AE Stories

Companies are currently in the middle of a major digital transformation. Being able to quickly respond to new customer needs and expectations is crucial. Consequently, project teams are being organised differently. For example, more and more SCRUM teams are being put together to provide software more agilely. However, a question I’ve been asked by customers repeatedly concerns the place that architecture must be given within this story. My opinion is that a minimum of architecture is always necessary. Just enough, just in time. In this blog post, I want to illustrate a technique, based on a previous project, that lets you gain a helicopter view with a minimum amount of enterprise architecture, which is something that is unarguably adding value for a company that is going through a complex transformation.

A common issue encountered on projects is that the project goals have not been clearly defined. A Benefit Map is a powerful visual to provide solace.

“How do you feel about that?” It’s a question associated more with clients staring at their psychotherapist’s office ceiling than with enterprise platforms, mobile applications and their customers. Not surprisingly so; applications are often seen as embodiments of reason and logic. Their performance has objective targets and their functionalities have thoroughly analysed and well-documented requirements.

A while ago, I published an article in the IRM UK newsletter on business process modelling. In the article, I explain the value of and relation between different kinds of process models. I also propose to use customer journeys to guide strategic choices and investments in process (and other) improvements. In this post, I briefly summarise the key messages of the article and elaborate on how to use customer journeys as a guide for your strategic investments.

Back home after an inspiring and entertaining EA & BPM conference (EACBPM). There was way too much going on to wrap it up in a short blog post, but here are some themes that stuck with me after the talks and informal discussions.

Value proposition & strategy

An important part of enterprise and business architecture and business process management is about making the connection with corporate strategy and an enterprise’s value proposition. It will not surprise you that customer experience is playing an important role here. Thinking outside-in, stepping into the customer’s shoes and looking at his process instead of ours is a first step.