Real Talk with Sam Holcman

It is that time of the year, where we make ten or so observations and/or predictions on where various technologies, Enterprise Architecture, Business Architecture, Software Development Practices, and the like are heading in the next twelve to thirty-six months. We look at these areas based on client-based practices, experimentation, and some early practiced-based approaches. We cover these areas' “on the ground” perspective. We are fortunate that some clients view our expertise beyond Enterprise Architecture, Business Architecture, and Soft Skills practices and view us as “trusted advisors.” These predictions are based on these sources but do not divulge any proprietary practices or client-specific internal competitive advantage activities that our organization has been contracted to perform or assist in. In this episode of Real Annual Predictions, we will cover the following: (1) Getting Off the Hype Cycle, and the like (2) Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) software (3) Software Development Maturity (4) Technology Hardware and Future Investment Thoughts (5) Rent / Lease / Buy Analysis and the Cloud (6) Strategic Sourcing (7) The Professions of Business Architecture and Enterprise Architecture (8) Architecture Stratification (9) Software Quality and Ramifications of Today's Situations (10) The Role of the Chief Information Officer Please tune in to one of the most anticipated broadcasts we conduct each year

With the increased emphasis on Business Architecture in Business and Enterprises worldwide, organizations are finding that requires a “gauge” on how they are progressing with this endeavor. As the phrase goes “you cannot manage what you cannot measure”, and therefore the need exists for understanding how organizations are progressing in maturing their practice of Business Architecture. What organizations have now recognized, is that measuring the development or execution of a Business Architecture approach is a good start, but only a partial understanding. The effectiveness of a Business Architecture approach is not the end measure for the stakeholders in the business. The effectiveness of a Business Architecture approach is how effectively the developed Business Capabilities support the business or mission goals. Maturity Models provide guidance for Business Capabilities maturing, growth, and practice improvements in an organization, based on industry standards, academic rigor, theoretical soundness, and decades of practice and observation of Business Capabilities effectiveness in organizations. As organizations Business Architecture activities mature, it is critical that organizations provide guidance and definitions necessary for the successful integration of information and services across the Business, by developing Goal-enabling Business Capabilities. These and other characteristics of successful Business Architecture activities are crucial for success, and the Business Capabilities Maturity Model TM provides guidance on Business Capabilities, use, maturity, and growth. Samuel Holcman, your Webinar Leader, the President of the Business Architecture Center Of Excellence (BACOE), and the Enterprise Architecture Center Of Excellence (EACOE), has spent decades educating, researching, practicing, and enabling Business Architectures, and Business Capabilities with organizations worldwide. This direct experience provides the foundation for the development of the Business Capabilities Maturity Model, based on real-world experiences, and a suggested move ahead plan to gauge Business Capabilities development and maturity in your Organization. This Webinar will focus on: • A foundational review of Business Capabilities • A review of Business Capabilities deliverables to measure Maturity • Understanding the need for Frameworks, as the basis of Business Architecture and Business Capabilities Maturity • Understanding the need for a Methodology, as the basis of Business Architecture and Business Capabilities effectiveness and maturity • An implementable practice-based Business Capability Maturity Model (BCMM TM) • An approach to enable the Business Capabilities Maturity Model in your Organization • A move ahead plan.

Empirical evidence has indicated that who does Enterprise or Business Architecture has as almost as much importance as the framework or methodology followed. In the “physical” world, a clear distinction and separation of responsibilities have been understood and in place for decades. Yet, in Business and Enterprises today, this understanding is rare. It is an inhibitor to Enterprise or Business understanding of how Enterprise or Business Architecture can actually benefit the organization, with or without technology implementation considerations. This webinar will explore what progressive, agile Enterprises and Businesses are doing to leverage real Enterprise or Business practices from this understanding and what organizations can do today to benefit from this tried and true separation of responsibilities, duties, and skills.

True Enterprise and Business Architecture – the baseline for addressing, leading, and managing change. True Enterprise and Business Architecture – the enabler of business and mission strategy. Let us take a brief time out and look at Strategy – what it is, the hyper-competition and hyper-speed changes that organizations are facing, and its relationship to Business and Enterprise Architecture. We bring you this webinar, partially as a reminder, as to what the endgame of Business and Enterprise Architecture is – helping the business run better. Let us step away from the bombardment we as business and enterprise architects get from all of the online sources we look at that try to convince us that the newest model, diagram, tool, or “silver-bullet” is what we need. We need to focus on the endgame – the business of the business. Join us – whatever your business or enterprise discipline is, and see how all of this fits together. We hope this webinar will bring a calming effect to all, that are now suffering from the too-common disease – internalities!

A few out-of-context examples. Congress is measured on the number of laws that are passed - really!! That is a measure of success – really?? Not what I would measure. Advisory firms and tool vendors (sorry!) are measured on how many additional "features" or "new approaches" can be added - needed or not. New Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture representations are added, without asking - if we need this now, what was missing?? What should we take away if we have this now? Let us remember the end objective – enabling business and mission strategies. How do we get there as efficiently and effectively as possible? And of course, with human beings' ability – stakeholders – to see the end game and understand how to get there. That is real Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture. This webinar will explore both the human side and technology side of what stakeholders need to understand their business and mission objectives, which are in a format that is both human consumable and implementable. Focus on the end game – not how many different types of diagrams can be created.

Have you recently passed your Business Architecture exam? Perhaps you have had your Business Architecture certification for some time now? Are you now wondering, well, what's next? This is where the Business Architecture Center Of Excellence, BACOE, can assist. Our practitioner-focused workshop understands that you have of Business Architecture to the next step of actually developing a Business Architecture. What do we mean by this? BACOE provides a fully integrated environment – integrated tools, methodology, project plans, examples, and templates so that you can actually produce a Business Architecture. The Workshop that we offer is geared to providing you with what you need to develop a Business Architecture. We are a field-practitioner firm that also does education and will provide you with a step-by-step guided approach to take what you know now about Business Architecture and go to the next step of actually delivering a Business Architecture that is "human consumable." We emphasize the word Workshop, and the reason for this is, you are actually practicing, demonstrating, and getting experience in actually doing Business Architecture in the Workshop. We prepare you to do Business Architecture – not just provide you with general knowledge of architecture or prepare you to take an exam. This webinar will outline the 26 components that we provide to remove as much of the burden of developing a Business Architecture as possible. We provide the tools, recipe, and all of the ingredients! All fully integrated into one very usable package

Reality has set in.  Near term and long-term enterprise and information technology priorities are being “reshuffled”.  Naturally, sort term “keep the lights on” projects are high on the list.What is the baseline for these decisions, and what effect do these short-term decisions have on long term growth and sustainment?  Is there a method that can be applied to a bit of the madness that is being witnessed?  The answer is yes!We will outline an approach to a one-week examination of current project priorities, which will be revised “continually” – explicit representations that both business and technology executives and managers can view and review.  Of course, this approach cannot continue for very long – plug a hole in the dyke, as they say.This approach will be the foundation for a six-week cycle of project reviews.  Difficult times require quick thinking – yes, and keep an eye on the future! 

Business Capabilities, Business Capability Models, Business Capability Heat Maps, Capability Flows, Capability Footprints, System Capabilities, and I can of course list many other “capability” oriented phrases and ideas.  The fundamental question we will address in this Webinar is, what is a “Capability”, and is it a result of a solid Business Architecture Framework and Methodology, or is it more of a “declarative” used for some business or technology purpose.I believe you know that are answer is the former – it is actually an “output” – a result – of a Business Architecture.  The primary result of a Business Architecture are business-aligned capabilities, developed through the Business Architecture, that will enable Business Strategy.  And of course, we will have two states – the required Capabilities needed to enable that Business Strategy, and the “as is” Capabilities, the business now has as its current assets.This webinar will begin with a comprehensive definition of a Business Capability and its components, an example of analyzing an organizations Business Capability Ability, and what organizations need to do to develop Business Capabilities, though solid analysis techniques.

Cyber threats are possible actions or actions that intend to cause some degree of harm, using digital weapons and digital ammunition. It is much more than information security. More broadly speaking, cyber threats have the potential of disrupting our lives as we know them today.

Enterprise Architects are becoming Cloud Architects in many instances, or at least are finding the need to apprise themselves of whole new ways of strategically managing data. And as hybrid cloud becomes the norm, most companies realize they need to pay keen attention to their information architectures. How can your company stay on top?

Our EACOE Enterprise Architecture practice has looked at security as part of Enterprise Architecture, not as a separate activity. Simply, the objective is ensuring only authorized access to a process or a data component. Starting with this objective – not after the fact – is key. In the physical world, look at the game-changer brought about by the Ring doorbell – warn me before someone enters the house, rather than telling me someone is in the house.If you are guided by FEA, or TOGAF ®, or UAF, we hope that this additional Enterprise Architecture insight will provide the outline you need for a robust view of security, and security architecture.  Security is a business strategy first - not only an implementation technology concern. Security is an after the fact approach in most organizations unfortunately, rather than an architected approach, we suggest.Tune in to hear how to address this growing concern in organizations, well before it is actually needed.  Locks, passwords, etc, only keep honest people honest.

Who are they? Who makes a good enterprise architect partner?  Who makes a good enterprise architect practitioner?

Who are they? Who makes a good business architect partner? Who makes a good business architect practitioner?We discuss this and more in our podcast.

What it confirmation bias is and why you need to know about it.

The Coronavirus pandemic is the latest in a long list of disruptors to established business models. Whether it is competitors, technology, natural disasters, foreign or domestic threats, a disruption, or the next occurrence of an unknown, businesses are recognizing that change is the new normal.This emerging reality does not begin with a new technology. Technology enables a series of business & mission aligned initiatives to move the organization to its next state.

Our guest, Ken Metviner, very interesting & fresh perspective on the what the future holds as we move out of the most current crisis we are in. This won't be the last crisis, & perhaps we should look at consumer behavior with a bit more logic than just believe it is a “random walk”.Ken outlines a perspective that is unique & logical - one half the economy can be characterized as stable and one half the economy characterized as variable – each requiring move-ahead approaches in their own way.

Clark Keller, of Data Driven Marketing, provides insights into marketing in the digital age.Technology has changed the way companies deliver their marketing message but hasn't changed basic marketing principles.Customer data is the most valuable asset a company has. Customers use reviews as a way of deciding which company to do business with. Data & customer information allow companies to hyper-target their marketing message. Of course, underlying all of this is a concern with privacy.

In this unique view of distance learning, we speak to 3 college students, from 3 universities, on their personal experiences with distance learning. School closures led institutions to move instruction to online. Proper planning has given way to crisis management & implementation.Questions include, education topics, food, housing, money, learning access, feedback, social interactions, & the “new” academic life. We will gain insights “from the trenches” on what works, & what needs improvement.

If you're tuning in in the April 2020 timeframe, we are in a bit of a turmoil situation.Pressures are coming from a number of directions, & focus is easily lost and replaced by motions & actions that substitute for planned actions and strategies. Focus, consistency, coordinated actions, & efficiencies are more important “in the now”, yet we need explicit representations we can view & act on.Yes, unfortunately, a short-term focus is a necessity at this hour- how to succeed in the here & now.

The cloud is discussed as the potential for better technology & business agility, but moving computing resources has two sides.IT leaders are learning that running applications in the cloud costs more than doing so on-premises, & adds complexity & security concerns not fully appreciated in the “rush” to the cloud, leading them to rethink strategies, & bring applications back in house.We outline our EACOE Enterprise Architecture analysis approach on rationalizing cloud/in-house strategies.

A new reality has been set- the global movement of people & goods provides a new set of opportunities and challenges, which cannot be predicted, but should be anticipated. Today's crisis is the disease, COVID-19 & the virus, SARS-CoV-2. The next could be another virus, or massive internet outage, or a terrorist attack.But, the reaction of most organizations is reactive & crisis driven. We must look at approaches for developing resilient organizations to anticipate the next disruptive event.

Triggering my thoughts in developing this episode was YAF. What is YAF? YAF is Yet Another Framework! This is a consortium of academics, industry, & government people published YAF on enterprise architecture.My thoughts quickly moved to thinking about complexity and those that revel in it. Is there such a thing as “complexity bias”? Is it, for some, a measure of progress?In this episode, we will explore complexity and complex. They are different!

We have all turned, to some degree, to a short-term focus in both our personal & business lives. We must deal with reality.How do you address both short & long term issues & opportunities? In the short term, identify areas for optimization, while understanding the effects in future operations.We outline a two-week Enterprise Architecture Immersion approach that identifies short-term prioritized opportunities for cost optimization, & sets the stage for the eventual return to normalcy.

We look at this Pandemic through the eyes of Enterprise & Business Architecture. A robust architecture methodology is a tool we can use to analyze things that are complex, and we are seeing significant complexity in this situation!We apply out-of-the-medical-box thinking to this crisis situation. Let us take a brief time-out from the media driven hype & hysteria-focused analysis & see if we can provide another frame of reference for those professionals working to help us through the crisis.

What is an Enterprise Architecture (EA) Health Assessment? The “health” assessment of your Enterprise Architecture will provide you an informed, independent perspective of your strategic EA asset’s viability as a foundational resource.Your Enterprise Architecture is a strategic asset, and must offer strategic value in several aspects. Assess your existing information to determine how well your EA is positioned to provide these values. A thorough, fair & objective assessment will get you there.

Make to Order, Provide from Stock, Assemble to Order. The three maturity levels that are understood & tried & true in the manufacturing community. In the IT community, most organizations reside in level one, & are attempting to “speed things up” – all within maturity level one.Underlying maturity three, requires two concepts & underlying technologies. Change, displacement, new learnings, & reward systems are all part of the equation, which makes people uncomfortable – & resistant to change.

In the age of digital transformation, big data, cloud computing, one fundamental fact remains. What we in organizations are doing is processing data. Technology departments have many names nowadays. But fundamentally, they process data.We outline our approach to understanding processes – Process Mining that leads to a Business Process Warehouse. We review benefits & challenges, & outline field-proven approaches to obtaining benefits. We will also outline the methodology used to guide efforts.

Luke is the President/CEO at Retail Band, where he aims to help businesses sell appliances through online channels and allow their market to grow and expand. He has extensive product development and entrepreneurial experience.Luke and his team are especially adept at creating product launch strategies at a wide variety of ecommerce sites.We will get an understanding of Luke’s approaches to managing organizational change in his digital businesses.

The movement of applications to the cloud are well underway. With this movement, of course, comes observations both pro & con.We will cover the good stuff & gotchas - some obvious & some hidden. The upsides of the cloud are pretty well discussed, documented, debated, and advertised. The gotchas, not so much!We will provide you with a framework to think about both sides of the equation, to allow you to possibly make more informed decisions.

Our EACOE Enterprise Architecture practice looked at security as part of Enterprise Architecture, not as a separate activity.Starting with this objective is key. In the physical world, look at the Ring doorbell – warn me before someone enters the house, rather than telling me someone is in the house. This comes from REAL Enterprise Architecture. Security is a Business Strategy first - not only an implementation technology concern.

Have you looked at your “smart phone” and its “agility” – your ability to change what you see with a simple press on the screen, and compared it to your internal technology systems or those that you provide to your customers?This is a manufacturing concept called Mass Customization.We must realize in information technology solutions, that no matter how quickly we write software, it is handcrafting. We will never be able to meet individual requirements.

You want a roadmap to clearly define what needs to be done to enable your Mission Strategy.No one wants a series of endless “sprints” not knowing where the goal line is. You want to know what your end state objective is, how to get there, & how to identify capabilities. No one really wants a set of intellectually entertaining models but to analyze potential mergers or acquisitions of a competitor & determine the degree of “fit”.That is a Business Outcome Driven Enterprise Architecture.

Major analyst & advisory firms recognize two distinct focus areas in Enterprise Architecture – (1) focus on technology enablement, & (2) focus on facilitating and creating deliverables that guide and inform business decision making – enabling Business Strategy.We outline what is required & the skill-sets required to bring Business Outcome Driven Enterprise Architecture to your organization. Join the movement to Business Outcome Driven Enterprise Architecture.

Being data driven, achieving digital transformation, developing effective marketing campaigns, making valid business decisions, & ensuring regulatory compliance, are just a few things businesses do, requiring good quality data.Studies show the low self-reported beliefs on how good the data actually is. Millions of dollars are spent each year on technologies to “clean up” the data organizations are using. It's time to step back & realize that data issue doesn't require technological magic.

What is Enterprise Architecture (EA)? How long has EA been around? How do you cost justify EA? Where should EA reside in the organization? Who is the audience for EA? When do I need to do EA? Why should an organization do EA? What is an EA Framework? What is an EA Methodology? What does EA certification actually mean? What is the background required for a great Enterprise Architect? How do I start?To remove some confusion, some are calling REAL EA, Business Driven Enterprise Architecture.

Most agree that software are a fundamental requirement in today's digital focus & transformations.What do we really have to understand about software? What should business expectations be about engaging in developing software? Do we need to describe their needs, that are 'transformed' into their described requirements?We describe 10 things that demystify software development, the business' role in the software development lifecycle, & how to build a true business-technology relationship.

We examine what search engines actually are, & possibilities of what will come next in the future of search. We draw on history for some ideas.Are the issues we are seeing because of bias, privacy, censorship, or speed or accuracy? Or, is the real the issue money? The short answer is – all of these & more. Let's think about a library & library science. What makes libraries work? Three things: The Dewey Decimal System, the consistent state of facts in the library, and finally the librarian.

Artificial Intelligence was first coined by John McCarthy in 1956.We define what artificial intelligence is, then summarize both positive & negative developments in this field. We suggest there is madness that needs to be addressed, and with not much difficulty.We have decades of learning about artificial intelligence. But can machines really learn, & who & what are they learning from?We can't forget the phrase “garbage in, garbage out”? Can we move to “good stuff in, better stuff out”? Yes!

Technical debt is a shortcut taken by technologists, & business personnel, to get the solution out the door. It's also used to justify different challenges faced.All facets – the business, associated technologists & solution developers, as well as human resources in & out of the enterprise are affected.We explore the phrase itself, & underlying meaning well beyond taking shortcuts in writing & implementing software & computer applications. Technical debt is less visible & often easy to ignore.

All businesses have an Architecture – the question is, if explicit or implicit.Various groups approach the concept & practice of Business & Enterprise Architecture from differing value points. We emphasize a documented, human consumable, prioritized, architecture which is evergreen, ever-robust, & evolves.Business & technology advantages arise, as solutions through these methodologies & approaches are developed & deployed. We outline additional advantages of Solutions driven by Architecture.

A driving need for Enterprise & Business Architecture is to enable IT teams to quickly, accurately & iteratively deploy prioritized, stable & operationally excellent business solutions.Groups approach the concept & practice of these from differing value points. We emphasize a documented, human consumable, prioritized, architecture which is evergreen, ever-robust, & evolves.Business & technology advantages arise, as solutions through these methodologies & approaches are developed & deployed.

The Business Technology Collaborator/Partner (BTP) understands business needs, possibilities of technology to address needs, & presents a business case that's suitable & understandable to the stakeholders, & transformable by technology specialists.A BTP is different from business analysis, technologists, or business/enterprise architects. They can rationally balance short & long term business & technology needs & goals. They can balance between human communications & technology awareness.

Most organizations have had a mix of purchased, leased, or rented technologies, software, and human services. Yet we have seen little practiced or written about how to determine what this balance is, what it should be, and how to monitor the changing dynamics in today’s digital transformational world.Traditionally, cost reduction is a primary measure for sourcing decisions. A secondary focus is access to “scarce” skills and resources. Yet even these measures seem to lack an approach to validation and verification that the actions taken produced the desired results, and continue, in this dynamic pace of change, to provide these desired results.We will bring some method to right-source without madness! We will use the EACOE Enterprise Architecture Methodology to outline a logical process to bring clarity and logic to these crucial decisions. The focus of any of these decisions should be to enable the Business or Mission Strategy, in the most cost effective, and prudent manner.

In this age of digital transformation, big data, cloud computing, & numerous other actions you may be undertaking or thinking about in your organization, one fundamental fact remains. What we in organizations do is processing data.We outline our approach to Process Visualization. We review the benefits & challenges surrounding process understanding, & outline field-proven approaches to obtaining these benefits. We also outline the methodology we use in practice, to guide these efforts.

Application Portfolio Rationalization & Optimization is an approach to maximizing the value of current application assets, & laying a firm foundation for future growth. Organizations are moving to the cloud, or other off-premises environments, wouldn’t it make sense to rationalize & optimize your portfolio before the move? Let’s clean out the basement first, so to speak!We outline the eight phase process we use to guide these efforts. The savings from this effort are real & straightforward.

Model mania develops model after model, based on some identified general body of knowledge, rather than doing REAL Business Architecture – the identification, & development of Business Capabilities that enable business strategies and missions.We define the methodology for developing a REAL Business Architecture (BA) – one that is “human consumable”. Identify the Business Capabilities you need to move your organization to its desired state, through analysis rather than declarations!

Business Architecture is explicitly representing an organizations desired state and as is state, through a set of independent non redundant artifacts, defining how these artifacts relate with each other, developing a set of prioritized and aligned Capabilities needed to meet the organizational Mission or Goals.REAL Business Architecture is the enabler of Business Capabilities. Business Capabilities are the true result of REAL Business Architecture driving business to its desired state.

IoT Platform, Deep Neutral Networks, Digital Twin, Biochips, Brain-Computer Interface, Quantum Computing, & 5G. Global, downsize, marketplace, 110 per cent committed. We have enough to digest in the near-term, and there’s nothing candidly in our sightline suggesting we’re involved in engaging anything we’re going to acquire.We bring understanding to the more common ill defined, or not defined consistently, terms you may read about or deal with, in your day to day activities.

Public reports states 84% of Digital Transformation projects are failing to deliver their expected benefits. Organizations realize that looking for the “silver bullet”, technological magic, or magic pill, that will magically and mystically transform the organization to a 2020’s enterprise by “Monday morning” is not going to happen. From this horrifying failure statistic, are there some lessons than can be learned? The short answer is yes!

Most information technology personnel look at & “do” information technology modeling & implementation, rather than REAL Enterprise Architecture – the enabler of enterprise and business strategy and missions.We define a four phase methodology of developing a REAL Enterprise Architecture – one that his “human consumable”. This methodology has been practiced, taught, & implemented in organizations large & small. Get the essence of developing REAL Enterprise Architecture in this episode.

A great thing about the internet, is anyone can write anything about anything. One of the problems with the internet IS, anyone can write anything about anything! For Enterprise Architecture (EA), the Google popularity list tool also thought of by some as a search engine, shows 811,000,000 search entries for EA. Not very useful.We bring method to this madness. REAL EA is the enabler of Business Strategy. Building computer systems – Enterprise Information Technology Architecture – is different!