Enterprise Architecture VS Business Architecture.
Around this time 12 months ago Gartner predicted that half of EA Business Architecture initiatives in 2018 would focus on defining and enabling Digital Platform Strategies. While there hasn’t been follow up research to prove whether this prediction has come true, anecdotal evidence would suggest that the real situation is pretty close.
On a recent Agile training course, the instructor opened the session by saying “Agile without a plan is just chaos!” I would like to propose that Agile without effective Architecture will eventually lead to chaos, particularly if organisations try to scale their Agile practices without some form of guiding framework.
My current, favourite question for Executives and Architects is “How do you see Architecture operating in an Agile environment.” This question usually elicits a wry smile and a response along the lines of “I will need to get back to you on that!” Many people are wondering how Architecture will fair in the world of Agile. My answer is I believe very well!
In my last article, I talked about some of the key aspects you must consider when defining a target operating model. In this follow up piece I have delved a little deeper and will look at how TOM initiatives can vary across different types of businesses; from large corporates to start-ups and government organisations.
The term Target Operating Model (or TOM) has been used a lot in many of the organisations that I have worked for all around the world over the years. Many 100s of millions of dollars in business change budget has been invested in these projects along with many 1000s of people, man hours and resources.
Having been involved in numerous initiatives, I’ve seen all manner of possible outcomes. Some have succeeded in delivering very beneficial outcomes for their organisations. Some have failed to deliver anything. There can be many reasons for this; they couldn’t raise the budget, they couldn’t get the buy-in needed from stakeholders, or they were based on the wrong motivations and outcomes to begin with. With this background in mind, I thought I’d share some insights from my experience around this discipline and try to answer to very important questions:
I will also describe how an organisation can really reap the benefits of a successful business transformation programme, or project, that is designed to deliver a Target Operating Model.
Many C-Level executives are now facing a situation where the ‘traditional’ aspects of their role are being reshaped, or in some cases undergoing wholesale changes. From a CIO perspective, one of the fundamental challenges being faced is that the business is going direct to vendors to procure technology solutions for their business. A Logicalis survey reported recently that 31% of CIOs were bypassed on numerous occasions in technology purchases and over 90% were bypassed at least some of the time(1).
So how can a CIO maintain their influence in today’s businesses?
Every year in Melbourne, January sparks the start of a series of sporting events that keep us entertained right the way through to March. From the end of December and throughout January we have had the luxury of an action packed schedule of Big Bash (20/20) cricket, the Australian Open tennis and after a bit of a lull in February, there is the Australian Grand Prix to look forward to in March.
Whilst the sporting action continues to provide the spectator with excitement, enjoyment and entertainment, the role of analytics and data science in these events continues to grow with each edition of these great events.
While individuals may have different innate talents, the world’s most successful people have always been those who continually enhance their skills and develop instincts through countless hours of training.
Think about it this way, you’re not going to be able to run a marathon on sheer optimism alone — you’re going to have to make sacrifices, invest in new tools and seek out proper guidance and training to ensure you’ll make it to the finish line. The same goes for professional development.
How are you expecting to secure that promotion, ace that big project or become a respected thought leader in your field if you’re not constantly pushing the boundaries and making a proactive effort to widen your knowledge base?
Trying to understand how you can integrate a data-driven vision into your strategic agenda? Or perhaps you understand the need for a data-driven vision but need some tools to successfully implement it in your organisation. In this article, I will closely examine 5 core factors for an organisation’s success or failure in the data-driven economy, some of which you may find surprising.
A couple of weeks ago I participated in a “Design in Business” course run by Enterprise Architects , co-created with DesignChain and facilitated by the inimitable Helen Palmer.
I had previously undertaken some reading in Design Thinking and started a MOOC on the subject which I didn’t complete, so I wasn’t going in completely blind but I wanted to see how this (concept, framework, method) would assist in my role as a knowledge manager. I think I came out with so much more…
