Insights and updates from the Cyma team
Customer case study: University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury (UC) is one of New Zealand’s largest and fastest-growing tertiary education providers. In 2021, UC embarked on an ambitious Digital Transformation programme to modernise the technology for most of the business unit (faculties). UC had a small architecture practice, mostly contractors and little architectural or delivery maturity. In 2022 Cyma was engaged to help UC with this project.
Cyma appoints Amanda Nicholls as Acting CEO
Amanda joined Cyma as the Head of Growth & Commercial just a few months ago but has already made a big impact on the Cyma team and clients alike.
We are thrilled that Amanda has stepped into the Acting CEO role and know that Cyma is in capable hands. We thought we would share a little more about what she is most excited about in her new role and what makes her tick!
If not TOGAF… then what?
Svyatoslav Kotusev’s article, A comparison of the top four enterprise architecture frameworks received varying feedback when Cyma Co-Founder and Director Michael Tapp reposted it on LinkedIn. It assesses these frameworks and doesn’t pull any punches. The article is meant to be provocative, but there is a lot of truth in what Kotusev is saying. His approach to Enterprise Architecture is endorsed and promoted by the British Computer Society.
Rather than just bagging some of the best known EA frameworks, he does promote an alternative - Enterprise Architecture on a Page - which we have found is much closer to the reality of what works in the real world. We at Cyma are excited to see that others are aligned to our way of thinking. This is how we have been doing IT architecture for some time and we have embraced and further evolved this style of framework. Rather than define an explicit set of architecture processes, the framework provides a rich set of artefacts/tools that add real value, something that every IT architect should have in their kitbag.
5 traits of a seriously good architect
Being New Zealand's largest dedicated IT architecture company, we at Cyma know what it takes to be a ‘seriously good IT architect’ and stand out from the crowd.
Here are our top 5 traits that make a seriously good IT architect.
1. Curiosity
An okay architect is curious about finding the solution.
A seriously good architect is curious about the problem and the solution. They need to know the problem, so they can define what a good solution looks like and then fight for the right approach. A seriously good architect knows that challenge brings advancement. They have the ability to question and challenge what has been done before, to constantly learn and assess to make the future better. They are eager to learn - and to keep learning - and seek out new approaches to problem solving.