Business Solutions Realisation and Strategy Strategic Architecture Consultancy

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1 Applying Technology in Support of Business Objectives Business Solutions Realisation and Strategy Strategic Architecture Consultancy The ability for organisations to develop and deploy real-world IT solutions designed to fully support the achievement of business objectives is fast becoming one of the defining characteristics of today s successful businesses. Whether it be the ability to deliver services, manage information and relationships, or process transactions, the underlying architecture of these solutions must address the immediate tactical requirements of the business and also provide a basis for the organisation to move forward in achieving strategic business goals. Traditionally, IT solutions are focussed solely upon addressing immediate tactical need or specific functional requirement without a clear view of the big picture the underlying strategic business goals and objectives upon which the original request for a particular solution was linked. This often results in massive IT expenditure that ultimately fails to assist the organisation to achieve plan. Organisations today are rethinking their approach to IT, and refocusing IT solutions architecture to not only satisfy immediate organisational requirement, but also broadly facilitate the business in meeting strategic goals and objectives. Cornerstone Business Transformation Service s architecture consultancy team is strongly positioned to assist management in this essential effort. From Business Architecture and Strategy to Support Infrastructures Cornerstone s interdisciplinary team of highly experienced IT professionals brings to our clients an unparalleled level of skill and expertise in business solutions architecture and the IT infrastructure disciplines. Cornerstone s world-class architects and specialists pair this capability with a well-defined, yet flexible approach to architecture that facilitates the decision process and also provides a comprehensive method of technical assurance. As a result we are able to minimise technical and business risk to the organisation through our expert consultancy in the following business critical areas: Business architecture and strategy; Application architectures; Solutions development capability improvement; IT and network infrastructure solution services; Systems and network architectures; and, Best Practice. Whether or not it revolves around e-business or e-commerce, involves EAI or SOA, Business Intelligence or CRM, Java or ActiveX, J2EE or.net, or whether it be CORBA, or SOAP, G3, WAP or IMODE, Java Card or Web Services, concerns legacy systems or ERP, networks or other technologies, methodologies or practices, Cornerstone s architecture team is well placed to guide the organisation in making the key architectural decisions essential to business success.

2 Our approach Merging Technology and Process with People Business architecture, in order to be able to provide the basis for achieving goals and objectives, must lay the foundation for the delivery of systems that allow the organisation to be successful. Understanding the technology, and the various tools and methodologies available today is also an important consideration; but, this must be paired with an understanding of the people and process involved in the business. One of our key strengths is the flexibility of the Cornerstone team to interoperate with an organisation, its people and within its business culture. Cornerstone uses a business architecture rapid development framework - or BARD based - approach to facilitate this process. We base this approach upon the classic DSDM phases and techniques associated with architecting successful business solutions. The approach provides for a complete framework or checklist, which the architect applies and adjusts according to specific requirements of the organisation and the project. Define Business Foundation Conceptual Achitecture Model Analysis and Design Component Achitecture Develop Integrate and Build Delivery Achitecture Implement and Roll - out This enables flexible streams that allow the experienced architect to perform the steps necessary to achieve successful delivery throughout an iterative process whilst ensuring business objectives are attained. The approach is also tool and methodology independent, allowing Cornerstone architects to use any desired tool or specific organisational approach that is appropriate to complete a step in the process. This Merger of technology, with people, organisation, information and process is key to our approach as the interaction between people and IT - often termed user experience - is where many solutions have failed in the past; Cornerstone uses modelling and consultation with the user community as part of the architecture process to ensure the solution that is ultimately delivered not only addresses business requirements, but is also used by the people for which it was designed. Technology, itself, is used to execute processes or to augment them with pertinent information; Cornerstone bridges the complexities associated with technology with business process. Process management and workflow then offer the capability to automate and manage processes - and in so doing, manage key activities - across multiple domains. As they architect a solution, Cornerstone architects and specialists take into account the organisation in its entirety - the goals, objectives, the people, the organisational structure, the business processes and problems, and, the business services involved, as well as, the resulting implications for business and organisational impact for change. This holistic approach to architecting business solutions in conjunction with the range of skills, knowledge, and expertise that our experienced consultancy team possess provide the organisation with a complete yet flexible architecture process that can be customised to address the specific business culture and needs.

3 The services Deriving Real Business Benefit Strategic Architecture Consultancy from Cornerstone Business Transformation Services encompasses an array of services that facilitate the merging of people, process and technology. These services are designed to derive direct, tangible, benefit to business and to help ensure that the organisation achieves key business goals and objectives. Business Architecture and Strategy Business IT Vision Cornerstone architects focus on the organisation and its mission, bringing understanding of the complexities of architecture to key stakeholders of the business and deriving the IT vision and strategy in accordance with business needs whilst applying proven process and methodology to the task. IT Architecture to Business Alignment We work closely with top management to ensure IT strategy fully supports the business, selecting approaches, standards and technologies to drive the business forward in achieving its long-term goals whilst ensuring attainment of tactical needs and continued operation of existing mission critical systems. The Architecture Design Authority Cornerstone establishes and leads this key design authority that includes organisation business experts as well as expertise from the various technical domains. This approach brings coordination and control to the architecture governance process whilst ensuring that stakeholder business concerns are adequately addressed and business goals achieved. Applications Architecture & Solutions Development Capability Improvement Application Architecture Consultancy Cornerstone s highly experienced applications architects work with the business in identifying key processes and services that are then used in deriving applications architectures that ensure real life business solutions that provide the organisation real business benefit. Realising Business Benefits Delivering a system or process which is used Delivering a useable system or process Business-focused Architectures Traditional Architecture Approaches Focusing on functionalities Focusing on tactical requirements Starting with business process and financial modelling we develop the object and data models that form the basis of the business solution and provide necessary coaching and guidance to the development team. Solutions Development Capability Improvement Using the Capability Maturity Model (CMM and CMMI) from Carnegie Mellon University s Software Engineering Institute (SEI), Cornerstone architects and specialists work with management in assisting the development organisation to identify and improve, with best practice, those areas essential to successful solutions delivery. Cornerstone brings a wealth of experience to development organisations in this area, and focuses on best practice geared to the organisation s business environment and culture.

4 Services (cont.) Applying Process and Best Practice to Technology Technical Architecture and Infrastructure Support Services Architecture and Infrastructure Design and Component Selection Support The ability to adapt technology to business is one of Cornerstone Business Transformation Services key strengths. We view architecture as a driving force constantly impacted by business requirements, constraints and change in a continuous on-going cycle. IT Master Plan or Vision Configuration/Change and Release Management Prioritise/Develop/Implement Business Requirements ARCHITECTURE Infrastructure Requirements Customer Environment Benefits Management Project Management Product Lifecycle On-going Service Management Cornerstone s architects are experienced in designing and implementing strategic and tactical architectural solutions that move the business forward from concept through to component design / selection and delivery. We are also well versed in support systems including help desk, call center, IVR, CTI, CRM and ERP as well as configuration and asset management, and, systems and network management. Best Practice Systems Engineering Office Cornerstone uses the Systems Engineering Office (SEO) as an enabling concept designed to facilitate the architecture, engineering, design, and delivery processes. It provides both the foundation and anchor for all systems engineering and design activities from business modeling through to technical assurance and implementation. The SEO is composed of a team of technical professionals and key resources utilized to give form and structure to the architecture process, ensuring proper resource, methods and tools necessary for success are appropriately applied to corporate technical strategy. This enables architects to focus on assigned tasks without regard to the day-to-day technical management concerns. The SEO is responsible for planning, quality and risk management, bid and subcontractor management, test, configuration, and release management, and, technology change management. Technical Assurance and Audit Technical assurance and audit of business solutions is an area where Cornerstone excels, both in terms of the quality of personnel that we apply to the process and the approaches we utilise. We first focus on business requirement and organisational objectives, driving down through process, to the design and selected technologies of the solution with a view to risk identification and mitigation. Our technical assurance audits are efficient, direct and thorough with the flexibility to focus on particular business problems or technical issues. Cornerstone s audit teams are led by senior architects and conducted in accordance with the Information Systems Audit and Control Foundation s Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) framework for the audit of Infrastructure technologies and services.

5 Our capabilities Delivering Business Based Solutions Cornerstone s architecture consultancy team has a proven track record in providing strategic architecture consultancy to major organisations with a focus on mission critical requirements and solutions. Some examples of our past efforts include: In government - For the RKW, Belgian s Child Support Agency, the Cornerstone team guided the development of the IT strategy after conducting an extensive business architecture audit, aligning IT to fully support business strategy. Cornerstone architects provided key guidance and support in network infrastructure and architectures within the Departmental IT Authority of the UK Department of Social Security. Cornerstone developed the conceptual architecture and derived the component architectures and specifications for a European federal government E-Portal based upon a public-centric services business model with interfaces to a universal message bus. Leading the architecture team for a leading outsourcing company at a major European regional government, Cornerstone architects established and chaired the Technical Architecture Design Authority, which provides guidance and oversight for all key architectural decisions and ensured the regional government s business requirements were fully addressed whilst migrating to new e-technologies and services. In business and industry. For the a major IT manufacturer focusing on the worldwide postal business, Cornerstone guided and managed the design and development of the postal counters and self-service solutions architectures that were essential for their success in these key sectors. Cornerstone architects and specialists developed the architecture strategy and design for a major IT services provider in its support of one of Turkey s fastest growing ISPs, serving hundreds of thousands of subscribers across the country. Our role also included technical risk assessment and high-level applications architecture design for subscriber self-management and Intelligent Voice Response (IVAR) systems. Cornerstone led and conducted the technical assurance audit for a secure banking optical scanning, storage and verification system for a major European manufacturer in the Netherlands.

6 Active X Microsoft.net Windows Java Java Card BA001,5 About Cornerstone Cornerstone is an IT and business consultancy company, offering high-end consultancy services in governance, business change, architecture, service management, financial payment systems and strategy, and, the programme and project management disciplines. Through its consultants, Cornerstone brings to the table a wide range of knowledge and expertise and also incorporates skills and experience in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Strategic Sourcing to offer a complete consultancy services mix. Cornerstone applies a partnership model in building long-term relationships with its clients and prides itself in our approach to delivering real business value. Our focus is on deriving business benefit in merging people, process and technology, through our experience, knowledge, and expertise and the application of best practice. Your future Our support Through our experience in strategic architecture consultancy, we have the key skills, expertise and resources, which are relevant and essential to your success in today s complex and competitive business environment. For further information visit our website at or, contact us: robert.badila@cbts.be + 32 (0) The following are registered names or trademarks: