Sustaining Your Business Architecture: a long and winding road from vision to reality Dr. Darius Silingas, Head of Solutions Department
About Presenter Dr. Darius Šilingas Head of Solutions Department @ No Magic Europe Product Manager, Cameo Business Modeler Head of BPM studies @ ISM Executive School Expert in information system and business modeling, lead ~200 training/consulting sessions in 20 countries ü Chair of the annual conference Business Process Management in Practice in Lithuania ü ü ü ü 2
Building Business Architecture Principles for Effective Business Process Modeling Using Business Architecture Governing Business Architecture Wrap up 3
BA as a part of EA (according to Zachman) WHO? WHAT? HOW? WHEN? Business Architecture Roles and Employees Concepts and Information Business Processes Business Events System Architecture Technology Architecture WHERE? WHY? Organization Structure Vision, Mission, Goals, Objectives 4
Challenges in Specifying Business Architecture Most organizations try to capture their business architecture in documents plus disintegrated informal drawings This approach quickly leads to inconsistent and out of date business architecture specification 5
The Truth is in the Models 6
Business Architecture @ No Magic Europe WHO? WHAT? HOW? WHEN? Business Architecture Roles and Employees Concepts and Information Business Processes Business Events System Architecture Technology Architecture WHERE? WHY? Organization Structure Vision, Mission, Goals, Objectives 7
Define Business Architecture Structure 8
Define Business Vocabulary Concepts Information structure Documents 9
Business Vocabulary: Identifying Services All offered professional services are properly described 10
Define Business Processes: Top-Down Approach Process Flow Used Document Templates Used/Produced Documents Events in Calendar 11
Define Job Roles Roles are used as resources in business processes 12
Assign Process Activities to Job Roles
Business Architecture: State of the Practice Business architecture modeling practices are immature Business architects often end up with very complex and inconsistent business model diagrams that are not understandable for stakeholders 14
What Sometimes Happens in Modeling Practice ~450 Activities ~950 Flows Some facts about the project: ü Model-driven development ü 50 modelers working 4 years ü 2000+ diagrams 15 15
Business Architecture: Advancing State of the Practice + Use modeling standards + Follow the principles for effective modeling + Enable business architecture usage + Employ model governance practices 16
Building Business Architecture Principles for Effective Business Process Modeling Using Business Architecture Governing Business Architecture Wrap up 17
Principles for Effective Business Process Modeling 1. A Minimal Subset of BPMN Elements 2. Strict Naming Conventions 3. Simple Business Process Diagrams 4. Appropriate Abstraction 18
A Minimal Subset of BPMN Elements 19 19
Strict Naming Conventions Language influences thinking ü Participant: a noun, e.g. Delegate, Seminar Coordinator ü Activities: a strong verb + a noun, e.g. Announce Seminar ü Events: a noun, e.g. Registration Request, Registration Deadline ü Data objects: a noun, e.g. Customer List, Feedback Form ü Gateways: unnamed (!) gateways do not perform work ü Sequence Flow: named only after a data-based gateway, gives a condition on which it is activated, e.g. Participants > 30 20
Anti-Pattern: Inconsistent Naming ü Mixed naming reflects inconsistent understanding! 21
Refactored Process ü Action names focus on achieving the result ü No conjunctions in names ü Unnamed Gateway ü No long activity names: details are moved to documentation 22
Anti-Pattern: Too Complex Diagrams 23
Simple Diagrams Multiple Levels of Detail 24 Rule: up to 10 activities in a single diagram Question: How many tasks can we define in 3 levels of detail?
Appropriate Abstraction All models are wrong but some are useful. W. Edwards Demming 25 25
Building Business Architecture Principles for Effective Business Process Modeling Using Business Architecture Governing Business Architecture Wrap up 26
Use of Business Architecture BA should be stored in a centralized repository Define ownership and access rights BA should be published in a way that is accessible to all its stakeholders Website for reading and finding information Word documents for reviewing / approving Change projects should use BA and contribute to its evolution AS IS à TO BE à AS IS 27
Publishing Business Architecture Business Architecture must be accessible without specialized tools! Multiple points of view Executive View Process Manager View Process Participant View Multiple forms HTML for browsing, Word for approving Transformation Engine 28
Business Processes Description Report (Web) 29
Building Business Architecture Principles for Effective Business Process Modeling Using Business Architecture Governing Business Architecture Wrap up 30
Throwaway Models Business models are created for a short-term usage Typically for scoping change in business improvement projects A particular aspect is emphasized Automation, data exchange, task durations, waste, etc. Consistency and completeness is not the main concern ü Apply simplest tools ü Do not forget to throw away the model! 31 31
Sustainable Business Architecture Business architecture is a corporate asset that provides a long-term value and needs to evolve ü Strict adherence to the principles is necessary ü A need for a dedicated business architecture tool 32
Model Ownership Stewardship Each business process is assigned to a person, who is responsible for developing and disseminating its model (in collaboration with all the process stakeholders) ü Gives a clear contact point for process improvements ü Enables business process model sustainability 33
Collaborative Modeling Business architecture is a tool for improving communication and collaboration ü Modeling needs to be performed in teams ü Certain techniques like pair modeling can be applied 34
Model Review A quality of model should be assessed on a regular basis Review by subject matter experts focuses on the content Review by modeling mentor focuses on the form ü Enables high-quality and sustainable business models ü Helps to improve modeling skills 35
Building Business Architecture Principles for Effective Business Process Modeling Using Business Architecture Governing Business Architecture Wrap up 36
Business Architecture (BA) Center of Excellence Building BA Principles Governing BA Using BA High Value from Business Architecture 37 37
Building Sustainable Business Architecture ü Use business modeling standards like BPMN ü Adhere to the principles of effective modeling ü Govern business architecture by practicing model ownership, collaborative modeling, and model review ü Publish business architecture to make it accessible to its stakeholders via multiple views and forms Improving business architecture is a never ending journey... 38
The Recipe for Success think BIG start SMALL and EVOLVE 39
Let s Keep in Touch Dr. Darius Silingas Head of Solutions Department Product Manager, Cameo Business Modeler No Magic Europe Phone (direct): +370 37 705899 e-mail: darius.silingas@nomagic.com lt.linkedin.com/in/dariussilingas/ www.nomagic.com 40
Thank You! The Truth is in the Models! 41