How to Build a Strategic Roadmap
David Norton and Robert Kaplan once noted that 90% of organizations fail to execute their strategies successfully. The reasons strategic plans fail can be diverse, but many of them are tied to common traits of a weak strategic plan, such as a: Lack of purpose (developed “to have one,” but it sits on a shelf) […]
5 Misconceptions about IT
Of the many challenges I observe CIOs endure– perhaps the most painful is proving the efficacy of IT itself. IT leaders must constantly educate their peers around what IT actually does in the 21st century, and how these IT capabilities are crucial to the health and success of the business. Most often, these challenges stem […]
A 360-Degree View of the Customer
A 360-degree view of the customer lifecycle is both more possible today than it ever has been and more critical. Businesses have long grasped the need to identify their ideal customers—demographics, pain points, motivations—but modern digital disruption and “big data” have completely changed the meaning and methods of the process. Prospective clients and customers in the […]
Benchmarking 101
An underutilized resource, benchmarking is often lost in the shuffle of opinions from internal leaders and external consultants. Yet benchmarking is a powerful tool which leverages inexpensive observation over costly trial and error.
The Deal Summary Template
The Pain of Corporate Purchasing Making a significant purchase within the enterprise can be challenging. Justification of new software, infrastructure, or consulting may necessitate many iterations of grueling explanations. Yet it doesn’t need to be this difficult.
EA’s Role in the DevOps World
More Extremes and Pendulum Swings In the past four years or so, I’ve been fortunate enough to work on numerous projects involving modern infrastructure. I’m referring to 100% cloud-based storage/network/compute environments used to drive customer-facing products. Some of these infrastructures were transformational (moving from legacy data centers to the cloud) and others were green fields […]
Running IT Like a Business
Can You Spot the Problem? Within the enterprise, the demand for resources typically commences with some semblance of structure: a project review board, an OKR, or some other respectable methodology. But gradually, scope creep rears its ugly head; typically by way of a preemptive priority. Something “urgent” comes about which thrusts us into loose-knit teams […]
Planets and Satellites: Managing Modern SaaS Environments
Getting Ahead of the SaaS Sprawl Curve The promise of platforms– one solution to do everything within a business unit– really fell short in many ways. However, that doesn’t mean platforms shouldn’t be employed nor does it mean we should allow SaaS point solutions to sprawl out of control. Rather, the goal should be to […]
From Microservices to Microcompanies
If it feels like your company is moving too slow, it probably is. When everyone becomes concerned with everything, then nothing seems to move forward. So, when departmental synchronicity hits a point of diminishing returns, the new way forward may be through decoupled operations. Background Digital transformation, bringing a new product to market, or modernizing […]
Leveraging Enterprise Architects for Competitive Advantage
Gaining competitive advantage requires an investment in competitive intelligence tools and resources. Yet for many companies, enterprise architects can provide some of these capabilities right away. Companies Do Not Exist in Isolation As an enterprise architect and consultant, I spend much of my time focusing on how to marry strategic vision with tactical execution. This […]