At Model Colony, Malir, Karachi

Enterprise Architecture has four primay aspects or areas needing attention:

1. Business Architecture
2. Application Architecture
3. Information Architecture
4. Technical Architecture

Examples of Tasks involved in each aspect are given below to help understand the dynamics:-

1. Business Architecture
   • Business Domains
   • Processes
   • Functional Requirements
2. Application Architecture
   • Software Architecture (SOA, Pipes and Filters etc.) 
   • Module/Component Design (OOAD, Structured etc.)
   • Module Control Hierarchy/Interfaces
   • Non-functional Requirements/Design Constraints 
     • Application Security
     • GUI/Interaction Design
     • Exception Handling/Logging mechanism
     • Performance Design
       • System Response Time
3. Information Architecture
   • Database Design
   • Persistance Mechanism
   • Data formats
   • SQL Optimization
4. Technical Architecture
   • Deployment Environment
   • Hardware Infrastructure
   • Local/Wide Area Networking

References

1. International Association of Software Architects
2. Institute for Enterprise Architecture Developments at http://www.enterprise-architecture.info/

3. Microsoft Enterprise Architecture Center at http://msdn.microsoft.com/architecture/EA

4. Architecture and Architectural Modeling Techniques

1. Architectural Modeling for thoughts about how enterprise architecture and project modeling efforts fit together.
2. Choosing a Primary Key: Natural or Composite?
3. Comparing the Various Approaches to Modeling in Software Development
4. Database Regression Testing
5. Enterprise Architecture Anti-Patterns (Soumen Chatterjee)
6. Enterprise Modeling Anti-Patterns for a list of common problems which EA teams suffer from.
7. Extending the RUP with Enterprise Administration
8. Extending the RUP with Enterprise Architecture
9. Extending the RUP with Enterprise Business Modeling
10. Initial High-Level Architectural Envisioning
11. Initial High-Level Requirements Envisioning
12. Introduction to Data Normalization
13. Join the Evolution (Software Development, May 2005)
14. On Relational Theory
15. The “One Truth Above All Else” Anti-Pattern
16. Process of Database Refactoring
17. When is Enough Modeling Enough?

In my previous posts, I have talked about first of all about the most peaceful countries to live in. The results of that study are plugged into the rightmost column of the graphic below in consolidated trends section giving the Global Peace Index (GPA) rankings.

We have also taken a look at the most competitive countries with environments conducive to IT work. The results for this survey can be found in the second column from the left in the graphic below in consolidated trends section giving the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) rankings.

In this article I want to bring two more studies into the picture; one relates to the highest paying country rankings for IT professionals and the other gives the top 50 most expensive places to live in by cost of living (COL) including housing.

Both studies have been conducted by Mercer which is a Human Resources consulting firm, whose surveys are used by multinational companies to benchmark salaries, bonuses, and other forms of pay, and to allocate global IT budgets.

Mercer published the results of their Global IT Salary Survey in 2007. Mercer’s 2007 IT Pay around the World survey compared the total annual cash compensation and total remuneration information for IT staff in 6,545 companies in 35 different countries.

The results of the IT salary survey are quoted below.

Note:
Average annual pay figures are listed in U.S. dollars.
Average total cash compensation includes base pay and annual bonus.
Experienced IT Staff represent people who are supervised by IT Managers or others.

Top 10 Countries for highest salaries for IT Managers:

1. Switzerland, $140,960
2. Denmark, $123,080
3. Belgium, $121,170
4. United Kingdom, $118,190
5. Ireland, $108,230
6. United States, $107,500
7. Germany, $106,730
8. Canada, $93,860
9. Hong Kong (China), $90,340
10. Australia, $88,850

 Top 10 Countries for lowest salaries for IT Managers:

1. Vietnam, $15,470
2. Bulgaria, $22,240
3. Philippines, $22,280
4. India, $25,000
5. Indonesia, $31,720
6. China (Shanghai), $33,770
7. Malaysia, $35,260
8. Czech Republic, $35,880
9. China (Beijing), $36,220
10. Argentina, $43,180

Top 10 Countries for highest salaries for experienced IT Staff:

1.  Switzerland, $101,508
2. Belgium, $75,497
3. Germany, $72,097
4. Denmark, $70,300
5. United Kingdom, $64,337
6. United States, $60,000
7. Ireland, $59,998
8. Israel, $58,721
9. Canada, $57,982
10. Finland, $54,742

Top 10 Countries for lowest salaries for experienced IT staff:

1. Vietnam, $5,574
2. Philippines, $8,133
3. India, $9,628
4. Indonesia, $10,048
5. China (Shanghai), $13,212
6. Bulgaria, $14,241
7. Malaysia, $14,446
8. Argentina, $14,700
9. China (Beijing), $16,145
10. Czech Republic, $17,253

5 Highest Paying Countries for IT Managers in Asia

1.   Hong Kong $90,344.03
2. Australia $88,846.75
3. Japan $87,638.17
4. South Korea$74,022.62
5. Singapore $66,615.70

5 Lowest Paying Countries for IT Managers in Asia

1.   Vietnam $15,473.00
2. Philippines $22,281.05
3. India $24,996.90
4. Indonesia $31,721.24
5. China – Shanghai $33,768.74

A discussion about salaries cannot be really meaningful if we ignore the cost of living involved. Mercer’s survey covers 143 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.

Consolidated Trends

I have consolidated the results for the top 10 highest paying countries in the graphic below to analyze the dynamics of national readiness, highest pays, lower cost of living and the cherry on the cake which is a count of the peacefulness of the country.

Who pays the least? Vietnam, Bulgaria, and the Philippines are the cheapest in paying IT managers. India ranks fourth in being cheap to IT managers, but is the second-lowest-paying country to IT staff.

Mercer says the pay pattern reflects the trend of U.S. and Western European businesses outsourcing lower-skilled IT jobs to regions where talent is cheaper, while keeping more-demanding tech jobs requiring more complex skill sets locally.

UK, US and obviously Israel are really out of the game as far as I am concerned because of the dangerous levels of their Peace indices. As I have already mentioned Peace comes first with me and everything else has to fall in line. US is behind Europe not only in salaries but also in maintaining peace. From what I have seen they are also behind Europe in the mobile/smartphone game but that is another research and another post.

Switzerland beat everyone else at the game for IT salaries with solid IT preparation with NRI(5) and the Peace Index looks good also at 14 but the cost of living is very high within top ten of 143 cities. Denmark is even more attactive with a great combination of numbers except for its city being labeled with the top 6th cost of living.

Australia led by Ireland and Finland are looking good with solid levels of peaceful environment, high salaries and missing the topmost most expensive places by cost of living.

Belgium, Germany and Canada seem ideal with high pays, peaceful environment  and significantly low cost of living in the top 50 bracket. Canada leads at the forefront as cost of living is low and did not make the top 50 expensive league at all.

The first report we look at is published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). EIU is part of The Economist Group. It is a research and advisory company providing country, industry and management analysis worldwide. 2007 marked the 61st anniversary of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s inception. 

EIU released a white paper titled, “The means to compete: Benchmarking IT industry competitiveness” in which it publishes the rankings of countries by “The IT industry competitiveness index”.

The index is complied on the basis of the following categories and weights per category:

1. Overall business environment 0.1
2. IT infrastructure 0.20
3. Human capital 0.20
4. Legal environment 0.10
5. R&D environment 0.25
6. Support for IT industry development 0.15 

The second report is put forth by The World Economic Forum (WEF) and INSEAD. WEF is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas. WEF was incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

INSEAD is one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools. Currently, at the school’s two comprehensive and fully connected campuses in Asia (Singapore) and Europe (France), as well as at the school’s centers in the Middle East (Abu Dhabi) and Israel, faculty conducts leading edge research projects. The INSEAD-Wharton Alliance further extends the reach of INSEAD business education and research across three continents.

Sponsored by Cisco Systems, the Global Information Technology Report series was first launched in 2001. It is a joint project between World Economic Forum and INSEAD, drawing upon several key indicators of the economy and technology readiness in a country. The Report uses the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), covering a total of 122 economies in 2006-2007, to measure the degree of preparation of a nation or community to participate in and benefit from ICT developments.  

The NRI is composed of three component indexes which assess:

1. the environment for ICT offered by a given country or community
2. the readiness of the community’s key stakeholders – individuals, business and governments
3. and the usage of ICT among these stakeholders 

Top 15 countries by the EIU IT Competitiveness Index

1.     United States
2.     Japan
3.     South Korea
4.     United Kingdom
5.     Australia
6.     Taiwan
7.     Sweden
8.     Denmark
9.     Canada
10.  Switzerland
11.  Singapore
12.  Netherlands
13.  Finland
14.  Norway
15.  Ireland 

Top 15 countries by NRI of WEF & INSEAD

1.     Denmark
2.     Sweden
3.     Singapore
4.     Finland
5.     Switzerland
6.     Netherlands
7.     United States of America
8.     Iceland
9.     United Kingdom
10.  Norway
11.  Canada
12.  Hong Kong SAR
13.  Taiwan, China
14.  Japan
15.  Australia 

Further details on the parameters, formulae and rankings for other countries for these reports can be accessed from the sources quoted at the end of this article. The top players in the studies by both authorities are more or less the same.

According to the EIU study, Pakistan is ranked at 60/64 whereas the WEF and INSEAD report places Pakistan at 84/122. In spite of the lack of IT readiness and numerous other challenges, Gartner, in its recent report ’Analysis of Pakistan as an Offshore Service Location’, has placed Pakistan amongst the top countries of the world for offshore outsourcing.

Gartner Inc. is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner was founded in 1979, with headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 3,900 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in 75 countries.

Gartner has recognized Pakistan as belonging to the First Category countries that are ‘Market Leaders and Challengers’. In 2006, Pakistan was placed in the Third Category countries. According to PSEB, the Pakistani IT industry is worth over $2.8 billion, including annual exports exceeding $1.4 billion, Pakistan is eyeing to increase the size of this sector to over US$ 11 billion by 2011.

We, as a nation need to look long and hard into the mirror to reflect on where we are heading and where we need to go. Our religious philosophy teaches us that it is relatively easy for the privileged top dogs to succeed but people will eventually be ranked by a preference for the challenged, underprivileged underdogs who displayed perseverance and character against all odds.

So, what is in a rank? It does not matter whether you win or lose but how you play the game.

Sources:

Economist Intelligence Unit, 2007
http://www.eiu.com/site_info.asp?info_name=eiu_Business_Software_Alliance_means_to_compete

World Economic Forum

http://www.weforum.org/en/index.htm

When around seven schools in Lahore got bomb threats very recently, one had to stop to think that the insanity in the world is knocking at our doors and threatening to invade the peace inside our homes. The terrifying thought of our children or anyone’s children meeting a fate similar to Ms. Benazir Bhutto’s is enough to make everyone wake up to the fact that humanity has to step back from the brink of disaster that it is itself responsible for. All our personal endeavors in all spheres of our existence become meaningless if our children become universally homeless with no planet to grow up in.

Let us take a look at what is happening round the globe. 

The above graphic and related information is taken from the website titled, “The Vision of Humanity”, http://www.visionofhumanity.com/ that was launched in May 2007 to highlight the Global Peace and Sustainability issue.

The website publishes a Global Peace Index, (GPI) which ranks 121 countries by their measure of peacefulness. GPI has been developed for the first time in conjunction with:

• The Economist Intelligence Unit
• an international panel of peace experts from Peace Institutes and Think Tanks
• the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney, Australia

The Global Peace Index is composed of 24 indicators, ranging from a nation’s level of military expenditure to its relations with neighbouring countries and the level of respect for human rights. The index has been tested against a range of potential “drivers” or determinants of peace—including levels of democracy and transparency, education and material well-being.

The following are the top fifteen and worst fifteen countries ranked by the Global Peace Index:-

Sadly but not surprisingly, Pakistan is ranked seventh from the bottom at the 115th position.

Top Fifteen Countries by Global Peace Index

1. Norway
2. New Zealand
3. Denmark
4. Ireland
5. Japan
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Canada
9. Portugal
10. Austria
11. Belgium
12. Germany
13. Czech Republic
14. Switzerland
15. Slovenia

Worst Fifteen Countries by Global Peace Index

107. Algeria
108. Myanmar
109. India
110. Uzbekistan
111. Sri Lanka
112. Angola
113. Cote d’Ivoire
114. Lebanon
115. Pakistan
116. Colombia
117. Nigeria
118. Russia
119. Israel
120. Sudan
121. Iraq

Before the earth explodes and we fall of the edges, we have to focus our energies towards converting people and influencing minds. Teaching our kids peace is a big priority but the rate at which men are fighting and destroying in the name of religion, politics, greed for power and fighting terror might render the sowing of peace process in our kids too late.

Source: http://www.visionofhumanity.com/rankings/