The Technology Landscape

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Link: https://clausthorsen.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/the-technology-landscape/

From Claus Thorsen

The need of the technology landscape

IT-departments need to know the technology for which they are responsible. Operation need to know both the infrastructure and the applications they are operating, and so they register the technology from an operational perspective (preferably in a CMDB). In projects, you often see sketches of a technology mapping, as they need clarifying their context. The Development Function often has their piece of the landscape in the development repository. As if this was not enough, you often see e.g. PMO and business units devising sketches of the technology landscape. Investigate, and ever so often you find that a vast number of technology overviews exist. Each contains their tab of the truth – but rest assured, they will not fit together, and they will not form an all-comprehensive technology landscape.

I have seen a good number of technology landscapes and a number of purposes why these are constructed. It is noticeable that these seems to fall into two groups – the all-comprehensive and the fragments. The all-comprehensive only covers a very narrow area e.g. ‘application – server list’ and they are only exhibited to the specific group. The fragments are intended for e.g. a project and are equally managed as if they were “private”.

Let us at look at some examples of questions the IT-department is assumed to answer:

  • What is the general complexity of our technology landscape?
    • Do we have 20 or 2.000 systems?
    • How many different technologies?
    • How many integrations?
  • Can documentation be found and where?
  • Whom are system owners?
  • What is the consequences, if we remove this solution?
  • How does the new solution fit in?
    • What functionality do we already have in place?
    • How should the system collaborate with existing solutions?
    • Where will we find the needed master data?
    • Should integrations be manual or automated? Is bulk-load a sufficient solution?
  • Information security investigation
    • Which systems contain confidential data, are the data sufficiently safe or do we need to strengthen the solution?
    • How can you access our systems from the outside?
  • What is the SLA and how is the actual performance?
  • What is the cost of the solution?
  • How many solutions are deemed for termination?

Based on your own experiences you most likely would like to add more questions – just give it a brief thought. Each question is actually fairly simple and can with good reason be asked by e.g. business units, CEO, CFO, projects or the CIO. The reply can be of utmost importance and yet what I have seen is that a surprising number of enterprises can only answer a few of these questions. I have even seen enterprises that would be able to answer none without month of investigation!

Why do so many enterprises, despite operation in darkness, refrain from establishing and maintaining the technology landscape? It could be that the value is not seen, but I think that the main reasons are that it is perceived as being a too complex and too risky task.

The SOLID EA technology landscape

What we need is the SOLID EA technology landscape

  • Simple – easy to build.
  • Operational – continually maintained and improved.
  • Lean – short time from investment to value – how do we provide daily value during construction?
  • Insight – uncover and share insight.
  • Demanded – identify the customers and meet the needs.

Simple

I chose to reduce focus to just the system landscape. There are three reasons for this limitation (1) the system landscape is often is missing, (2) we need to deliver results fast and (3) this starting point can later be extended.

Operational

The landscape must have a structure where it can be extended organically and the task shared with the stakeholders. For stakeholders to collaborate we need to make sure, that they see the value of this collaboration. E.g. if EA ensures and maintain the full list of systems and owners, it is ready to us for Operation; Operations then register SLA level and link to the Operational documentation – win-win.

Lean

No one is going to fund a long-term construction. Engage with project and support their need and build the system landscape step by step. If EA support all projects, you make sure that all new systems are included. At the same time set aside time to map the remaining systems. This way you will provide daily value and ensure that the full landscape will be uncovered.

It is worth to realize, that very often the EA does not have to 0provide perfectly correct answers. What is need is typically the order of magnitude – e.g. we have approximately 350 different systems. Don’t aim for perfect; it takes too much effort!

Insight

Make sure that your system landscape is shared and easily accessible. E.g. on the intranet. Do not wait until the landscape is perfect – it never will be! Put it to use and mark it ‘Under development’ until you got the first 80% fair right. Eat your pride and enjoy the fact, that it is better than the alternative of not having it! This also enables stakeholders to comment and add further information.

Demanded

Aim for multiple customers – projects, Operation, Security, CIO, … . Identify what you can provide and sell it well. Engage to help project understand their context; identify the CIOs needs and aim to provide the 80% that will keep him happy – and do it even though you do not feel fully ready.

If you get the right there will be a continuous demand of improvements and further information. Put new requests in a later phase, ask for more resources, team up with the requester (e.g. Operations) and let them add more data.

Tools

Easily accessible, simple, extendable, shared, structured – wow, we need a tool here! Easy to use and cost accessible tools should be in high demand. It has puzzled me a good deal that it seems impossible to find these tools. The EA tools I have seen are comprehensive, complex or lack the ability to meet the EAs need of abstraction and they need to be tweaked in order to meet my expectations! Do not let this scare you off – start with whatever you got!

In the next post, I will present my suggestion on setting up the system landscape. Until then, please drop a comment – What are the most important questions to be answered? How often do you see companies that have established the technology landscape and how well developed are these?

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