Kyle Gabhart

Over the past 6 months I have been working with a lot of clients that are either exploring the potential of Cloud Computing, or actively engaging in Cloud initiatives.  As I have worked with these organizations and had countless whiteboard discussions with curious individuals, I ... (more)

In-source, out-source, up-source, down-source, crowd-source, cloud-source, source, source, source. At your work and on the street, how many different sources you meet! (Inspiration borrowed from multiple readings of Dr Seuss's The Foot Book to my toddler). It seems everyone these... (more)

Modeling business processes offers an effective way of capturing end-to-end requirements for a solution.  It also clearly communicates the business scenario and corresponding solution in a way that can be understood by both business and technology professionals.  This communicati... (more)

An ancient Chinese proverb says, "Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand." For many people, even entire organizations, the approach to education seems to be along the lines of learning facts, figures, details, tools and standards. This results ... (more)

As the fallout from the economy takes its toll: staff layoffs, reduced capital expenditures, dwindling revenue, etc., enterprises of all sizes are looking for opportunities to trim back on their fixed costs and move toward business models that are more agile, scaling up AND down ... (more)

A Journey of False Starts This is not the first time you’ve had your heart set on revolutionizing your information systems: One year, you rolled out a big Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) initiative, but it was too brittle and carried high maintenance costs. For a while... (more)

Recently, a client approached me with a quandary.  When designing XML schemas for Web services, how do you balance the desire to use industry standards such as UBL ( Universal Business Language) or CICA ( Context Inspired Component Architecture) to support data interoperability w... (more)

On a South Carolina campaign stop in January 2000, George Bush asked the immortal question: "Is our children learning?" Then again seven years later, Bush told a group of New York school children: "Childrens do learn." YouTube video of both statements is available here. So I ... ... (more)

In a previous post I blogged about the strong synergy between SOA and MDM. More recently, I explored the subject of service oriented data modeling (part 1 of this post) and how to resolve the inevitable conflicts that arise between your SOA view of data and your enterprise or MDM... (more)

Recently I have been engaged in two Master Data Management (MDM) initiatives within the context of a larger Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) adoption plan. In both cases, the client found themselves at an impasse regarding how to resolve conflicts between the master data model... (more)

Unless you have been under a rock (hiding from the depressing economic news, no doubt), then you know that the industry is buzzing with interest around Cloud Computing.  Due to the extraordinary degree of interest and constant questions regarding Cloud that I have seen from my cl... (more)

I have officially come full circle from my position last summer regarding the reality of Cloud Clomputing in which I presented a skeptical view of Cloud's potential to actually materialize.  It is now quite apparent to me and increasingly to my clients and readers, that Cloud is ... (more)

Communities the world round celebrated Chinese New Year yesterday.  2009 is the year of the Ox, and with it comes new insight and possibilities into what the year holds for our world.  According to Chinese tradition, the year of the Ox represents "prosperity through fortitude".  ... (more)

All across the blogosphere, analysts, experts, and technology enthusiasts are buzzing about the latest claims that SOA is dead.  The thunderstorm of controversy was set off by Burton Group analyst, Anne Thomas Manes, who recently blogged an obituary for SOA entitled: SOA is Dead;... (more)

SOA World Magazine just went live with an excerpt from my book - Service Oriented Architecture: Field Guide for Executives.  The excerpt comes from Chapter 3 "SOA Value Proposition".  And given that so many companies are having trouble with crafting a business case for SOA, this ... (more)

Master Data Management (MDM) and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) share common principles.  The driving forces that lead organizations to adopt MDM and SOA are quite well aligned, resulting in a rather natural synergy.  Consider the following principles: Reusability A primary ... (more)

This content is excerpted from Service Oriented Architecture Field Guide for Executives (978-0-470-26091-3) with permission from the publisher, John Wiley & Sons. You may not make any other use, or authorize any others to make any other use of this excerpt, in any print or non-pr... (more)

If governance were a house, you would be left with the options of either building it from the ground-up or attempting to haul a complete house in on a large truck. While the latter is possible, it is fraught with difficulty. The house does not lend itself well to transport. It ma... (more)

Few topics evoke more groans and eye rolling from software engineers and Web developers than the dreaded "TESTING." Testing falls into the same category as documentation, refactoring code, dusting, and visiting the dentist. Put it off until the last minute, do as little as possib... (more)

In the October issue of Web Services Journal (Vol. 2, issue 10), I wrote an article on how to assemble a free C# .NET development environment by combining Eclipse, the Java 2 platform, Microsoft's .NET SDK, and a C# Eclipse plug-in from Improve Technologies. This time, I'm going ... (more)