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Enterprise Architecture 4.0

by Ansgar Bittermann
May 18th 2021
00:29:37
Description

Today Sadya Dharmapuram, Enterprise Architect at the Canadian company Spinmaster, which is making the toys for Batman and Superman, is talking about developments in Enterprise Architecture. ... More

Yeah. Mhm. Welcome to Pocket Guide. Ai your number one ai podcast for executives. My name is an sca Bitterman ceo of gold bloom consulting in Berlin and I'm your host for this podcast today. Our guest today is satya Dama Poor um enterprise at architect at spin master. The company behind batman and superman figures and all of you might have had contact with his company in the past. Welcome sata. Thank you and scott for hosting me today and giving me an opportunity to talk about enterprise architecture and thank you very much for getting up this early because you're in Canada and for you it's just six o'clock in the morning. I really welcome that. Thank you. Uh But before we start we have a very interesting group today and I would like our panelists who just quickly say who they are so that our guests will have a visual impression of who you are. I am Johannes from stevens A. G currently the role of uh I would say chief product owner or portfolio manager for a i driven services and industry.

I'm in south over. She comes from Tokyo in Japan now we are seven p.m. Yeah and now engaging consulting on telecommunications uh company. Yeah. Thank you. Hi everyone. I'm Nicole right now I'm working for a small um I. T consultancy in Germany based in Munich and I'm also working in I. T. Projects sometimes also with ai background but usually um trust general um software development projects for for big companies. So I'm interested in hearing what what we can hear function. Yeah. Uh This is freedom from India. I'm looking at some technically guys every technical consultant, a private company. Uh I'm looking for the uh system. Yes. Hello everyone.

I'm very pleased to attend the session open. I am calling from Beirut Lebanon. Um I am a telecom consultant originally and then I moved into management consulting and more specifically strategy and transformation consulting, working mostly in the Middle East. I did my MBA at insead God and France and Singapore and then went back to the region um um with booz and company at first and then as an independent consultant and I am very thrilled um since taking the course about ai about learning more and seeing how we can help organizations um tap into the subject. Thank you very much everyone for attending. And uh now we're giving the floor to say to to tell us interesting things about enterprise architecture. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are guys. Um this is set to uh today I'm going to talk about uh enterprise architecture 4.0 like you know um the reason I called it 4.0 is just like we are having industry 4.0.

Um E A. Is also has been uh rejuvenated and restructured in many organizations and I would like to explain why and how that how enterprise architecture practices have evolved over the years. So firstly before we go into the details I would like to make sure that we all go through what is enterprise architecture? Right? Um You know people think enterprise architecture is all about I. T. But they get it completely wrong. Enterprise architecture is not just about idea. It's a practice of analyzing designing and planning and implementing enterprise analysis and uh why we're analyzing enterprise to ensure that how successfully you can execute on business strategies. Right. It is all about enterprise architecture is all about business. It's not just about I. D. It's about business but it actually plays an important role because it creates a bridge between you know I.

T. And business. So it ensures that business structures their I. T. Projects and policies to achieve desired business outcomes and then stay on top of the industry trends and disruptions uh disruptions using enterprise architecture principles and practices. The word disruptions is very very interesting. Uh Two days world because of covert we've seen everywhere that there has been disruptions in business. You know the storefronts have been shot. People have started uh you know new ways of uh buying you know their daily needs or their you know everything has changed. The industry trends have changed. So businesses have to adapt to adapt and extend their business capabilities you know like e commerce or anything else. So for all this E. A. Is a very very important foundation uh to businesses so I just want to re trade. Right? So yah is not just about I.

T. But it is about you know it is basically creating a blueprint. You know blueprint means doesn't mean that about a project blueprint on how a business is actually gonna run. Right? So moving on you know why why today why is it very important here today? You know digital transformation the buzzword that every company is going through. Right? So companies are investing very very heavy in transforming uh you know their I. T. Infrastructure. But digital transformation is not just about I. T. Right. It is about the people the process technology I would actually not use the word technology but I would say tools uh information and also the the the fifth element is environment right? Environment plays an important factor on how a business actually runs and e actually takes uh account on all fronts. That's exactly why.

Yeah it's very important for the digital transformation technology. People say technology is disruptive technology disruptive. You know people have ensured that A. I put A. I. And uh IOT and other other technologies are disruptive because they can make or break a business. Uh if a business uses it for uh for for improving their improving their uh you know stability improving how they reach their customers. It is it is going to bring innovation but you know but on the other side if if the if this technology is not used correctly it could also break a business. So it is important that uh mature year practice brings the stability into digital transformation how and year practice would bring innovation by looking into new technologies that can actually bring competitive edge to the business, but not only that people have a misconception.

That year is it takes a long time and it's a boring practice but it's not here brings agile mindset to the business. So once you know exactly the foundations of your business, you it will be very easy to spend up multiple projects and have your PMO focus on business value realization based on enterprise strategy. So e A brings agile mindset to the business. It will actually bring the capability of you executing multiple projects successfully Uh in a in a company over a year or over over a period of five years. Right? Technology transformation doesn't happen overnight. It happens over over a few years. In fact technology transformation also have to make sure that you improve your processes, you improve um you know, you you also skill up your people to ensure that they are using the technology. Right, right. Uh Here also brings data driven decision making. It connects different.

Uh It actually connects different systems, right? It actually ensures that you have the right data uh to make the right business decisions. It also brings operation excellence, uh improve cost efficiency. So you could actually use yeah to improve costs, you can also manage all the technology risks that your business may have and not only that the more important people are moving into cloud when you're moving into cloud, it is very important to know where your data recites how you're actually modeling your data, right? So E. A. Brings all these different pillars for successful digital transformation. Now the scope of year I mean traditionally yes we're focusing on you know this is a very very important subject the scope of year. People were focusing on how and where uh you know they how they are going to transform and where they're going to transform. That is focusing mainly on the technology architecture.

The technology architecture comprises of infrastructure architecture, application architecture, data architecture and security architecture. A lot of the people were actually only focusing on these. And so the E. A. Practices were becoming expensive cost centers because uh there wasn't much meaningful to business coming out of these practices. But since you start focusing on firstly why you want why uh in the business and what and when which are the key pillars, then your how and where become uh you know, very meaningful. So business architecture is the foundation of enterprise architecture. So in case if someone says an enterprise architect is only a technology leader or a technology uh enthusiast, you're mistaken. E. A. Is more about business than also our technology. So you need to have the right balance uh from your e a practice to have business architecture and uh and then your technology architects will translate the business architecture artifacts that will uh that will ensure that uh the business business vision is actually achieved.

So you know how how do you go about, you know uh coming up with your uh practice. So there are a number of frameworks and methodologies over the years that have been developed, you know. Uh To Gaf is one of the very very useful framework that has been developed by open group now. Um To goB goes about talking about ADM which is architectural development method. The ADM cycle is very useful and it actually explains how your business requirements can change over the course and making sure how how to adapt your enterprise architecture practice for the changing requirements. Right? So it is a very useful um framework. Uh the other frameworks which are useful ours Ackman framework. Right? Uh And it can and then the enterprise architecture was very very useful in business in not just business but also in government and defense.

So there are a number of frameworks that actually came out of defense. So Dorothy is uh is actually used by the US Army. Madoff is another framework which was used by the U. K. Army. And uh N. A F which is also a framework came out of NATO architectural framework. These are all talking about, you know, even the defense uh runs on the air. Uh and then a number of government agencies like thief which is a framework which is built by the federal uh federal uh the stance of federal enterprise architecture framework and then you also have a Treasury architecture framework which is also teeth. So you know it's it's uh is mature, mature practice and it's been using government and defense that proves that you know the businesses today can build a very very strong foundation and um innovate a lot more with using a practices in their in their respective companies.

So you know what in the beginning of the in the beginning of the session I started year practices have been rejuvenated or revamped. A lot of the companies are revamping. Why are they revamping because as I said traditional I. T. S. Centric practices have failed to meet the demands of the business. So the C. I. O. S. Or the leaders have been you know rethinking on how to change this, how to adopt. So Gardner has actually come up with a very useful uh E. A framework which is focused on modernizing and developing an enterprise architecture by adopting to business outcomes driven E. A practice. So what is so different? I'll explain that in a minute. But you know it is important that Gardner and Mackenzie, these are one of the biggest biggest entities they're actually focusing so much on enterprise architecture that is because they want companies to take advantage of practice and adopt the disruptive technology to their benefit.

And this basically Eea is the residents India is helping business leaders to deliver whatever are the priorities are of the business, uh you know, the whatever the priorities of the business, whether they want to actually improve a new capability in this, in this disruptive world or whether they want to actually bring a differentiating uh within their industry uh from the rest of the from the rest of the companies that are in their sector, whatever is there, is there business strategy in order for those to be uh achieved? They are using the new framework? Uh So what is the new framework? It is, it is an eight step process which is called business outcome driven year program. So this is not about how to implement here. Practice, it is how to actually uh bring in the e practice within your within your organization.

So firstly uh the eight steps are uh can be executed simultaneously or they can be executed or one after the other. Uh It also depends uh to begin with, you can actually implement them simultaneously. Firstly, the first step is about adopting the business outcome uh driven e a practice. The second step is to construct a value proposition. You know, why do you uh you know, this is where we are focusing on the wise, Right, And then start with Business Architecture Focus. So that's the step three, it's all about start with your business architecture, start with your business blueprint, 90% of your employees. Do not know why does your business exist. That is a common thing. People know what you do and how you do it but they don't know why you do it. So it is very important to start with the business architecture and then determine how do you want to place your E.

A. Practice? Where do you want to place your practice whether you want to place it within the I. T. Where majority of the companies actually place there uh sorry place their practice within within your I. D. Organization. Or some uh some mature organizations are going with uh with with a different approach where they are placing your practices uh you know partially under the business and partially under under I. T. Or they're placing with reporting directly to their uh C. Suite. Right? So it is important and how what you need from your practice and place the practice accordingly And what are the different skills that you need. Uh Also from your ear. Uh It is important to have the right skills to ensure that your you execute your strategy well. So if you're going towards more ai focused so you need to ensure that you have a few a few skilled people within that stream.

And not only that you also need to ensure that you create uh you create an environment for your E. A. Practice to be learning. So spend spend money on your ear practice dedicate a set budget for skilling the for so that they can go and research on on new technology that is going to help your business to meet the business goals and innovate more. So you need to bring that mindset of innovation within your ear practice. And the other thing is the governance and assurance. So what does that cover? So you need to ensure that you have some set here principles how it works. What what are the what are the rules of the Eu engagement? So you need to also set up the governance and assurance and then you then did remind the business value metrics and then construct your a charter. So this is the eight step approach for uh implementing a successful e a program within your organization.

I would like to spend more on this. Uh but you know it will it will take a long time to explain this. But if you adopt to this e. A framework then you will be able to construct uh you know uh a year practice which is gonna be helpful for you to adopt to these um uh to this changing ever changing world of digital transformation. It is all about digital business. So when I say digital business, it's not about uh technology alone, it is about how technology is going to enhance your business. And I would with that I would like to thank France Car to give me this opportunity to speak about enterprise architecture and why enterprise architecture is important in in your digital transformation journey. Thank you Thank you very much sata for this very interesting talk and really like that you showed the enterprise architecture is not just about I. T. But also about business and that it bridges you know as you said business and I.

T. And I think a lot of us have seen that traditional it centric practices that they failed to meet today's demand. Um in I. T. Also an Ai and I'm really interested to hear more about that. Um But so thank you very much for this overview about the new developments in the a and now I'm just want to open the floor to the panelists for questions from you. I would have a question. So thanks for the the inside such a I mean coming from the ai background we always talk about how difficult it is to to find the right people for this. And you said in this journey when this transformation is equally important to have the right people on board from from your point of view, who do you think which rolls or which backgrounds are hardest to find to make this transition successful. So again very good question and you're honest. Uh So ai has needs a special skill. Right so obviously you need but before you actually take on any project you need that uh you need to know why you're going to implement an Ai project and how you're going to use that ai to improve the business in order for you to get that you don't need uh an Ai scale at that in the beginning but you need someone uh that knows about how ai is going to impact your business, right?

So it is very important to have a business leader who has an Ai focus right now. Ai focus doesn't mean that you need a data scientist or you you need uh you need a robotic scientist there, you need a business expert who understands technology. Right? There's a fine line, I hope I answered your question. Maybe I can continue with another question. Um So as you introduce this gardener framework to restart the ai um the a um team and uh you have to prepare it for the new yeah let's say the new world with the traumatization, um what is the difference why in the past? Uh it did not work. So this is what I understood that you need to restart this um enterprise architecture, thinking to to be ready for for for Yeah for now, but what do you think was the problem that in the past um it was so hard for a i for for enterprise architecture too to really um have an impact on companies.

Yeah sure, thank you. Nicole for asking the questions. So uh practices as I mentioned traditionally we're only focusing on technology architecture. Right? So they were mainly focusing on uh you know on things which are more technology driven but they will actually depend more on the business business leaders to uh to provide that business sense uh to ensure that they implement uh implement the technology and the business outcomes sometimes get lost in in in this whole process. Not, I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every year practice is I'm not faulting any year practice, but if you bring in enough good balance in your within your ear practice that you have that leader within your ear practice, who who knows what why? You know why we have this business, What are we expecting from that business?

And what is the how is how is that technology is going to be used with the business? Is it's easy for that translation to happen. Right. So uh so this is what I mean, I'm not there's a there's a there's going to be an increase in uh in the demand for business focused enterprise architects. Right? So so the architects today are not just focusing on uh like latest technology, like ai but they're also focusing on certain aspects of business as well. Right? So if you look at uh for example, if you look at uh you know, an scar here, he's a he's a he's not just a technology leader. Right? So he actually is a serious problem solver when you can solve the problem is because when you actually have that business sense in you. So the change or the restructuring of E. A. Is proposed by Gardner for you to get better value out of your practice.

So you know your your your transformation project could could be five years, could be 10 years could be ongoing because we don't know in five years more what new challenges are going to be in front of us in the from from from our surroundings? Right? So it is important for for always to have that business value in the entire mindset of of your E. A. So it is important to make slight modifications and slight alterations and it's not it's not a setting store and the darkness saying this is the formula but Gardner is suggesting this is one of the ways in achieving the best business outcomes from your practice. Mhm I think I think I really like what you said in the beginning that digital transformation not just about technology but also about people and processes and you talked about disruptive technologies and disruptive just means to break sometimes and uh you know to break processes or to change processes also to change the mindset or what you call the environment.

And I think a lot of people think that they implement a Iowa implement technology and everything else stays the same and that never works. You know we all have to change together. You know cooperation comes from the latin word corpus which means body and you know and if you chop off your hand or you know or growing your feet the whole body changes and I think if we have that analogy, I think that that's why we understand why the old approach that didn't really work. Mhm. Yeah, that's you you hit the nail on the head and scar. Um I think I lost with a few of the words. But yes, it is important uh to actually you know, why why the business exists in the first place, Right? So it's not, I mean technology hasn't come first, it is the business which came first and then technology has enhanced that business to achieve uh you know, new milestones. So it is very important to have that right balance between business and uh and and technology, right.

And yeah, I mean there will be more disruptive technologies that are going to come up. Don't get me wrong, this is this is just the beginning, right? So the the the researchers are continuously working about coming up with new algorithms that are gonna give us a new insights, Right? So it is important for us to actually uh you know create a blueprint of your business and ensure that you then timely introduce these new algorithms to actually actually or or new uh new technology, you can adopt the new technology in a more meaningful way and get the right benefit out of it right? Yeah, I'm totally agree with your salt. Uh it is important was to adopt uh technology fast, but business fast and totally we need to architecture or business and uh, what do you uh, introduced to us is truly essential.

But I think I think, yeah, uh, thank yourself for your valuable uh, imports and I'm glad you agree with me. Uh, that um, you know, Business 1st approach would be more meaningful. Thank you very much. We're slowly running out of time. I'm saying it every time. But uh, yeah, it was super interesting. I think we could have talked to more hours about this topic and I think it's just the beginning of a journey here. Uh, so thank you very much, Sasha, thank you for getting up so early and giving us this very very interesting overview over new developments and enterprise architecture. And so thank you very much. Thank you and thank you to all the panelists who came today. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah.

Enterprise Architecture 4.0
Enterprise Architecture 4.0
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