Outside-In EA

[Syed Suhail Ahmad]

I have been thinking of renaming this network to "Outside-In Enterprise Architecture". The "outside-in" perspective is a view of how the organization's external stakeholders see the organization providing value to them. We will focus more in  identifying/developing framework, viewpoints, artifacts, metamodel, maps and drawing etc from the "Outside-In" perspective.
 
What are your thoughts?

 

Regards

 

Syed Suhail Ahmad

[Lisa Martinez]

I wouldn't object and appreciate the opportunity to focus on the Real World reference architectures. :)

[Pritam De]

While I definitely appreciate the new name "Outside-In EA", I would like to add my two cents. My  experience is that more than how external stakeholders view the organization providing value to them, it is also about how the top management see the EA program. EA, unfortunately, is still considered an IT initiative rather than a business initiative. More often than not, there is a general lack of awarness of EA value across the organization. Top management is not aware of EA or its inherent value. As such, I recommend a "top-down EA" view too. Hope it makes sense.

[Jeffrey Wallk]

Syed,

I think this will help improve the way folks think about EA and how EA is both positioned & perceived.

Jeffrey

[Sam]

Syed,

 

Its a good idea. I propose that you create a new group"Outside-in EA"  in this network without renaming the network.

 

Sam

[Syed Suhail Ahmad]

Thanks for the feedback.

@Lisa- I agreed, this is the view of real world.

@Pritam- I completely agree with you and while working on several EA initiatives, I came to learn that the senior management within an organization either don't know about EA or EA was not introduced into their strategic planning, budgeting planning process and initiatives planning processes. Most IT department focus on implementing TOGAF framework or BPM tools for process improvement.. which is not about looking the organization from an outside observer.

 

@Jeff- Agreed.. thats where I am going. EA needs to go where company Value Propositions for customers/partners/suppliers etc are defined.

 

@Sam- I agree, I think best way is to start with creating  a new group and move forward.

 

I also think that 'Outside-in" approach is applicable to internal departments as well, for example, IT can use "Outside-in" approach to convince its board to support funding its projects. HR can use "Outside-in" approach to "sell"  the company when recruiting new people or retaining or motivating new employees. Internal departments can add value to one another. I think "outside-in" EA has lot of value to offer within the organization as well.

 

Where do you want me to go from here? Shall , I create a new group.. what topics should be included ?

Here are some topics/subjects/deliverables/outline that I can think of that we can include in an "Outside-in" EA framework/methodology whatever you call.

1. Viewpoints
   • External Customer/Client Viewpoint
   • Offering (Product/services, intangible values) Process Viewpoint
   • Partners Viewpoint
   • Employee Viewpoint
   • Internal Department Viewpoint
   • Value Proposition Viewpoint
   • Initiative/Roadmap Viewpoint
   • Strategic Planning Viewpoint (Balanced Scorecard etc)
   • Business Performance/Outcome Model Viewpoint
   • Other Participants Viewpoint
   • Value Added activity (aka value stream) Viewpoint
   • Business Model Viewpoint
   • Benefit, Alternatives and Differentiations Viewpoint
   • Capability Viewpoint
   • Business Service Viewpoint
2. Methodology & Management
   • Value Proposition Definition and Delivery
   • Offering Lifecycle Management
   • Value Network analysis
   • Business Capability Management including capability gap analysis, repurposing/reconfiguring etc
   • Business Performance/Outcome Analysis
   • Business Initiatives Analysis
   • Investment Analysis
   • "Outside-In EA" asset /artifacts management
3. Communication & Culture
   • "Outside-In" EA Value Proposition message communication
   • Training & Workshop
   • Benefits realization programmes- Outside-in EA performance measurement
   • New reward programmes based on value experience

Will appreciate your feedback.

Regards

 

Syed

[Syed Suhail Ahmad]

I got this article ""Will Your New CIO Be a CMO?" link through my email subscripton of "Information Manageent Daily"  .

In this article,  according to Gartner analyst Laura McLellan, the next and biggest fiefdom to claim IT ownership is marketing, and she predicts that by 2017 chief marketing officers will spend more on IT than their counterpart CIOs.

http://www.information-management.com/blogs/CIO_CMO_tech_spending-1...

 

I think, "Outside-In EA" approach are perfect candidate for Marketing officers to assist in executing their IT strategy. I have added in my list of viewpoints and one of them is "Offering Viewpoint" .

One more Value Proposition for "Outside-In" EA.

 

[Syed Suhail Ahmad]

Here is a good article from John Hagel that I found through a member on the LinkedIn.

http://edgeperspectives.typepad.com/edge_perspectives/2007/06/unans...

 

In this article, he said and I will quote  " I expect to see a move from transactional architectures to relational architectures, shifting from supporting discrete transactions like a request for inventory availability or the booking of a sale to architectures designed to support enduring and deepening relationships of individuals and institutions."

I believe , he was talking about "Outside-In" approach for EA in 2007. He was using a different term, i.e.  "Relational Architectures".

 

Thoughts?

[Syed Suhail Ahmad]

Here is a great article that I found while googling the internet,  "Gartner Says Hybrid Thinking for Enterprise Architecture Can Help Organisations Embrace Transformation, Innovation and Strategy" ,

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1368613

Some excerpt from the article:

"Exploiting the attributes of hybrid thinking in EA can help enterprise architects drive change. For example, this can be done by directly involving users in testing and prototyping ideas early to get immediate feedback, challenging a product or service’s perceived value from the perspective of those who must use it, or architecting the enterprise from the “outside-in.” Gartner predicts that, by 2013, more than 20 per cent of organisations will explicitly design their businesses from the outside in – up from less than 5 per cent in 2009."

[Lisa Martinez]

Federal and Education scenarios in the highway model.

These two slide decks speak to the consumer, customer and expense and revenue in markets where the expense and revenue subjects are not likely to be applicable. 

In Both education and federal government the budget allocation represents and expense and therefore South travel. 

In payment of the budget to the awarded branch; represents revenue. 

See attached slides-or visit linked in slideshare

[Syed Suhail Ahmad]

Thank you for sharing these slides. Your highway analogy is a good way to describe the "outside-in" EA. I like the 'Education Scenario'. Keep adding more information & thoughts.

[Syed Suhail Ahmad]

I am hopoing that someone can design a logo for "Outside-in" EA group. I would like to create a new group on this network so that we can start discussing and sharing ideas about the approach.

[Syed Suhail Ahmad]

This is another good article "How Enterprise Architects Can Be A Business Person First" from Forrester's analyst Randy Heffner.. he said "Put on a purely business hat and support the product that delivers overall the most business value to the organization. "

 

http://www.cio.com/article/683643/How_Enterprise_Architects_Can_Be_..._