Roll Call (by timezone - East to West) & Scribe Shout-out (https://spaces.at.internet2.edu/display/itana/How+To+Scribe+Itana+Calls)
Future Calls
Itana 10th Anniversary Call
Itana Org Updates: Steering Committee, API Working Group, Book club, IoT Whitepaper w/I2
Jim Phelps, facilitator
Original catalysts for Itana included Ann West (at Internet2 and EDUCAUSE at the time), Mark Poepping, Ken Klingenstein, Bob Morgan, Catherine Yang
Common Solution Group (CSG) meetings at that time showed a need to start a larger architecture community to “nurture the seed corn”
Lots of middleware work was needed but often led by the same small group of “usual suspects”; needed to find more architects
Needed to expand beyond Internet2, to form a working group with resources such as a scribe, mailing list, etc.; this became a collaboration with EDUCAUSE
Itana became a joint effort that straddled Internet2 and EDUCAUSE, but also grew from an organic group to an organization with its own governance
The new organization was pitched at a CSG meeting, by Jim, Mark, and others, based on the new growing importance of architecture
There was great architecture work going on in national collaborations (e.g., MACE), but there was a need for architecture practices within institutions … to develop concepts of life cycles and maturity; to develop ways to engage with groups working on new solutions
Many of our active members (Scott, Piet, Brenda, Chris, and others) found Itana a way to broaden the work they were doing locally, “find their voice” as architects, and grow their own practices and careers
Face2Face meetings started within EDUCAUSE, and new members like Chris Eagle “jumped in the deep end” to organize them
Eventually formal governance was needed, and members such as Jim, Piet, Scott Fullerton, Chris Eagle, and Paul Hobson formed the first Steering Committee and its charter
Mark pointed out that often the work of organizations like Itana, and of architects, is to provide foundations that will take time to pay off -- many people have contributed and then moved into other roles but their work continues to have influence
In the past couple years a new emphasis in Itana has been on outreach/inreach, relating to other organizations
Itana rebranded from “IT architects” to enterprise, business, and technical architects in higher ed
Newer members (such as Jose, JJ, and Rupert) mentioned how Itana helped them work with their stakeholders beyond traditional central IT approaches; get introduced to higher education; meet other architects, especially in face-to-face meetings and working groups
Troy led a thank-you to all the founding members, and reflected on joining in 2012 as NYU was starting its EA group … being able to leverage the existing thinking and the collaborative open nature of the group was “priceless” to his practice. Establishing EA principles and frameworks has transformed how IT is viewed at the institution, to become a group that can implement strategic ideas and innovate, working as a partner.
Louis reflected on moving into EA via a non-technical design path. Itana gave him context on the history, current state, and future of architecture practices. The changes that the founders of Itana foresaw will continue at an even more rapid rate to change IT and the importance of architecture; our work on strengthening the collective wisdom is an investment in the future of our institutions.
Ann added that Itana and its members are unique in their use of tools and approaches to engage stakeholders; how we do it matters as much as the architecture work itself.
Book club is starting up on its next book; see the mailing list to join
API working group is actively working; contact Ashish Pandit to join
EA maturity model group is active; see the Groups page to join
