Implementing Enterprise Architecture: From a Coherency Architect’s Point of View!

19 04 2010

Organizational Change

In most organization it has been the IT department and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) that has initiated the Enterprise Architecture program with an IT department’s focus. The IT department’s focus is often based on that the IT department wants to clarify how the organization operates (operation model) and makes use of the artifacts that it has collected through the initiating of the Enterprise Architecture program. This often leads to a business to IT alignment process where the

The Change of Focus

The IT focus can in many ways be a good approach to start with; however the IT approach only gives the organization limited possibilities with working with Enterprise Architecture since the rest of the executive team often aren’t responsible or even evaluated on how well the Enterprise Architecture program is performing. This means that they rarely will take the EA program into consideration or assist in making the EA program more successful for the organization. Therefore it can be necessary to force a change of focus.

Replacing the CIO

The necessary change might come through that the organization chooses to replace their current (and often technically minded) CIO with a new CIO that has been engaged with the business side of the organization. This often eases the communication with the executive team and not to mention the Chief Executive Officer. This will eventually bring another perspective to the Enterprise Architecture program. The EA program will go from being IT minded to be organizational minded. This will in time evolve and mature the architecture from being the foundation architecture to become the extended architecture (Doucet et al. 2009).

However then replacement of the CIO is not enough to create the new focus. The focus has to be implemented along side an organizational change program that has to focus on how achieve desired changes in order to gain a competitive advantage or advantages such as agility, assurance and alignment with the goals of the organization. Since there can be a lot of bad will (Bjorn – Andersen & Marcus 1987) towards the IT department within the organization then it is a necessity to alter the organization culture and that can often only be achieved through organizational change programs. To initiate the organizational change program then the EA board, the Coherency Architect and the Chief Architect should address the various stakeholders in the executive group where the primary focus should be to communicate the value (including strategic value) of Enterprise Architecture to them.

The Extended Architecture

The Extended Architecture is characterized by being the advanced step of Enterprise Architecture and by maturing the architecture then the organization will be able to achieve results through that through working with Enterprise Architecture in both an IT context and a business context will make the organization able to know more about its architecture (the way the organization is designed and works (operation model), When doing so then the organization will be able to commit to better governance and decision making.

The assurance through knowing the business processes and the technological platform ensures that the organization will have a chance of applying new business processes that will enable the organization to achieve a strategic advantage.

Forms of Architectures

Forms of Architectures.

Conclusion

The Coherency Architect and the EA board should communicate the value of Enterprise Architecture to the executive team. The Executive team should be working with identifying the need for change to achieve to mature the enterprise architecture from the foundation architecture to the extended architecture and communicate the ideas (and benefit of changing) to the executive team. Eventually if the CIO hasn’t been able to communicate and influence the executive team to buy in to the Enterprise Architecture program then the CIO should be replaced. The successor should be a person from the business side so the Enterprise Architecture program is able to change focus.

Sources

Markus, M.L. & Bjørn-Andersen, N., 1987. Power over users: its exercise by system professionals. Commun. ACM, 30(6), 498-504. Available at: http://portal.acm.org.esc-web.lib.cbs.dk/citation.cfm?id=214762.214764&coll=portal&dl=ACM&CFID=22716975&CFTOKEN=73079095 [Accessed February 20, 2010].

Doucet, G. et al., 2009. Coherency Management: Architecting the Enterprise for Alignment, Agility and Assurance, International Enterprise Architecture Institute.

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Categories : Architecture Maturity, Business Architecture, Enterprise Architecture, IT Alignment, IT Governance, IT Strategy, Organization, Strategic Management

Strategic Management: From the Coherency Architect’s Point of View!

6 04 2010

Enterprise Architecture in Combination with Strategic Management

According to the discipline of Enterprise Architecture and Coherency Management then all organizations have an Enterprise Architecture. If an organization hasn’t an Enterprise Architecture then it isn’t able to deliver any kind of products or services.

The question then is how the organization is able to understand and later adapt the concepts of Enterprise Architecture to achieve better results and gain competitive advantage.

It is essential for the organization to gain the competitive advantage to lea the market and to survive in the long run.

According to Doucet et al. (2009) then Strategic Management and the concept of Coherency Management is from a strategic stand point a combination of Enterprise Architecture and Strategic Management. The combination of the two concepts have to result in better “alignment”, “Assurance” and “Agility”.

Alignment

Alignment is dealing with how various elements of an organization can be configured so they offer the optimal potential so value can be generated for the organization. The concept of alignment can together with the concept assurance and the concept of accuracy deliver “synergy” to the enterprise. The concept of “synergy” will be dealt with later in this blog post.

Alignment can be achieved by applying a framework (EA Approach) to understand the Enterprise Architecture.

Assurance

Assurance is dealing with the issue of control and openness. The control element deals with knowledge of that the amount of resources are committed to execute the processes and the products and services that the enterprise produces

Agility

Deals with the ability to adapt to change in the organization’s domain. E.g., new competitors, new technology, new substituting products and services. That also have implications for the internal situation for the organization e.g., what sort of technology that should be applied .

Synergy

Synergy deals with creating an effect that enables the organization to perform better by using the same amounts of components that are configured in a different way. Mintzberg quotes Ansoff for saying “He referred to it as the ’2 + 2 = 5′ effect to denote the fact the firm seeks as a product – market posture with a combined performance that is greater than the sum of its parts”. (Mintzberg 2000, p. 45).

The overall idea is to use enterprise architecture to create the foundation for synergy. If the enterprise hasn’t an established EA program then it an idea to emphasize organizational change where Kotter’s Eight Phased approach can be applied.

The reason for this is that the members of the organization might be orthodox and therefore return to the original processes and work forms.

Conclusion

Synergy can be created and enhanced by using Enterprise Architecture. The more mature an enterprise architecture becomes the better the organization will be to cope with agility, alignment and assurance. To establish this organizational change management has to be applied to ensure that the change from the old ways of doing things to the new ones for this the Kotter’s approach to organizational change.

Sources

Doucet, G. et al., 2009. Coherency Management: Architecting the Enterprise for Alignment, Agility and Assurance, International Enterprise Architecture Institute.

Mintzberg, H., 2000. The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, Financial Times/ Prentice Hall.

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Categories : Corporate Strategy, IT Strategy, Strategic Management

Economic Perspectives of Enterprise Architecture: Four perspectives the Coherency Architect Should be Aware of!

26 03 2010

Perspectives and the Extended Enterprise

When the Coherency Architect has to convince his or her opponents on how Enterprise Architecture and Coherency Management can improve the organization’s strategic capabilities then it might turn out to be useful to use economic estimations and KPIs; however it can be useful to make use of perspectives. Jaap Schekerman presents four perspectives on how Enterprise Architecture can generate value for the organization. Each perspective brings prospects and consequences.

Never the less can the economic views be challenged and aren’t there other economic perspectives of EA than those that Jaap Schekkerman has identified and dealt with in his Book “The Economic Benefits of Enterprise Architecture”.

Business Efficiency

Deals with improving the business processes by adding technology (especially ICT and information systems). This means that the Coherency Architect has to focus on obliterating business processes and add Information Technology. Usually this leads to a desire for world class processes.

This approach isn’t focusing on cost reductions that means it is comparably more expensive that the technology efficiency perspective; however it brings more benefits. In this focus Enterprise Architecture is used to identify how IT and technology can enable the current processes (AS IS) and how future processes be designed (TO BE).

Business Innovation

This perspective deals with using Enterprise Architecture to identify areas of which the organization can create new products, services or possibilities for creating game changing products and services and that can give the organization a competitive advantage. This perspective is focusing on the future competitive advantage that the organization can crystalize a competitive advantage.

Technology Efficiency

Technology Efficiency is based on the on the ideas that the cost (TCO) of using technology. It rarely leads to benefits for the organization since their focus often is on how to save money (sink the costs) of using technology and the costs of its business process. This perspective is ‘cheapest’ perspective but it also contains the fewest future benefits for the organization. This approach is currently the most used perspective.

Technology Enabling

Technology enabling is a perspective that focusses on adding new technology to the business and the business processes. This should in the long run lower the costs the organization occurs by using technology. The main question in this perspective is how ICT can enable the business processes and make value out of the technology by using Enterprise Architecture as a tool for alignment of the corporate goals with information and communication technology. However this perspective is known for being costly and it brings few benefits.

The Enterprise Architecture Value Model

The Enterprise Architecture Value Model.

Conclusion

The four perspectives are useful to identify how an organization views its strategy, economy and not to mention how Enterprise Architecture can generate benefits for the organization. However the four perspectives can only be considered generic and they don’t make much room for customization for the organization to mix between the four different ways to handle it. It is notable that if the organization is a division organization then it is likely that the focus on technology and enterprise architecture might be different and shouldn’t therefore be put into one and the same “perspective”.

Last of all. It is important that the four perspectives are combined with the organization’s strategic management.


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Categories : Benefits of Enterprise Architecture, Economic Benefits, IT Alignment, IT Governance, IT Strategy

The Front Lines of EA: An Insight to Innovation, Strategy and Enterprise Architecture.

25 02 2010

Enterprise Architecture and Strategic Innovation

This blog post will deal with the view on Enterprise Architecture and Innovation that Chris Potts presented in his keynote at the the ITU the 24th of February 2010.

First of all did Chris Potts presents his strategic framework called the “fruITion” strategy that he builds on the tendency:

  1. The first generation strategy was focused on technology (this was the early beginning) which took place in the 70s, 80s and early 90s.

  2. The second generation strategy the managers changed the scope from the technology to IT efficiency since they wanted to control the cost of strategy. This happened in the mid-90s and the end – 90s. The organizations outsourced expensive technology and operations to companies that where better keep the cost down.

  3. The third generation is characterized by the managers are focusing on how to create value by using technology and incorporate the IT strategy into their corporate strategy.

  4. The fourth generation is dealing with investing in change and not focusing on technology since it is embedded in the organization. The Investment managers and the Enterprise Architecture will be dealing with the change and the adaption of the organization and technology.

When it comes to the third and fourth generation then the managers have to focus on applying theory and concept of Enterprise Architecture to investigate the current state of the Enterprise Architecture (“AS IS”) and how the Enterprise Architecture should be transformed (transformation plan) into fulfilling the strategy.

Chris Potts focuses on the promise of a strategy (e.g., We will be the largest ICT supplier in Great Britain within two years) and the Enterprise Architect (in our case the Coherency Architect) should put his or her attention on developing a transition plan that enables the employees and management of the organization to achieve the strategy.

The Need for an Enterprise Architecture Approach

Why a company needs to innovate its Enterprise Architecture and what Innovations should an Enterprise Architect recommend. It is notable that Chris Potts made use of a case titled “SpaNets”.

The case is “an enterprise of enterprises” (or a divisionalized form of organization according to Mintzberg’s organizational compass) and from that can these three general ideas be aggregated:

  1. The Global Economy has lead to a price lead competition and the EA analysis (“AS IS”) can assist the enterprise in innovating its processes.

  2. The enterprise can use the Enterprise Architecture to give them a proper view of the subsidiaries the the organization has acquired.

  3. The enterprise can use the Enterprise Architecture to document the processes to align them or to apply standardized business processes.

You can argue that an organization has a functional enterprise architecture by judging it on its ability to generate a surplus.

Chris Potts defines the concept of Enterprise Architecture as system where the animal spirit of the founders of the organization are combined with the structure of systems within the organization.

“Enterprise is defined on a bold or courage undertaking and the animal spirits of the entrepreneur. The architecture is the science of designing structures and a style of structure.” - Chris Potts, The IT University of Copenhagen, 2010.

Never the less the concept of the Enterprise Architecture is more than just dealing with the configuration of systems within systems or architectures within architectures. First of all is Enterprise Architecture about people.

“Enterprise Architecture is about people” – Chris Potts, IT University of Copenhagen, 2010.

This makes sense since the enterprise architecture consist of labour, land and capital (resources) combined with strategy and it matches the focus of knowledge management as Nonaka dealt with it in his knowledge spiral. Knowledge is acquired (in tacit form) form the individual who either socializes or externalizes it. When the knowledge is socialized or externalized then the organization (or the enterprise can apply it or crystallize it).

Nonaka's Framework

One imperative for the Coherency Architect is to create space for the employees of the organization so they can use their creative skills to create innovation. This focus can be supported by the theory that Gary Hamel proposes in his book titled “The New Age of Management” from 2007. Gary Hamel argues that the employees of the organization should be enabled to create their own projects within the framework of the organization and the organization should promote that the old management orthodoxies should be banished.

“When you are an enterprise architect it is all about people, space and purpose.” – Chris Potts, IT University of Copenhagen, 2010.

Processes Within an Enterprise Architecture

When the Coherency Architect is designing the “TO BE” Enterprise Architecture then he or she should focus on the customers since the dilemma often becomes if the enterprise owns (has a process) or the customer owns a process and who exist for who.

“Do has the company a process or is it the customer who has a process” – Chris Potts, IT University of Copenhagen, 2010.

When it comes to processes and architectures in the enterprise then Chris Potts states that most companies are aware of managing the Systems and Technologies architecture but they haven’t managed or designed the rest of the architectures.

“All but the technologies architecture are rarely defined or actively managed” – Chris Potts, IT University of Copenhagen, 2010.

However in most organizations the Coherency Architect will most certainly face a political situation when or if he or she goes to the CXOs and informs them that the organization’s Enterprise Architecture isn’t matched with the strategy and principles of the organization.

“It takes courage to go to the executive suite and tell the executives that we found out that the company is broken” – Chris Potts, IT University of Copenhagen, 2010.

The Coherency Architect should therefore focus on change management principles as well as using the corporate strategy as a key driver to convert the resistance among the CXOs to assistance in the transformation process (making them change agents).

The Enterprise Architecture and Strategic Issues

When it comes to EA approaches and methods then an Coherency Architect group might phase the issue of defining what artifacts that should be interpreted as what and how these should be organized; however in the end the Coherency Architects should focus on making something useful and that is where the strengths of knowledge management and innovation becomes useful.

“We had 15 people and we got 15 answers on what Enterprise Architecture was an should be. [...] We all see it as something different; however what matters is that we had to boil it down to something useful ” – Chris Potts.

However it is notable when the organization starts to mature its enterprise architecture then an EA program has to be imitated and the Coherency Architect needs to be hold accountable to achieve the strategy and by defining the principles of which the Enterprise Architecture strategy needs to be implemented by.

As mentioned in the blog post “The IT Strategy: An Articulation of the IT Strategy from a Coherency Architect’s Point of View.” then Chris Potts advices that the strategy needs to be embodied by the strategist (in our case the Coherency Architect) and the de facto strategy is not the one mentioned in the articulated strategy.

Conclusion

The conclusion of the keynote was that Enterprise Architecture can be used to identify problems within the Enterprise. In the same time can Enterprise Architecture applied to gain a competitive advantage for the enterprise.Thereto should Coherency Architect identify the constraints of the organization before initiating the Enterprise Architecture transformation program. Then identify how the value can be created by using the technology available if not to mention how create a combined strategy (EA strategy) for the enterprise that both focuses on keeping the animal spirit of the founders and enabling the employees of the organization to innovate. The enablement of employees to innovate is an imperative since Enterprise Architecture is about people.

The Coherency Architect has to show courage when it comes to inform the top management on misalignment in the Enterprise Architecture and in the same time be able to compromise with the rest of the Coherency Management Group in defining the proper solution for the enterprise.

When the Enterprise wants to benefit from its Enterprise Architecture then it has to initiate an EA program to mature the enterprise since only through the EA approach will the organization be able to activate the proper synergies among the various components that the organization consist of.

The Coherency Architect has to focus on the strategic promise he or she articulates (the promise is a single line that includes a statement for what the enterprise should be) and the de facto strategy the Coherency Architect implements. If there is a misalignment between the two then the strategy needs to be redefined and reimplemented. The Coherency Architect needs to challenge the orthodoxies of the enterprise and the industry of which the enterprise operates to release the true potential of Enterprise Architecture.

Chris Potts and Peter F.T. Sjoelin

Chris Potts (right) and Peter F.T. Sjoelin (left)

The Front Lines of EA (2): An insight in to Strategy and Innovation.


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Categories : IT Alignment, IT Strategy, Keynotes, Up in Time

The IT Strategy: An Articulation of the IT Strategy from a Coherency Architect’s Point of View.

22 02 2010

Articulation of the IT Strategy

The Coherency Architect needs to be able to deal with the IT strategy otherwise he or she will not be able to drive any value from the Enterprise Architecture. There are many approaches to how an IT strategy can be articulated and what the primary focus should be.

This blog post will deal with the approach Chris Potts have proposed in his book titled “FruITion”. Chriss Potts have proposed a bit controversial approach to IT strategy e.g., he focuses on other models and claim that when the organization manages its investments then the right portfolio of technology will be selected, likewise does he propose that the role of the CIO isn’t an imperative. In the novel Chris Potts suggest the title “CIIO” for Chief Internal Investment Officer.

The Coherency Architect can make use of the approach to challenge his or her own view on the strategy and thereby be able to produce better strategy.

It is notable that the book is organized around a novel that deals with a CIO that faces a situation where he can’t pin point what kind of value the IT department brings value to the organization.
Potts then write emphasize some observations that can be made on each of the chapters in the book.

The Strategy Articulation Process

This section is based on the definitions that Potts describes in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p. 13):

  1. Most robust strategies emphasize high value on its environmental feedback.

  2. Make sure the strategy is meaningful to the stakeholders of the strategy.

  3. Distinguish between the strategic level and the operational level thinking.

  4. Disinterest should never be understood as trust.

The following four statements are based on Potts’s “fruITion” (Potts 2008, p. 25):

  1. A document that contains the strategy is not the strategy.

  2. The language used to articulate a strategy shows the mindset of which the person who articulated made use of (or has).

  3. If the host organization (enterprise) has an IT strategy then it is necessary to include all of the Information Technology the organization (enterprise) makes use of.

  4. It is an imperative that the IT strategy has to summarized in one meaningful sentence; otherwise the strategy needs to be reworked.

  5. If the organization (enterprise) has an IT roadmap then it is imperative that the driver of the roadmap isn’t the suppliers but the tactical goals and strategies of the organization.

  6. If the CIO runs the IT department as an external business (weak links to the enterprise) then the enterprise will threat the IT department as such.

The following four statements are based on Potts’s “fruITion” (Potts 2008, p. 54):

  1. Shape the strategy by exploring why the company isn’t already fulfilling its promise.

  2. The CIO should validate who the promise is “talking about”.

  3. Build the strategy on a model that emphasize the customer and supplier perspective and never the “Business and IT” perspective. The over all reason for this is that the organization and IT department is one and the same.

The following four statements are based on Potts’s “fruITion” (Potts 2008, p. 204):

  1. If the organization manages its investments well then it is likely that the most appropriate technology will be selected.

  2. The organization should assign an executive accountability for maximizing the total value the company creates by its internal investments in change.

This leads to the Alignment phase.

The Alignment Phase

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p.34):

  1. Never under estimate the pace (of change) of the Corporate Strategy.

  2. The strategy has to be compatible that stakeholders change their minds.

  3. Build the IT strategy on a promise and not on aims.

  4. If the IT strategy is organized around solving a particular problem, then it is a necessity that the IT strategy solves the problem.

  5. Are the persons who develops and articulates the strategy (strategists) game players?

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p. 44):

  1. If the business side of the organization perceives the IT department as an external supplier then it is likely that the IT department and the CIO can’t influence the corporate strategy.

  2. Different kinds of strategies needs different kinds of strategists.

  3. The CIO should know his relative strengths and weaknesses when it comes to analysis and synthesis. In a strategy it is the synthesis part that is the most important thing to handle.

  4. If the IT department or organization (enterprise) have issues with identifying what value the IT brings to the organization then it is likely that the organization (enterprise) experience wider business related problems.

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p. 61):

  1. A corporate strategy that is focused on exploiting IT is focused on value, money and organization. The corporate strategy is not focusing on technology.

  2. The directors of a company is an independent community that adds value to the company.

  3. Value is defined as a portfolio of measures and types.

  4. The “business side” of an organization will in many cases assume the money the enterprise is spending on IT is a random number.

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p.124):

  1. Each stakeholder in a strategy has something distinctive to offer.

  2. Language and communications are critical to a strategies success.

  3. The concept of theoretical, practical and abstraction depends on the audience. The strategy should be articulated and aligned to the audience.

  4. People in organizations develops the projects rather fine but they tend not to make the most out of the projects when the projects have been implemented.

This leads to the value adding phase.

The Value Adding Phase

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p. 70):

  1. Many relationships are based on perceptions and high profile characteristics.

  2. The business side of the organization expects service and therefore should service levels between the IT department as a supplier and the customers be negotiated and incorporated into the strategy.

  3. The corporate strategy is about numbers. The focus of the IT strategy should be the same.

  4. Often there is a gap between those in the enterprise who adds value and those who spends the value. Is that also the case for the IT strategy?

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p. 159):

  1. The CIO (or the Coherency Architect) should make use of color coding to distinguish the business investments from the IT investments.

  2. The CIO (or the Coherency Architect) should prove that looking and managing the IT investment as something apart from the business investment isn’t sufficient.

  3. The CIO (or the Coherency Architect) should show that the strategic projects aren’t necessary those projects that aggregate the highest ROI.

  4. Explorer the cause and effect with of IT investments and business investements.

This leads to the change management phase.

The Change Management Phase

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p.72):

  1. When changes occur (as it will with the implementation of a new strategy) then the change process will also impact the employees (and managers) personal life.

  2. Numbers is a dispassionate way to analyze the strategic landscape with. It should include what the CIO and the enterprise knows and doesn’t know.

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p.81):

  1. The IT strategy has to be articulated in an iterative approach.

  2. Look at the numbers in the budget and evaluate if they speak for themselves.

  3. The CIO (or the Coherency Architect) has to explore how the company budgets , manages, and measures business change that comes through IT related projects.

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p.175):

  1. The CIO (or Coherency Architect) has to cause other people to change.

  2. The CIO should know what he would die in the ditch for.

  3. The business side of the organization often experience the IT side of the organization as being “promising a lot and never keeps the promises and it doesn’t care about the business side”.

  4. 100% alignment among strategies can be dangerous and it occurs rarely that the strategies are 100% aligned.

  5. The future role of the CIO is not assured.

  6. The CIO or Coherency Architect has to understand that there are competencies else where in the enterprise that is in duplication of the those competencies that are in the IT department.

  7. The new strategy for IT demands a new operation model.

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p.180):

  1. Strategists deal only in success and so should the CIO and the Coherency Architect.

  2. It can be hard for the CIO and the Coherency Architect to challenge the orthodoxies of the organization.

  3. If the CIO will not cross the bridge then let someone else take care of the investments.

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p.182):

  1. Leading strategy can be a lonely job.

  2. The over all focus of a strategy is about winning. If the CIO or the Coherency Architect is not committed 100% to achieving the strategy then it is not really a strategy.

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p.191):

  1. Set down your Promise, Principles and Tactics for the key stakeholders to explore and ratify.

  2. The stakeholders wants to see the combination of ideas in relation to the organizational system.

  3. The strategy can look like the obvious but it is important that the CIO or Coherency Architect emphasize that the strategy isn’t applied.

  4. The CIO or Coherency Architect should test the best practice of the industry.

  5. The strategy is what the CIO or Coherency Architect does (de facto strategy).

This leads to the implementation phase.

The Implementation Phase

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p.96):

  1. Use the “Promise, Principles and Tactics” framework while the strategy is in the articulation process and when it is about to become executed.

  2. The “Promise and Principles are the stabile core of the strategy. Tactics are more fluent or adaptable when it comes to events.

  3. Address each of the stakeholders individually (preferable personally) before the stakeholders are addressed as a group.

  4. Lead the execution of a strategy don’t manage it.

  5. When it comes to the investigation of IT investments then start with identifying value and then work backwards. When using a spreadsheet then the focus should be on columns and not on rows. This should help create the overview that is needed (according to Potts).

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p.103):

  1. The strategist (CIO) is the embodiment of the strategy.

  2. Organize the collaboration around one set of numbers and strategic themes; however each person who works with the strategy should be given the opportunity to have an influence on that part of the strategy that they work with.

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p.115):

  1. A relationship is owned by two people.

  2. Experimenting with the numbers (in the budget) can uncover a new understanding of the problem.

  3. The CIO (or Coherency Architect) should make use of a bottom up value portfolio.

  4. The CIO (or the Coherency Architect) should evaluate the investment strategy to sparkle a discussion on what priorities the organization (enterprise) has.

  5. The Coherency Architect should be focusing on the exposing the scenarios for what will happen if the investment strategy is changed.

This section is based on the definitions that Potts deals with in his work “FruITion” (Potts 2008, p.134):

  1. Strategy is essential about options and opportunities and it is not about being right.

  2. Take the lessons for what didn’t work as expected.

  3. The relationships that people builds are influenced of previous events and relationships.

  4. Look for the subtleties in the responses of the stakeholders.

Types of Managers

Potts presents the model (illustration 1) that serves as a compass for characterizing managers within the organization. Note it is a compass and most managers aren’t purely technical, purely operational, purely environmental or for that matter purely organizational.

Pott's View on Managers

Potts's View on Managers.

The operational manager focuses on execution and internal processes.

The environmental manager focuses on how the strategy’s external context.

The technical manager focuses on specifications, technologies and products/services etc.

The organizational manager focuses on organization models, cultures, structure, internal politics and sourcing.

That leads to the conclusion.

Conclusion

The Coherency Architect should be aware of that there are various ways to develop and articulate an IT strategy. Potts approach is rather clear and can in many ways be considered as a practical approach to articulate an IT strategy. Potts approach can be considered an alternative approach to IT strategy and it can be used to challenge the “industry orthodoxies” which in itself can create a competitive advantage.

The Coherency Architect has to understand how an IT strategy is and how the artifact can be produced if it doesn’t exist in an enterprise already and that makes the concept of the IUT strategy rather important to understand and challenge.

Sources

Potts, C., 2008. fruITion: Creating the Ultimate Corporate Strategy for Information Technology illustrated edition., Technics Publications, LLC.

Download the paper her (articulation_of_the_IT_strateg.).


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