The Benefits of Open Standards for Process Automation: A Conversation with Dr. Eugene Tung

The Open Group Open Process Automation™ Forum has attracted companies across a wide spectrum of industries, from technology to oil and gas, chemicals manufacturers to food and beverage, minerals and mining to pulp and paper. With many of these industries facing the same technology issues when it comes to digitalization, they have seen a need to come together to explore how open standards can facilitate and address the technical challenges they have in common.

We recently spoke with Dr. Eugene Tung, Director of IT for Merck, about why pharmaceutical companies such as his are interested in open process automation standards and how even open process manufacturing vendors can benefit from them

The IT4IT™ Standard – What is all the fuss about? Isn’t it just an architecture after all?

In October 2015, The Open Group launched a new standard, The Open Group IT4IT™ Reference Architecture, and I personally feel this may have been one of the biggest events when it comes to the history of IT. At last, IT is starting to really mature! Let me tell you why I have this view.

Looking Ahead in 2018

Steve Nunn, President and CEO of The Open Group, reflects back on 2017 and looks forward to 2018. Topics include: The Open Group Open Process Automation Forum™, The Open Group SOSA™ Consortium, TOGAF® 9.1 certifications, The Open Group Open Badges program, Digital Practitioners Work Group, Enterprise Architecture for Governments, upcoming events, and much more!

Can Enterprise Architecture Save the World?

The future of Enterprise Architecture is changing – partly as a consequence of the digital revolution and the information age. It’s time to think about the future role of Enterprise Architecture: What is the future of Enterprise Architectur…

5 Steps to Create Winning Enterprise Integration Strategy in the Digital Era

In the fast paced technology driven businesses, quick turnaround solutions like microservices often take the precedence over “planned” integration. This strategy, although in short term, provides for better business value, in the long run, creates unmanageable technical debt. As uncontrolled business debt erodes business’s ability to grow further, uncontrolled technical debt erodes IT department’s ability to fund future innovations. Although in many cases it’s an easiest approach to take, piecemeal achievements are short lived. Soon, IT teams find themselves lost in a sea of fragmented software gizmos.

The Open Group China September 2017 – Event Highlights

The Open Group China Event was held September 21-22, 2017 in Shenzhen. One hundred government leaders, heads of authorities, corporate general managers, and ICT experts attended the event to jointly discuss top-level design and technological innovation for enterprise transformation under the background of the digital era.

Global Mining Standards and Guideline Group (GMSG) – Johannesburg Workshop

Roy Irvine, The Open Group Exploration, Mining, Metals & Minerals (EMMMTM) Forum Director, attended the GMSG workshop in Johannesburg, held on September 20-21, 2017, in association with the South African Institute of Mines and Metallurgy (SAIMM). The purpose of the workshop was to give an update of the various GMSG work areas, which included the EMMM Forum work, under the work area ‘Common Reference Framework’.

The Open Group Amsterdam 2017 – Event Highlights

The rapid pace of technology innovation in today’s digital economy means that businesses require a level of agility and responsiveness that cannot be delivered by conventional business strategies and operating models.

This event focused on how Enterprise Architecture and the use of standards from The Open Group, such as TOGAF®, ArchiMate® and IT4IT™ (for managing the business of IT), are empowering companies to build better systems by architecting for digital business strategies.

Topics included: EA and Business Transformation; EA in Government; EA in Healthcare; Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Cities; Risk Management and Cybersecurity; Process Automation; and IT Management.

Digital Transformation at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport: A Conversation with Aaldert Hofman

Global air travel is growing at exponential rates. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), air travel is expected to double by 2035, growing from 3.8 billion travels in 2016 to 7.2 billion.

Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam is already feeling the effects of this growth. According to Aaldert Hofman, Lead Enterprise Architect for the Schiphol Group, the airport has been working to accommodate this trend through digital transformation, using a strategy of “bytes not bricks” to better manage crowds, accommodate airline schedules and provide a better passenger experience.

Using the ArchiMate® Standard to Streamline Internal Processes: A Conversation with Lourens Riemens

Lourens Riemens, an Enterprise Architect with the Netherlands Tax & Customs Administration, will be speaking at The Open Group Amsterdam event about how the agency has used ArchiMate®, an Open Group standard, for greater consistency, overview and insight. We spoke to him in advance of the conference to get a preview.

The Open Group October Event To Take Place in Amsterdam

The Open Group, the vendor-neutral IT consortium, is hosting its upcoming event in Amsterdam, October 23-26, 2017. The Open Group Amsterdam 2017 will focus on Architecting the Digital Enterprise, bringing together vendors and end-user organizations to discuss how to architect the new digital enterprise.

The event’s focus will be on how Enterprise Architecture and standards such as the TOGAF® framework, ArchiMate® modeling language, and IT4IT™ reference architecture (for managing the business of IT) are empowering companies to build better systems by architecting for digital business strategies.

Enterprise Architecture is Not THE Answer – It is Part of the Answer

As a matter of practicality, for Enterprise Architecture to be successful, there are many things that have to work out before, in parallel with, and after Enterprise Architecture efforts result in an Enterprise Architecture. There are governance things going on, there are development things going on, there are operations things going on. Each of these areas can benefit from some good old Enterprise Architecture thinking and, as well, Enterprise Architecture success needs these areas to be successful! Again, Enterprise Architecture is not THE answer, it is part of something bigger.