Design is constraint
A famous sculptor was asked how he makes such realistic sculptures. He said 'I do not make them I merely remove the unnecessary pieces from the rock'. Design is often looked upon as an innovation that was created without any constraints. It seldom is the case. Where there is a good design there is bound to be a set of constraints imposed on the system. When traversing the design approach as an architect I find business operating model lays the first level system constraint followed by the data that is required to effectively run the business processes associated with the operating model. The data needs determine the applications that need to be put in place. The applications determine the infrastructure requirements. So, the design constraints imposed by the business, process, data and application define the design of IT systems and infrastructure. It might also happen that infrastructure puts constrains on the business model. This is when business design is constrained by