Speaker # 5
Speaker: Terry Richards, Enterprise Architect, Intel
Topic: ITIL and Enterprise Architect
Key points of interest :
• Terry outlined the idea of – Teachable Point of View. After you have completed all your analysis, defined business case, got senior management buy in, how do you get most affected stakeholders’ buy in. An approach Terry defined Teachable point of View. How do you teach people what you want them to do next
• One point not to do is –tell somebody that their baby is ugly, i.e. their current process is terrible, you want them to do your way, is certainly not a teachable point of view principle.
• In Terry’s organization ITSM and EA group were able to work together slowly, one service at a time but not without a lot of hard work.
Further Discussion Threads:
• How has other organizations created a culture of working together between EA and ITSM disciplines?
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Topic: Improving Decision Making in an Uncertain World.
Speaker # 4
Speaker: Proteus Duxbury, PA Consulting
Topic: Improving Decision Making in an Uncertain World.
Key points of interest :
• He defined the term Zombie customers, companies and governments. The key characteristic of these organizations being that these people has such a high debt to equity or GDP ratio, they are simply incapable of influencing any directions.
• In this environment, strategic decision making is even more difficult because wrong decision is just not an option due to the fact that resources are scarce
• Proteus then went on to providing some specific example how he has helped some of his clients make decisions in these uncertain time. Here are some examples:
• He defined the term – User Journey. In this model asked key question – what prompted the user to ask for the information?, How the information is acted upon? What is the value if that action? Only after these questions are answered the architect started to focus on how to deliver this information.
• Then gave an example how to get buy in. He showed a model how to create a link between Capability, profit, margins, revenue.
• For government agencies he showed how to link capability to – Value to teh Citizen and Value to the Organization.
Further Discussion Threads:
• I would like to hear from practitioners how they communicated Enterprise Architecture without using technical models, word Enterprise Architecture etc.?
Speaker: Proteus Duxbury, PA Consulting
Topic: Improving Decision Making in an Uncertain World.
Key points of interest :
• He defined the term Zombie customers, companies and governments. The key characteristic of these organizations being that these people has such a high debt to equity or GDP ratio, they are simply incapable of influencing any directions.
• In this environment, strategic decision making is even more difficult because wrong decision is just not an option due to the fact that resources are scarce
• Proteus then went on to providing some specific example how he has helped some of his clients make decisions in these uncertain time. Here are some examples:
• He defined the term – User Journey. In this model asked key question – what prompted the user to ask for the information?, How the information is acted upon? What is the value if that action? Only after these questions are answered the architect started to focus on how to deliver this information.
• Then gave an example how to get buy in. He showed a model how to create a link between Capability, profit, margins, revenue.
• For government agencies he showed how to link capability to – Value to teh Citizen and Value to the Organization.
Further Discussion Threads:
• I would like to hear from practitioners how they communicated Enterprise Architecture without using technical models, word Enterprise Architecture etc.?
Topic: Architecting the Business is different from Architecting IT
Speaker # 3
Speaker: Tim Westbrook, EA Directions
Topic: Architecting the Business is different from Architecting IT
Key points of interest :
• The speaker tried to make the point that Architecting the Business is different from Architecting IT. I think he seriously missed the point that Architecture is defined with Capability and stakeholder in mind, as several speakers at the conference stressed that point.
• When IT Architecture is defined the business goals are perhaps – reduce IT Operating cost, reduce risks of IT to the business. The stakeholder is frequently the CTO, CIO or CFO.
• When we architect Business, the goals are business growth either through Organic or Acquired.
• These two approaches are actually very well defined in TOGAF 9, I strongly encourage the readers of this blog to review their TOGAF 9 book before they take Tim’s presentation to heart.
Further Discussion Threads:
• The focus of EA work should be on the define, develop and exploit the Capability from the point of view of the stakeholder?
Speaker: Tim Westbrook, EA Directions
Topic: Architecting the Business is different from Architecting IT
Key points of interest :
• The speaker tried to make the point that Architecting the Business is different from Architecting IT. I think he seriously missed the point that Architecture is defined with Capability and stakeholder in mind, as several speakers at the conference stressed that point.
• When IT Architecture is defined the business goals are perhaps – reduce IT Operating cost, reduce risks of IT to the business. The stakeholder is frequently the CTO, CIO or CFO.
• When we architect Business, the goals are business growth either through Organic or Acquired.
• These two approaches are actually very well defined in TOGAF 9, I strongly encourage the readers of this blog to review their TOGAF 9 book before they take Tim’s presentation to heart.
Further Discussion Threads:
• The focus of EA work should be on the define, develop and exploit the Capability from the point of view of the stakeholder?
Topic: Next Generation of Enterprise Architects
Speaker # 2
Speaker: Henry Peyret, Analyst, Forrester
Topic: Next Generation of Enterprise Architects
Key points of interest :
• At macro level, changes in the industry are creating two discontinuities- innovation Network and Value perception in the Enterprise.
• Innovation Network implies how different disciplines engage, work, define, generate and manage value. How inside the organization and industry professionals interact. How Organization protect their intellectual property.
• Value perception has shifted – it is no longer defined by Financial measures, recognize it is important for long term sustainability and it low includes social responsibility such as green footprint, 360 degree view etc.
• EA’s are not making decisions but have the RESPONSIBILITY (RACI Governance) to ensure quality of information upon which decisions are made is the highest quality at price
Further Discussion Threads:
• I understand the need for network and new value perception, the question is how do you transition a current Command and Control Organization structure into Network Organization?
• There is no industry out their that has lead in this space, so research and discussion among thought leaders is as open as wild wild west.
Speaker: Henry Peyret, Analyst, Forrester
Topic: Next Generation of Enterprise Architects
Key points of interest :
• At macro level, changes in the industry are creating two discontinuities- innovation Network and Value perception in the Enterprise.
• Innovation Network implies how different disciplines engage, work, define, generate and manage value. How inside the organization and industry professionals interact. How Organization protect their intellectual property.
• Value perception has shifted – it is no longer defined by Financial measures, recognize it is important for long term sustainability and it low includes social responsibility such as green footprint, 360 degree view etc.
• EA’s are not making decisions but have the RESPONSIBILITY (RACI Governance) to ensure quality of information upon which decisions are made is the highest quality at price
Further Discussion Threads:
• I understand the need for network and new value perception, the question is how do you transition a current Command and Control Organization structure into Network Organization?
• There is no industry out their that has lead in this space, so research and discussion among thought leaders is as open as wild wild west.
Topic: Enterprise Architecture Disappearing into Business
Speakers
Speaker # 1
Speaker: Michael Rollings, Research Director, Burton Group
Topic: Enterprise Architecture Disappearing into Business
Key points of interest:
• EA is a discipline, not a profession. It is inclusive.
• Organizations adopt discipline, people adopt approaches
• In EA discussion, technology is not the only focus. It includes conversation on such necessary topics as – Value Management, Stewardship, Human Behaviour, Organization Culture and its behaviour etc.
• Without EA how does planning, optimization and design discipline ensure coordination
• Focus of EA is on Capability. i.e. an Organization has the capability to Ship Product. This capability can be optimized only if coordinated effort from all involved disciplines is applied. In order to achieve the necessary optimization, some processes in the value chain may have to become in efficient. A discipline we learned in Industrial Engineering and Just in Time Practices.
• Value of EA – how has EA helped influence decisions, value of those decisions and how these decisions helped influence the business goals
• Most Portfolio Management Organizations are struggling with Estimation of cost, timeline, risks – EA can not only help provide better decision parameters but also can ensure the required capabilities are developed within the defined architecture.
Further Discussion Threads:
• How do you go about introducing EA as a discipline in the organization?
• Who has the stewardship for a such a discipline?
• Where do you find practitioners who have necessary combination of soft and hard skills?
• How do you motivate and protect these people from internal nasty politics and career killing rumours and threats?
• Can the Industrial Engineering discipline teach us how to accelerate the discipline disappearance into the Business?
Speaker # 1
Speaker: Michael Rollings, Research Director, Burton Group
Topic: Enterprise Architecture Disappearing into Business
Key points of interest:
• EA is a discipline, not a profession. It is inclusive.
• Organizations adopt discipline, people adopt approaches
• In EA discussion, technology is not the only focus. It includes conversation on such necessary topics as – Value Management, Stewardship, Human Behaviour, Organization Culture and its behaviour etc.
• Without EA how does planning, optimization and design discipline ensure coordination
• Focus of EA is on Capability. i.e. an Organization has the capability to Ship Product. This capability can be optimized only if coordinated effort from all involved disciplines is applied. In order to achieve the necessary optimization, some processes in the value chain may have to become in efficient. A discipline we learned in Industrial Engineering and Just in Time Practices.
• Value of EA – how has EA helped influence decisions, value of those decisions and how these decisions helped influence the business goals
• Most Portfolio Management Organizations are struggling with Estimation of cost, timeline, risks – EA can not only help provide better decision parameters but also can ensure the required capabilities are developed within the defined architecture.
Further Discussion Threads:
• How do you go about introducing EA as a discipline in the organization?
• Who has the stewardship for a such a discipline?
• Where do you find practitioners who have necessary combination of soft and hard skills?
• How do you motivate and protect these people from internal nasty politics and career killing rumours and threats?
• Can the Industrial Engineering discipline teach us how to accelerate the discipline disappearance into the Business?
The Open Group Architect Practitioners Conference Seattle
Last week I had the opportunity to attend The Open Group Enterprise Architecture conference in Seattle. The three day conference had some excellent presentations from practicing architects, from which I’d like to highlight a couple of key items that peaked my interest and comment on specific sessions that I had the pleasure of attending.
Key Items of Interest:
• Enterprise Architecture is a discipline, not a profession. It requires an active engagement of many practices within an organization to be effective and for an enterprise architect to be successful he/she must possess an excellent combination of both soft and hard skills.
• As a practicing architect, I know that we must learn how to explain Enterprise Architecture (EA) to non-technical executives or stakeholders within an organization without using the word architecture or technical, complex conceptual models because key stakeholders might not be able to translate or appreciate them the same way as we do. These models are fine for us to analyze the situation, but one shouldn’t use analysis content to communicate with business stakeholders.
• As always the keynote speakers focused their energy on “converting the converted” by presenting on the value of a mature EA discipline yet offering very little insight on how to get there. I found the keynote speakers were good enough to validate my own thinking on how EA can help generate business value but the breakout sessions were most informative on practical ways to move forward.
• If you are a non-technical person reading this blog and would like to learn how to deliver value to your organization through improved information management and flow, I highly recommend that you look into attending the next Open Group Conference, future events can be found by visiting the The Open Group site www.opengroup.org.
Key Items of Interest:
• Enterprise Architecture is a discipline, not a profession. It requires an active engagement of many practices within an organization to be effective and for an enterprise architect to be successful he/she must possess an excellent combination of both soft and hard skills.
• As a practicing architect, I know that we must learn how to explain Enterprise Architecture (EA) to non-technical executives or stakeholders within an organization without using the word architecture or technical, complex conceptual models because key stakeholders might not be able to translate or appreciate them the same way as we do. These models are fine for us to analyze the situation, but one shouldn’t use analysis content to communicate with business stakeholders.
• As always the keynote speakers focused their energy on “converting the converted” by presenting on the value of a mature EA discipline yet offering very little insight on how to get there. I found the keynote speakers were good enough to validate my own thinking on how EA can help generate business value but the breakout sessions were most informative on practical ways to move forward.
• If you are a non-technical person reading this blog and would like to learn how to deliver value to your organization through improved information management and flow, I highly recommend that you look into attending the next Open Group Conference, future events can be found by visiting the The Open Group site www.opengroup.org.
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