Aggregated enterprise architecture wisdom
At The Open Group Amsterdam 2019, participants were offered the chance to participate in an exciting new gamification of IT4IT™, a standard of The Open Group. Jan Schilt, co-owner of GamingWorks BV acted as the CEO role of a Banking concern named UBanQ. In that game role, Jan challenged several teams to prove that they could become the bank of choice for customers in a highly competitive, rapidly changing digital world.
As someone who cares about how business strategy and digital intersect, it is great to see complementary validations of business thinking. This is what I found after reading “Competing in The Age of AI”, released on January 6, 2020. The book’s authors extend and compliment “Designed for Digital” which was reviewed in September. Maybe the authors should take a walk across the Charles River.
In Competing in the Age of AI, authors Marco Iansiti and Karim Lakhani dig into the role of data and AI in driving the digital future. Their perspectives provide additional and supportive thinking from Designed for Digital.
From cloud computing and big data, to the Internet of Things and digital product delivery, the nature of IT has changed dramatically. As a result, today’s IT departments are under enormous pressure to help organizations remain competitive throughout the digitalization process. Traditionally, IT departments have not been built to focus on development, and are not yet agile enough to handle a business environment that must constantly adapt to an ever-evolving marketplace.
The delivery of IT services to the business has changed significantly in recent times. Largely driven by the consumerization of IT, DevOps is being charged with linking development and operation teams to improve the quality and speed of delivering new offerings to consumers.This shift is being facilitated by the rapidly changing digital landscape and the increased demand for new products and services.
Forrester predicted that 2019 would be the year of rebuilding foundations and measured innovation for the CIO. As part of this, they suggested that CIOs not put the proverbial ‘cart’ before the ‘horse’, and to focus on providing solid foundations while taking a measured approach to innovation. Yet despite the guidance to focus on practicality, many CIOs still aspire to be seen as a technology evangelist and to work with smart business partners to create major change within the organization. This has left many CIOs at a stalemate in regards to their role and responsibilities, especially as the CEO and CDO roles continue to evolve.
The Open Group released two new bodies of work during The Open Group Denver event in July 2019. The first was a snapshot of what is intended to become The Open Agile Architecture Framework™ (O-AAF). The objective of this document is to cover both Digital Transformation and Agile Transformation of the enterprise, and is valid until January 15, 2020. The second new document was The Digital Practitioner Body of Knowledge™ Standard (DPBoK), Version 1.0, which assists individuals and organizations who wish to create and manage product offerings with an increasing digital component, or lead their organization through Digital Transformation.
The Open Group hosted its latest event at the stunning Koepelkerk, a 17th century domed cathedral adjoining the Renaissance Hotel, in Amsterdam, November 4 -7. In attendance were 350 attendees – from 29 countries – including decision-makers, Enterprise Architects, technologists, and end-users representing many businesses and governments. The event explored how the two practices of Agile and Enterprise Architecture (EA) can leverage one another, with plenary and track sessions on Agile Architecture methods including case studies from organizations such as Capgemini, Raytheon, DXC, IAG, Micro Focus, Philips, and ING.
At The Open Group event in Amsterdam on November 5, 2019, the latest version of the ArchiMate® modeling language for Enterprise Architecture was released. Version 3.1 is an update to the previous major version 3.0 (released in 2016). Despite being ‘just’ a minor version update, it holds a number of useful additions and improvements for Enterprise Architecture practitioners.
Staff from The Open Group attended the AUSA (Association of the United States Army) Exposition at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington DC, October 14-15, 2019. It was a very impressive exposition with approximately 30,000 attendees from 80 countries. The 700+ exhibits were incredible from Black Hawk Helicopters to huge army tanks and all kinds of sensors.
In this modern age, Digital Transformation continues to be a priority for company executives. They know that Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Internet of Things (IOT), and Big Data are driving their ability to improve customer experience, stay ahead of the competition and generate business growth. However, with IT teams entrenched in managing day-to-day technology, it is difficult for IT to stay abreast of the strategic discussions occurring at the business level and proactively plan for associated IT upgrades, modifications, or new systems. This disconnect can result in a lagging approach to IT planning especially as business decisions are made in fast-moving agile environments.
The Open Group, the vendor-neutral technology standards consortium, is hosting its upcoming event in Amsterdam, November 4 – 7, 2019. The Open Group Amsterdam 2019 will bring together vendors and end user organizations to discuss a range of topics focused around a central theme of Agile Architecture. The event will host attendees from throughout the globe, including decision-makers, Enterprise Architects, engineers, technologists, and end-users representing many businesses and governments.
The US Air Force-hosted The Open Group FACE™ & SOSA™ Expo and Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) event was held on September 17, 2019 in Dayton, Ohio at the Dayton Convention Center.