Are modern OSS architectures well conceived?

Whatever is well conceived is clearly said,
And the words to say it flow with ease
.”
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux
.

I’d like to hijack this quote and re-direct it towards architectures. Could we equally state that a well conceived architecture can be clearly understood? Some modern OSS/IT frameworks that I’ve seen recently are hugely complex. The question I’ve had to ponder is whether they’re necessarily complex. As the aphorism states, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

Just take in the complexity of this triptych I prepared to overlay SDN, NFV and MANO frameworks.

Yet this is only a basic model. It doesn’t consider networks with a blend of PNF and VNF (Physical and Virtual Network Functions). It doesn’t consider closed loop assurance. It doesn’t consider other automations, or omni-channel, or etc, etc.

Network virtualisation adds extra layers of complexity. This complexity is justified by using intermediate platforms that allow for abstraction and software-based controls (which are true of course). That’s great when the intermediate platforms are working perfectly. However, abstraction could also imply the introduction of blind-spots (see this article for more about how an OSS still needs visibility across all layers from physical networks up and to piece together across blind-spots).

Yesterday’s post raised an interesting concept from Tom Nolle that as our solutions become more complex, our ability to make a basic assessment of value becomes more strained. And by implication, we often need to upskill a team before even being able to assess the value of a proposed project.

It seems to me that we need simpler architectures to be able to generate persuasive business cases. But it poses the question, do they need to be complex or are our solutions just not well enough conceived yet?

To borrow a story from Wikiquote, “Richard Feynman, the late Nobel Laureate in physics, was once asked by a Caltech faculty member to explain why spin one-half particles obey Fermi Dirac statistics. Rising to the challenge, he said, “I’ll prepare a freshman lecture on it.” But a few days later he told the faculty member, “You know, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t reduce it to the freshman level. That means we really don’t understand it.

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