Concepts

What are Concepts?

One of the two most important design parts of any architecture is concepts. Therefore, concepts is an important part of the Dragon1 Framework and especially the 'Dragon1 Way of Thinking'.

Concepts are helpful for architects when creating a design because they help to solve problems of creating a solution that answers to various requirements that may even be conflicting. For instance, creating a lightweight large object, a big space that feels small, or a very secure open website.

With concepts, you can design starting from the conceptual level, onto a logical level, onto the physical level, and onto the implementation level.

Sometimes, the meaning of a word gets abstracted from its implementation because of time. One can often use etymological sources to find the original meaning of a word, which may be completely different from its current meaning.

Note: It is interesting to see that modern concepts are technology-driven and reflect society's trends, issues, and concerns. Think of concepts like Green Energy, Privacy Data Protection, or Smart City Services.

Examples of concepts are: process, business process, process orientation, server, file server, server-based computing, service, and self-service.

There are smaller and bigger concepts, generic and specialized concepts, and detailed and global concepts.

• Some concepts are elements of other concepts: concept --> Self Service, concept as element --> Customer, Order, etc...
• Some concepts are partial concepts of total concepts: total concept -> e-Health, subconcept -> e-Agenda
• Some concepts are specializations or generalizations of concepts: Computing, Server Computing, Client-Server Computing.

Dragon1 explains concepts and types of concepts that the architect can distinguish.

By distinguishing concepts, it becomes easier for the architect to find solutions for conflicting requirements and wishes and to incorporate them into a structure.

Why do Architects work with Concepts and Principles?

Three main reasons architects work with concepts are:

• By defining and visualizing the main concepts of a total concept, you visualize the architecture of a structure.
• With this visualization, you can easily relate concepts to ambitions, strategic starting points, and goals.
• By visualizing the main concepts, you enable board members, directors, and management to direct and steer with an impact on implementing changes, renewal, and innovation in the organization.

The main reason architects work with principles is:

• By formulating and visualizing the principles of concepts and phenomena that will become part of the architecture, you guide projects in designing and realizing solutions.

Overview of concept types

Viewed from a Dragon1 perspective, the world exists from different types of concepts: Constructive concepts, operative concepts, and decorative concepts.

In an enterprise, three disciplines are prominent: business administration, informatics, and IT. Within these three disciplines, all three types of concepts exist; business administration includes constructive, operative, and decorative concepts. The same applies to informatics and IT.

In other words, there are a lot of governance concepts, business concepts, information concepts, and technology concepts that have a constructive function, operative function, or decorative function for that organization.

Enterprise architecture, business architecture, information architecture, and technical architecture consist, as we read later, mainly of business administration, informatics, and IT concepts. The architect uses these concepts as accurately as possible, assesses them, and documents the results.

The purpose is to present them as existing proven concepts, supporting a solution for a structure or an architecture. Later, they are combined with new, innovative concepts to support the design of innovative structures or architecture.

For instance, a wheelchair, an electric car, an espresso coffee machine, Cloud Computing, Self Service, and Chatbot are all concepts, as they are abstract ideas, approaches, and abstractions of implementations.<

When the architect looks at the decoration of a structure, he will endeavor to experience a certain emotion, atmosphere, and feeling. By using concepts, the architect can choose concepts with appropriate quality and performance, resulting in the required atmosphere, emotion, feeling, and experience.

For instance, if an architect has to ensure that everyone always works in the same way, they will then choose concepts relating to standardization and process-oriented working instead of concepts such as self-managed teams with an individualistic and bespoke working approach. Even if the same can be achieved by all these concepts, standardization, and process-oriented working are experienced differently from self-managing and bespoke activities.

Fundamental, technological, and supplier/product-dependent concepts

Dragon1 recognizes that in constructive concepts, operative concepts, and decorative concepts, there are three different levels: the fundamental, technological, and supplier/product-dependent levels. These conceptual levels can be subdivided into 1) global or generic, 2) average, and 3) detailed or specific.

By creating a distinction between different concepts, the application or the choice of concepts and classification becomes easier. This enables the architect to make quicker and better choices, resulting in sustainable and future-proof solutions or concepts for the clients.

Classifying concepts in types and levels clarifies which concepts belong together and which do not. Using this, the architect has a wide choice of possibilities, which concepts to use and why. As a result, the architect is better positioned to determine whether an architecture consisting of concepts depends on a certain technology and whether it is dependent on certain supplier products.

By the same token, the architect sometimes needs to create new concepts based on existing information, which assists in the accurate classification and typecasting of concepts.

The three concept levels ensure that a concept can be adorned with continuously more information.

Figure 2 shows business administration, informatics, and industrial design concepts. This illustrates that we can view chairs and the sit-down concept in the same way that computers and information systems do. This does not yield a simple figure, but it does highlight the similarities and differences.

Concept layers example

Figure 2, Concept Layers

Figure 2 shows an example of how the architect continuously details the concept of ‘chair’ on a fundamental, technological, and product-related level. The concept of a chair is presented at a fundamental level, such as a fundamental concept of a chair. The concept of a chair does not yet reveal anything about its possible applications, technology, or suppliers.

At a technological level, we see different types of (technological) chairs, e.g., a child’s chair, a sun chair, and a garden chair. Due to the availability of technical concepts, the architect can choose solutions that are independent of suppliers or their products. The result is that these types of concepts quickly become sustainable and future-proof.

At the supplier/product-dependent level, we see the chairs we can purchase in a store. Dragon1 recognizes the supplier/product-dependent concept level as the level at which it can be clarified how enterprise architecture can be made independent of suppliers or products, and whether this is necessary. At this stage, the architect can already legitimately include which available and quality products should be obtained from certain suppliers in the architecture design. However, the architect should realize that in this way, he creates a dependency between the client and the supplier.

Note: The concept title sometimes displays the technology and sometimes a technology implicated by functionality. To the architect, it is essential to recognize that each word used to denote a concept name, whether intentionally or unintentionally, implies functionality, performance, and technology. The architect needs to be aware of this.

Why does the architect consider a ‘chair’ as a concept? The reason is that the architect wants to determine which type of chair conforms to the client’s wishes or specifications. To address a chair as a concept, it becomes possible to design a new chair that meets certain performance and quality requirements. Suppose existing chair concepts do not meet the requirements. In that case, the architect can combine, integrate, and enhance existing concepts to arrive at a new chair concept, providing a model to create the ultimate chair required.

For example, regarding a chair conceptually, it is also possible to design a new chair that meets different requirements, e.g., a garden sun chair for children. Such a chair immediately becomes a small, reclining chair with a weather-proof design, featuring four legs, and is made from either teak or plastic.

The concept chair says nothing about the technology, but it appeals to an archetype of a seat with four legs. The client will ultimately decide which chair he chooses, following his wishes and specifications. For instance, if a person needs to rest, they require something to sit on; a chair will be sufficient. However, if a person wants to relax, they prefer to sit on something that resembles a comfortable, stable chair, such as an armchair. If a person wants to relax in a reclining position, they prefer a sofa over a wooden chair.

To design an architecture of a structure embracing conflicting requirements, it is helpful to first design the structure’s functionality and secondly to include the technical aspects. This is the main reason an architect must be able to work with concepts that are still independent of technology.

An example of working with concepts becomes clear when an architect is faced with a request to design something that allows a client to fly and float. The architect will place flying and floating concepts on the top fundamental level. At the technological level, he can choose a float plane, a catamaran helicopter, or a hovercraft, all of which meet additional requirements that point to one of the three technological concepts. Once the architect has chosen a technological concept, they can determine which suppliers and technical products best suit the client to construct the ultimate technological solution.

Quality, performance, and component-oriented concepts

As previously stated, Concepts are ideas, abstractions, approaches, or ‘ways of working’. In Dragon1, a concept’s core or a concept’s entity is divided into four different types of concepts: quality concepts, performance concepts, concepts of elements, and concepts of components. There are more concepts, but the ones mentioned here are distinct and often recur in the architect’s practice.

A quality concept is about how a certain quality can be realized, e.g., a safety concept. A safety concept is a concept that, when applied, increases the safety of a structure. An architect can use different categories of quality aspects to determine which types of quality aspects are available to him or will be available in the future.

A performance concept or action concept covers the performance of a concept in a general or specific sense. An example of a performance concept is a purchasing concept, which generally outlines the process of purchasing goods or services. A 24/7 sales concept implies that a certain level of performance guarantees a 24/7 sales paradigm.

An elemental concept is a concept that describes, from a logical or functional point of view, how a certain operation can take place independently from any form of implementation, e.g., an insurance product concept.

A component concept is a concept that describes how a certain technical entity is created operatively, constructively, as well as decoratively, e.g., a digital insurance product concept. With a component-oriented concept, certain logical functions are integrated alongside specific technical constructs.

An example is a digital insurance product. In a component-oriented concept, certain logical functions are fulfilled by technical constructs. A digital insurance product concept comprises several integrated components. The components are described through the description and visualization of the digital insurance concept. Additionally, the description outlines the advantages (in terms of quality and performance) that the digital insurance concept delivers, which we derive from the description and visualization of the concept.

In practice, we see how an architect creates a total concept from a diversity of combined concepts, such as a flexible insurance concept, a self-service concept, a 24/7 sales concept, and a security concept. This total concept will then create the architecture of the solution.

From the dimensions, levels, and types of concepts, an architect can find their way in reusing and determining the usefulness of existing concepts to arrive at new concepts for approval by the client.

The architect must understand how existing and proven concepts work before including them in their architecture design. If the architect incorporates new concepts, he is responsible for conveying the concept's functionality to the client and explaining where the concept will be applied.

In itself, a concept does not represent implementation, but the source of the concept does have an implementation. A concept applies to other and new situations.

Take an enterprise that sells insurance – the enterprise could be a national insurer or function as a local agent. In this instance, national insurers and local agents are concepts independent of implementation. However, a person who understands how national insurers and local agents operate and how they cooperate knows what the enterprise could look like when it becomes clear how one or the other concept performs; in other words, which principles, elements, and components the enterprise consists of.

Concepts-Principles Metamodel

Figure 3, Concepts-Principles Metamodel

In the Concepts-Principles Metamodel, Figure 3, entities such as elements and components are shown as concept parts and parts of an environment. The reason is that elements and components can exist independently in the context of a concept or as part of other concepts. For example, an old, discarded table is used as a workbench in a shed, and in the attic, a similar table serves as a computer worktop. This demonstrates that a single entity can have a different function or meaning when used in a different context.

By identifying a meta-model as a model of concepts and principles, it becomes clear how they are interrelated. The performance of these concepts and principles, as well as the ultimate choice of these principles, is of strategic importance to the enterprise.

Fundamental concepts

By understanding fundamental concepts, the architect can explain the performance of concepts that appear and are maintained in nature. Concepts, and especially fundamental concepts, are often archetypal concepts. Archetype concepts are idealized, primal solution models that constitute the foundation of later variants. The archetype model of a house typically consists of four walls with a roof, where windows and doors are optional. If something looks like that, people will soon recognize it as a house and that they can live in it.

Examples of fundamental concepts are unique numbering, sitting down, or even the power of attraction. The law of individuality states that if something is numbered uniquely, it often becomes ‘one-of-a-kind’ and can be more identifiable. The ancient Romans began to assign numbers to houses by writing different numbers on each one. This way, it was possible to control who had paid their taxes.

Nature, through physiology, compels people to accept that sitting down is a relaxing experience. Sitting down provides a surface for humans to rest or perform work in a relaxing environment. The word 'surface' does not imply, yet, another technology, product, supplier, or implementation.

By using the concept of house numbers or a surface to sit on, we get a vague image of a solution and many degrees of freedom to determine or utilize technology. An architect likes to use fundamental concepts to remain free in determining solutions. The architect often links the necessity of choice for fundamental concepts in an architecture design directly to the needs, requirements, or challenges of the client and other stakeholders.

Regarding identification by name, fundamental concepts can often be divided into quality aspects, element-oriented, and action-oriented. Sub-subdivisions can be made in terms of global concepts and detailed concepts.

Technological concepts

By understanding technological concepts, the architect can explain the performance of concepts emanating from certain technologies. Technological concepts are built upon fundamental principles. An architect will assess various technological concepts to implement a fundamental concept effectively.

For instance, Energy-saving and light bulbs are technological concepts for ‘lighting’. An energy-saving bulb, as a concept, is more durable than an ordinary bulb, but it is also more expensive as an investment. The needs, requirements, and challenges of the client and stakeholders will then determine the choice of bulb. Since the concept of the energy-saving bulb is relatively new, we associate it with specific technological solutions.

Chlorine-free paper is also an example of a technological concept. Currently, we don’t consider this concept sustainable and future-proof. That is why we don’t often print emails on paper.

Technological concepts can also be divided into quality aspect-oriented, element-oriented, action-oriented, and global and detailed categories.

Supplier/product-dependent concepts

By understanding product-related concepts, the architect can use certain solutions to explain the operational aspects of the suppliers' delivered products. These concepts are based on technological concepts. An IKEA chair is a supplier/product-related concept, as we associate it with self-assembly items.

It is suggested not to use a product-dependent or supplier-dependent concept in architecture. It is up to the architect to decide whether a concept is technological or not, or to identify which alternative technological concepts are available.

An exception to the rule in almost every organization is Microsoft. When we learn from business administration that an organization must not be dependent on suppliers, we notice that an exception is made for Microsoft regarding software products. Microsoft has many innovative products in which standard concepts are used, which Microsoft has limited to ‘non-open’ Microsoft standard concepts.

Enterprises using a product with a non-open standard concept may enjoy short-term advantages. Still, from a business economic perspective, it is not a sustainable or future-proof investment proposition.

Product-related concepts can be subdivided into quality aspect-oriented, element-oriented, and action-oriented, as well as global and detailed categories.

Top 100 List of Concepts and Principles

Dragon 1 provides you with a list of 100 modern and common concepts and principles to make it easy to create your architecture.

In the list linked to every architecture principle is written down in the format "concept name" followed by a "short principle statement". The short principle statements consist mostly of four parts: action, effect, enforcement, and result. This format ensures that we do not write down general rules or guidelines, but rather principles (i.e., working mechanisms). Where possible, a link to the relevant literature is provided, along with a link to a detailed description and visualization of the principle.