Architecture and Patterns

I just read an excellent article discussing Software Architecture and Service Oriented Architecture and wanted to pass it along (http://www.cio.com/article/478622/A_Tale_of_Two_Architectures?source=nlt_cioenterprise). It provides a good comparison, and dependencies, of these two architectures. I really enjoyed the analogy of how the city of Chicago has been successful because of the architecture within its buildings and its infrastructure. That really rings true for IT systems as well. I would dare say no application can sustain long term success without both a solid application and infrastructure architecture. I have dealt with a lot of companies that don't see the value in any architecture and eventually they pay the cost of getting it done quick. As experienced IT professionals, we are obligated to provide our due diligence in selling the value of architecture in every way possible.

Secondly, a lot of you are probably already aware, but Microsoft has published an index for it's Patterns and Practices Application Architecture Guides. If you work in the Microsoft domain, these are must reads for basic design principles. They can be found at http://www.codeplex.com/AppArch/Wiki/View.aspx?title=Pocket%20Guides&referringTitle=Home.

If you run across other articles, magazines, or books on IT architecture please share them. Happy reading and that's all for now.