Foundational research

Foundational work, written for the present

Ten complete contemporary papers on the architectural and market questions that led to Data Mediation — with the research, design methods and diagrams restored in current language.

The complete collection

Current papers. Connected work.

Each paper is written as a current TomorrowX paper, not as a commentary on an earlier document. A Context section establishes why the question matters and how it fits within Data Mediation.

Together, the papers show how programmable boundaries and non-invasive change lead into multi-protocol mediation, composable delivery and an operational lifecycle beyond go-live.

Company and technology history

From fraud control to Data Mediation

The broader architecture emerged from an unexpected property of a working fraud-control system.

Read the paper →
Architecture · System boundaries

Components, boundaries and non-functional requirements

Change the behaviour visible at a system boundary without reopening the system inside.

Read the paper →
Architecture · Operational layer

The missing operational layer

Enterprise diagrams show applications, services and infrastructure. The control opportunity is often in the operational layer between them.

Read the paper →
Architecture · Design thinking

Thinking beyond the application boundary

The hardest part of a new architecture is often not building it. It is recognising that the old diagram has hidden the place where the answer belongs.

Read the paper →
Architecture · Change layer

Why running systems need a change layer

Enterprises operate systems from many technology generations at once. The environment changes continuously even when those systems cannot.

Read the paper →
Architecture · Interoperability

Connect, do not integrate

Systems do not need to share an internal architecture to work together. They need a governed way to understand the interaction between them.

Read the paper →
Architecture · Runtime change

Non-invasive change at runtime

Urgent change should not always require a full release of the system that happens to sit underneath it.

Read the paper →
Architecture · Legacy systems

Change the environment around the system

A system may still perform its original function correctly even when the environment around it has changed beyond recognition.

Read the paper →
Operating model · Enterprise technology

A parallel path for enterprise technology

Do not force the new operating model to wait for the old estate to disappear. Create a governed path that can work with both.

Read the paper →
Operating model · Delivery

A parallel operating model for change

The operating model for long-lived systems and the operating model for rapid externalised change should cooperate without becoming the same thing.

Read the paper →

Origins and foundations · Path complete

Move into the current architecture

Begin the core architecture path with the Data Mediation white paper.

Move into the current architecture