Arbitration

Decision that balances the local point of view of a project with the global point of view of the architecture

Introduction to the notion

Dynamics between system and project
In the balancing act between general interest and short-term perspective, there is one overriding factor: the force of constraint which the management decides to exercise in building the system, to comply with an urbanization target. It is all the more important and decisive that the management be operationally involved in the system enhancement policy, a policy which is a direct result of the enterprise vision and strategy.

This dynamic results in an important exercise taking place: the arbitration between target levels. There are two conflicting points of view:

  • The project’s role is to provide an immediate response to a specific request.
  • The system, on the other hand, is built with the long term in mind; its chief concerns are universality and openness towards partner systems.

This contradiction is resolved through reuseability: the repository provides the project with elements which fit its objectives.

The conclusions from the arbitration are shared over a range of scenarios, of which the most extreme are:

  • complete compatibility: everything the project delivers can be picked up by the repository and used by others;
  • complete decoupling: when the request is too divergent or urgent, it would be detrimental to force the project to follow the urbanization rules.

In between these two extremes lie numerous possibilities. The divergence may apply to only part of the project. Subsequent recoveries can be planned for: the immediate model puts down anchorage points that more system-compliant elements will attach themselves to later etc.

Related terms: enterprise description repository, transformation, reach

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