technology Planning, and Change (Implementing and Managing Enterprise Architecture)”:
Samuel B. Holcman explains the detailed process of building an enterprise architecture. Samuel B. Holcman brings his strategic business plans to business and technology professionals with “Reaching the Pinnacle: A Methodology of Business Understanding, Technology Planning, and Change (Implementing and Managing Enterprise Architecture).” In order to bring a method to the madness that can often be today’s business structure, Holcman uses “Reaching the Pinnacle” to introduce the process of building an enterprise architecture. Holcman uses his 40 years of experience as a leading trainer and consultant in enterprise architecture in writing “Reaching the Pinnacle.” He explains enterprise architecture as the rethinking of how business planning and information technology work together in order to achieve strategic goals. “Reaching the Pinnacle” explains how an organization and its important departments can achieve their goals through a series of project initiatives. Holcman offers a simple, easy-to-understand way to implement an enterprise architecture project into one’s organization. “While the approach is not quick – it may take up to a few years to transform an organization – my methodology provides an effective means for moving the organization from its as-is state to its desired state in an iterative manner,” says Holcman. Holcman’s methods and approach have been used by numerous Fortune 500 companies and have led him to be the top consultant on the topic. He believes the ‘for practitioners, by practitioners’ approach of “Reaching the Pinnacle” will make the book a crucial resource among business and technology personnel everywhere.
For those that don't know Sam here is a brief bio on him:
SAMUEL B. (Sam) HOLCMAN is the Chairman of the Pinnacle Business Group, Inc., and the Managing Director of the Enterprise Architecture Center Of Excellence (EACOE), and the Business Architecture Center Of Excellence (BACOE). He is considered the practitioners practitioner in Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture, and the leading implementer and world-wide educator and trainer in Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture methodologies and techniques. His interests include consulting and research on topics such as enterprise architecture, business architecture, business process engineering, intellectual capital management, organization development, system methodologies and life cycles, corporate business modeling, and accelerated analysis techniques. Sam was with Ford Motor Company for 11 years in data processing, finance, and engineering. He was Vice President of a robotics and factory automation firm for two years. He was also a senior member of a technology delegation to the People’s Republic of China, on the invitation of the Chinese and United States Government, and a member of a technology delegation to the Commonwealth of Independent States (Soviet Union). Sam has a Bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering and Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has been elected to Eta Kappa Nu (electrical engineering honors society), and Tau Beta Pi (engineering honors society), and is a member of numerous societies and professional organizations, and is a frequent speaker at seminars around the world.