Describes how to define the roles and competencies needed to be an effective enterprise architect inside an organisaiotn and how to position teams in that organisation. Delivered at the enterprise architecture conference (EAC) run by IIR in Las Vegas in 2007.
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Making the Most of your Architects
1. Making the Most of Your Architects
Making the Most of Your Architects
EAC Las Vegas October 2007
Sally Bean
Independent Consultant
Weybridge, UK
sally@sallybean.com
@ Sally Bean 2007
1
2. The ‘Brilliant’ Book Series:
When will we see a book on Brilliant
EA?
2
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3. The path to EA maturity is a long and
tough journey
Extending the
Domain
May iterate or go
backwards,
especially if key
players disappear
or an inappropriate
approach is chosen
Implementing
Experimenting
Confused
Aware/
Interested
Achieving
Value
• Sustainable set of EA processes
• Positive outcomes being achieved
• Knowledge base being maintained
• EA core team and community established
• EA content is structured and managed
• Relevance to other activities understood.
• Stakeholders fully engaged
• Pilot to establish potential value
• Skilled and experienced advisors available
• Learning orientation
• Different people have different perceptions of what EA is
• Lack of conviction and purpose
• EA is competing for attention with other new ideas
• A few individuals and champions trying to generate interest
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4. There are many facets to an Enterprise
Architecture effort
Purpose
Process
Products
People
Plans
Places
Practice
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5. This talk is primarily
about People and Practice
Purpose
Process
Products
People
Plans
Places
Practice
5
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6. My experience
• 25 years at British Airways
–
–
–
–
10 years spent doing various forms of EA
Championed cross-departmental collaborative projects
Worked on major programmes (e.g. new Heathrow terminal)
Organised Architects’ community
• 4 years as an EA consultant
– EA frameworks for public sector clients (Zachman, MODAF)
– EA team/skills development for 2 commercial clients
– European EAC Conference Program Coordinator
• Diploma in Systems Thinking (Open University)
– Changed my perception of EA
– Gained a useful toolkit
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7. What I have learnt about EA
• Every organization I have come across has a
completely different approach to EA
• EA is not a linear sequential process but a collection
of loosely coupled activities
• There is no recipe for successful EA - it must be
tailored to the context and maturity of the
organization
• Significant EA value can be realised through
improving interactions between people
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8. Content of this talk
• Vignette: What can we learn
from the story of Walton
Bridge?
• Case Study: Defining
Individual Architect Roles
and Competencies
• Creating Effective
Architecture Teams
• Conclusions
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9. What does the story of Walton Bridge
What does the story of Walton Bridge
tell us about Enterprise Architecture?
tell us about Enterprise Architecture?
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10. Walton Bridge has been in need of
replacement since 1953
1750 – 1st Walton Bridge built
Painted by Canaletto - ‘The most
beautiful bridge in the world’
Unfortunately it decayed and only
lasted until 1783
* River Thames, West London
1953 4th (temporary) bridge built.
Weight restrictions successively
decreased.
1999 this bridge declared unsafe for
motor vehicles
Temporary 5th Bridge designed to last
10 years, built alongside 4th bridge
now used by pedestrians.
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Severe
@ Sally Bean 2007 congestion at road junction
11. 5 Options were considered for a
bridge with a life of 100 years
How mature, on a
scale of 1-5, would
you describe the
architectural
discipline of
bridge-building?
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12. Bridge Option 2 –Tied Arch was
selected
Stakeholders
•
•
•
•
•
•
Factors considered:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Road Traffic Congestion
Pedestrians and Cyclists
Opening up the River
River Navigation
Protecting the environment
Road Safety
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•
•
•
•
Surrey County Council (SCC)
Elmbridge Borough Council
Spelthorne Borough Council
Government Office for the South
East
Local residents
Local businesses and
organisations
Road Haulage firms
Pedestrians and Cyclists
Archaeologists
Etc….
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13. There’s more to the project than just
the bridge
Proposal
incorporated
Clover- leaf
junction
to reduce
congestion.
As this is ‘Green
Belt’ Land,
special
Permission was
required from
Regional
government
Current Picnic area
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14. Bridge Governance
The bridge connects the
Boroughs of
Elmbridge and
Spelthorne (both in
Surrey)
Surrey County Council is
responsible for designing
and building a new bridge
Orders to enable access
roads made by local
authorities are dealt with
by Government office
for the South East
14
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15. 4 Types of geographic jurisdiction are
involved
Central Government
Regional Office
County Council
Borough
Council
• Government
Office of SE
• Surrey
• Elmbridge,
• Spelthorne
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16. In reality, each ‘level’ of government
has different responsibilities
Central
Government
(Public Enquiries)
Government Office
of the South East
(Compulsory
purchase orders)
Surrey
County Council
(Transport)
Elmbridge
Borough Council
(Land Owner)
Spelthorne
Borough Council
(Land Owner)
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17. Timetable for new bridge
Mar 2003
Sep 2003
Dec 2003
July 2004
March 2006
Nov 2006
Sept 2007
Public Consultation (3000 comments were received)
Surrey County Council (SCC) chose the preferred Scheme
SCC Submitted planning application
More than 280 Objections were received
Elmbridge BC submitted critical report and called for a Public
Enquiry
Planning Permission Granted to itself by SCC
Public Enquiry held – focused on compulsory purchase
orders rather than bridge design - Objections to these
received from Elmbridge Borough council.
Halfway through, discovered that completed arched bridge
would be 20 feet higher than indicated by drawings
Many adverse comments made about the consultation
process
Public Enquiry result announced – compulsory purchase
orders rejected
Revised Planning Application with revised junction layout. To
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include permissionSally Bean 2007 life of temporary bridge.
to extend
@
18. What do the comments from local press
say about the maturity of the planning
process?
‘The bridge design has
been approved by a
majority in a properlyconducted consultation
and will be an attractive
landmark’
‘Criticism was made of
the bridge consultant’s
five alternative designs,
but we do not know the
brief from which they
started’
‘The design of
the bridge is
utterly
inadequate for
such a key
position’
‘It does not
attempt to address
the serious traffic
congestion on both
sides of the bridge’
‘Inevitably there is always a tradeoff between local concerns and
wider strategic needs’
‘It’s a very
important
site….it was
painted by
Canaletto’
‘Considering that the
population of Elmbridge
and Spelthorne is some
210,000, it would appear
that the 280 objectors are
outnumbered by more
than 750 to one’
‘Some of the
processes are
dictated by the
need to adhere
to Governmentdictated
timetables for
funding’
‘We must expect
that any studies will
be opposed by the
more conservative
members of the
Walton
Society…which I
understand would
prefer a ferry to any
bridge’
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19. What can we learn about EA from
this story?
• You must manage hard and soft complexity
– Every situation is different
– Multiple stakeholders, perspectives and objectives
– Rational and irrational opinions
• Planning is a different kind of activity from
engineering
• Complex navigation of governance and decisionmaking
• Boundary/interface issues can cripple the project
• Local Knowledge is important
• You will never be able to communicate enough
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21. 2 Organizations
•
•
•
Global Pharmaceutical
company
Architecture function maturing,
but needed Job Descriptions,
Skills Development and
Training Programmes
3 Separate Engagements,
covering:
– Project Architect Role
– Enterprise Architect Role
– Business Unit Architect
Role
•
•
•
•
•
Utility Power Company
Just beginning to recognise
and define the role of the
architect
Up until this point, saw
enterprise architect as
infrastructure architect
Establishing an architect
community network
Engagement to define a
Competency Model for
different types of architect
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22. Case Study examples
Similarities and Differences
•
Similarities
•
– EA seen as an IT activity
– Initial driver was project quality,
rather than ‘grand designs’
– Strong commitment to people
development
– Primary architecture focus on
applications and infrastructure;
relatively little focus on data and
business
– Architect roles and skills identified
were broadly similar
– Concern about ‘have we got the
right people to do this’?
– Had experienced significant M & A
activity
Differences
– Maturity level – one relatively well
into EA, the other only just starting
– Degree of CIO engagement in
architecture
– Sourcing strategy
– In one case there was a strong
staff need for external
professional validation of architect
role
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23. We looked at the context
Purpose
Process
Products
People
Plans
Places
Practice
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24. Key contextual questions
PurposeWhat is the primary
motivation for architecture?
Do you have an
‘operating model’
for architecture Process
Who do your architects
interact with?
Products
What are the
domains and
outputs of
architecture?
People
Plans
Places
What is your organisation’s
Practiceapproach to learning and skills
development?
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25. A similar approach was adopted in
both cases
Understand Context
Understand Context
Engage Stakeholders
Engage Stakeholders
External Best
Practice
Internal Competency
Framework
Internal Training
Support
• Architecture
purpose, products
& process
• Practical Issues
and needs
• Working Group
Define Roles
Define Roles
Define Competencies
Define Competencies
•Role Type descriptions
•Job Templates
•Competency model
(Knowledge, skills,
behaviours)
•Blended learning
programme
Identify Learning Activities
Identify Learning Activities
Plan implementation
Plan implementation
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26. ROLES: In both cases we identified 3
distinct types of architect
Enterprise
Architect
Project
Architect
Domain
Architect
Leads the development of
architecture at enterprise or
Business Unit level. Develops
methods and frameworks for EA
Accountable for overseeing
projects to ensure they deliver
models and solutions that fit with
EA. Provides feedback on EA
Expert in crafting reusable
architectures related to a specific
domain of expertise
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27. We identified the most likely Architect
Career Progressions
Enterprise
IS Strategist
Architect
Business Unit
Architect
(Company scope)
(Business Unit Scope)
Project
Manager
Business
Analyst
Domain Architect
Project Architect
(Technology or
Application Scope)
(Project Scope)
Relationship
Manager
Customer
Of IS
Technical
Non-Architect
roles
Lead
Infrastructure
Engineer
Application
Developer
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Common move
Possible Move
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28. We identified and grouped the
competencies
Competency Areas
Competencies
may be:
Talents – innate abilities
Skills – learned abilities
Knowledge – relevant
contextualised
information
General
Competencies
Leadership &
Influencing
Analysis &
Consultancy
Change
Management
Knowledge
Development
& Teamwork
Observable behaviours
Experience
Organization
Knowledge
Business
Knowledge
IS/IT
knowledge
Organisation,
people and
decisionmaking
context
Architecture
Competencies
Enterprise
Architecture
Business
Architecture
Data Architecture
Applications
Architecture
Integration
Architecture
Infrastructure
Architecture
Technical
Leadership
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29. Structure of competency model for
Talents, Skills, and Knowledge
Competency Area
Competency 1
Competency 2
Etc…
Competency Definition: Description of the competency
Competency Definition: Description of the competency
Competency 1: Description of the competency
What you need
What you need
Learning Activities
What you need
What you need
Learning Activities
What you need
What avoid
Learning Activities
to do
to you need
to do
to avoid
to do (talents and skills)
to avoid
(skills and knowledge)
Behaviours that
Counter-behaviours
Books, websites,
Behaviours that
Counter-behaviours
Books, websites,
characterise the
Behaviours that
training courses
Counter-behaviours
Books, websites, and
characterise the
training courses and
competency
characterise the
work-based and
training coursesactivities
competency
work-based activities
competency
work-based activities
29
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30. Example competency definition
Competency Area: Analysis & Consultancy
Competency: Creativity - The ability to generate valuable new ideas or to
identify innovative approaches to solving problems
Skills, knowledge and behaviour
Things to avoid
Learning Activities
•
•
Books:
De Bono: Serious creativity : using the
power of lateral thinking to
create new ideas
Clegg and Birch: Instant creativity
Websites:
www.innovationtools.com
www.mycoted.com
Work activity:
Pick 2 creativity techniques and
facilitate an ideas-generation
and evaluation workshop with a
small team
Course:
Creativity Techniques
•
•
•
•
•
Finds alternative ways of looking at a
problem.
Challenges assumptions and
stretches boundaries
Has a repertoire of techniques for
generating and evaluating ideas
Builds on existing or emerging ideas
to create new ones
Uses creativity techniques in a
systematic way
Creates an energetic atmosphere to
stimulate creativity in others
•
•
•
Leaping to a solution
because ‘it worked last time’
Rejecting apparently halfbaked ideas rather than
looking for ways to make
them better.
Allowing deep expertise to
blind you to better/different
approaches
Assuming the answer to a
problem must be an IT
solution
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31. The desired competency profile
varies by type of architect
Excellent
Good
Competent
Aware
General
Organization
Knowledge
Enterprise
Architecture
Business &
Data Domain
Architecture
Technical
Domain
Architecture
Competency Areas
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32. A threshold level is required across
all types for all roles
Excellent
If you don’t have a skill, you must know
who does.
Good
Competent
Aware
General
Organization
Knowledge
Enterprise
Architecture
Business &
Data Domain
Architecture
Technical
Domain
Architecture
Competency Areas
32
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33. Domain architects typically
concentrate on skills in one area e.g.
technical
Deep specialists
may prefer to
stay in one
place
Excellent
Good
Competent
Aware
General
Organization
Knowledge
Enterprise
Architecture
Business &
Data Domain
Architecture
Technical
Domain
Architecture
Competency Areas
33
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34. PAs have a broad level of expertise
Excellent
Good
Good General
skills for
communicating
and negotiating
with clients and
project team
members and
resolving tradeoffs
Relies on
Domain
architects to fill
specific gaps
Understands how
project fits into
enterprise context
Competent
Aware
General
Organization
Knowledge
Enterprise
Architecture
Business &
Data Domain
Architecture
Technical
Domain
Architecture
Competency Areas
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35. EAs are strong on general and business
skills and have variable technical skills
Excellent
Local knowledge
may be at more
strategic level
than PA
Beware out of
date technical
knowledge and
seek expertise
where required
Good
Competent
Aware
General
Organization
Knowledge
Enterprise
Architecture
Business &
Data Domain
Architecture
Technical
Domain
Architecture
Competency Areas
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36. Principal Learning methods identified
• External courses (classroom, distance learning)
• Mentored e-learning
• Community of Practice (CoP) – online and offline
discussions
• Shadowing
• Action Learning
• Briefings/Case Studies (e.g. lunch & learn)
• Conferences, Seminars
• Special Interest Groups
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38. Key features of an effective team
• A defined set of people (part-time or full-time)
• Committed to a set of shared goals or performance
targets
• Complementary skills and knowledge
• Recognised areas of interdependence which are
supported by team communications methods
• Ability for members to offer and seek support from
each other
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39. Architects might be in several teams
at once
•
•
•
•
•
•
Their formal work group
A special interest group
A cross-functional task team
A Hit Squad
Consultant to a management team
Design authority to a development project team
• Provides opportunities to build reputation as
facilitator, boundary-spanner or methodologist
39
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40. EA teams often draw a ‘3-tier’
organization model like this
EA often starts
in the ‘middle tier’
Internal Project Delivery Teams
With Project Architects
Business Unit
Arch Groups
Central EA
Team
40
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41. Organisational challenges of ‘3-tier ‘
EA
•
•
•
•
EA Central teams can become remote from business
EA teams are sometimes fragmented
EA teams don’t always work as a team
Small Business Units may struggle to gain critical
mass in EA
• Large Business Unit teams can dominate or
undermine central EA team
• Disagreement as to nature of role of Central EA
• Disagreement on autonomy of Project teams with
respect to architecture
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42. The relative positioning of ‘Business’, ‘IT’
and ‘EA’ varies between organizations
Example of different ‘mental maps’
‘Lines of
Business’
EA
EA
‘IT’
EA
IT as Supplier
EA optimising IT
IT as Partner
EA as bridge
IT and EA are
‘Pervasive’
disciplines with
expert support
42
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43. EA can contribute to a wide range of
activities
Problem-Solving &
adaptive change
Strategic
Design &
Planning
Development
Projects
Business Strategy
Business Arch
IS Arch
Technical Arch
Operations &
Monitoring
People
Process
Applications
Infrastructure
Investment/Resource
Management
Process execution
IT operations
Performance monitoring
Architecture
Management
Architecture Practice
Architecture Products
Business
IT
43
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44. The potential EA workload is
daunting…how to balance it?
Strategic
Initiatives
Strategic
Enterprise
Design &
modelling
Planning
Business Strategy
TechnologyArch
Standards
Business
& Roadmaps
IS Arch
Technical Arch
Problem-Solving &
adaptive change
Opportunity-spotting
Troubleshooting
Development
Projects
People
Process
Reviewing project
Applications
Designs & models
Infrastructure
Investment/Resource
Application Portfolio
rationalisation Management
Shared service
identification
Operations &
Monitoring
Sequencing
projects
Process execution
IT operations
Infrastructure
Performance monitoring
rationalisation
Architecture
Maintaining a repository
Management
Architecture Practice
Promoting
Architecture Products
use of EA content
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Business
IT
44
45. Balancing the EA workload
•
Balance the team
– ‘Techies’ and ‘Modellers’
– Bring in supplementary skills as needed (project management,
communications)
– Play to individual strengths using profiling techniques such as MyersBriggs and Belbin
•
Balance time spent
– Task,
– relationships (internal/external)
– team learning
•
•
•
Don’t try to do everything. Identify areas of greatest leverage
and focus on what is achievable
Recognise that you only build influence and reputation through
making valuable contributions
Become masters of Time Management
45
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46. Architecture Team Management
• Architects can self-manage activities and workload
• So what is the manager’s role?
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Ensure compelling vision for EA exists
Set clear priorities
Get EA sponsors and funding
Provide contextual information to team (e.g. political intelligence)
Stop team getting bogged down in detail - get team to produce
80/20 results rather than strive for perfection
Publicise team successes
Champion architectural decisions and develop conflict strategies,
Help team sharpen their communication
Ensure continuity and sustainability of practice
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47. Communities of Practice
• Online and face-to-face interaction
• Provide a forum to get questions answered,
exchange ideas, and stretch each other’s thinking.
• Moderated to stimulate debate and ensure quality
interaction
• Inclusive - encourage involvement by anyone with an
interest in architecture
• Not just a learning community but a network that
makes things happen
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48. Collaboration Matrix can help to clarify
accountabilities
Enterprise or
Business Unit
Level- may seek
contribution from
working level
EA – Project Collaborate
EA review essential
Project Level:
Strategic EA resource
available only for
major projects
Primarily
Business
- IT may
contribute
Business-IT
collaborate
Primarily
IT – Business
may contribute
48
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50. An alternative metaphor for the
enterprise?
•
•
The BBC is a fascinating and wonderful organization that has
produced some of the best broadcasting in the world, but it is
sometimes very difficult to work out where its brain is…
(John Sergeant Give me ten seconds, 2001)
Is it possible to design ‘learning organisations that have the
capacity to be as flexible, resilient and inventive as the
functioning of the brain? Is it possible to distribute capacities
for intelligence and control throughout an enterprise so that the
system as a whole can self-organise and evolve along with
emerging challenges?
(Gareth Morgan, Images of Organization, 1997)
50
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51. Brilliant EA?
Blueprints and Brains
Shared
understanding
of how things fit
together
Shared Interaction with
blueprints of processes,
information and technology
51
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