Using Enterprise Architect and the Pro Cloud Server in Education

System Thinking in IT Solutions and Digital Fabrication - Course

What is the Cost of Poor Quality IT Solutions

Who knows the true cost of poor qualitry IT systems? Who cares about it? How can you measure the quality of IT solutions?  We can estimate, but it must be a relatively large proportion of the final cost for the completed solution. And it is not just a matter of money.

I am convinced that a systematic approach throughout the whole lifecycle of IT solutions must be more advantageous than using a quick and dirty approach.  ‘One of the aspects of system approach is the rigorous documenting (modeling) of the solution, from idea itself, analysis, design, implementation, go live, up to the end of operation and deployment'.

Based on experiences from praxis I am trying to share my knowledge with young people, who haven't developed bad habits yet. For that reason, I am organizing the courses for students of universities and middle schools, to encourage young people to think about their solutions before they start to work. The way, how to manage it, is to use modern technology and methodology.

It is not wasting time. Our path to solutions is our everyday journey. Every day we are discovering new knowledge and reaching new experiences, at least.

I would like to share my experiences from university in Slovakia, where we are realizing the small IT solutions. The main goal is not only developing a solution, but also developing an appreciation of how we are managing the solution. It could be called ‘Model driven solution’.

The name of the course is ‘System Thinking in IT Solutions and Digital Fabrication’

This course was created on the basis of cooperation among FABLAB CVTI,  ‘CVTI Bratislava’, ‘Comenius University Science Park’ and ‘Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava’ ‘FIIT STU’, AGNICOLI-Through Knowledge to Freedom -nonprofit organization, FabLabNet, Interreg Central Europe Programme, CE 283. The main objective of the course was to bring students closer to digital manufacturing and to reach new professional habits – generating and sharing knowledge among participants.

This course was focused on integration of 2 approaches. Rapid prototyping in the field of 3D printing, IoT, Laser cutter, CNC cutter and system approach. Students received the basic information about technology presented in FABLAB CVTI and general overview about holistic approaches in IT (TOGAF, ITIL). During the whole course we have used the client UML modeling tool ‘Enterprise Architect’ by Sparx Systems and server background Sparx Cloud Services, Pro Cloud Server with WebEA access. Licenses for ‘Enterprise Architect’ clients were provided by FIIT, licenses for Pro Cloud Server (WebEA) were provided by Sparx Systems company with close cooperation from Sparx Systems Central Europe.

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Roman Kazička