A GROUP OF TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECTS IS ASKED BY THE #)/ TO SELEC T THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF TECHNOLOGIES NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT THE SOLU TION ARCHITEC TURE°IN ESSENCE TO DESIGN AN OPTIMIZED TECHNOLOGY PROVISIONING STRATEGY (ERE AGAIN #)/S MUST LOOK HARD AT WHAT CAN BE COMMON AND WHAT MUST BE UNIQUE AND EXAMINE THE COST AND VALUE OF UNIQUE NESS 4O KEEP THINGS MANAGEABLE THE COM MON AND UNIQUE PORTIONS OF THE WORK MUST BE SPLIT BUT AS A SERIES OF PLATFORM ARCHITEC TURES IS DEVELOPED THE INDIVIDUAL ARCHITEC TURES MUST BE RECOMBINED TO ENSURE THAT

LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY REFRESH EFFORTS

"ECAUSE THEY KNOW WHAT BUSINESS CAPA BILITIES DEPEND ON WHAT SOLUTIONS AND WHAT SOLUTIONS REQUIRE WHICH ENABLING TECHNOL OGIES #)/S ARE ABLE TO CONDUCT A RELIABLE IMPACT ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE HOW TO MAKE THE CHANGES AND UPGRADES SIMPLER AND LESS DISRUPTIVE 7HEN CHANGES ARE NECESSARY THEY KNOW WHO MIGHT BE AFFECTED AND CAN COMMUNICATE AND PLAN ACCORDINGLY

/NCE THE PORTFOLIO OF WORK HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED THEREŚ ONE FINAL CHECK TO MAKE

±#)/S CAN CONDUCT A RELIABLE
IMPACT ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE
HOW TO MAKE THE CHANGES AND
UPGRADES SIMPLER AND LESS DISRUPTIVE 4HEY
KNOW HOW TO PLAN ACCORDINGLY ²

THE TEAMS ACHIEVE OVERALL COHERENCE AND CONSISTENCY

)T GENERALLY TAKES SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO GET CONSENSUS ON ALL THIS AND #)/S OFTEN HAVE TO CYCLE BACK TO THE BUSINESS DOMAIN SOME TIMES NEGOTIATING WI TH SOLUTION ARCHITEC TS SERVING AS PROXIES FOR BUSINESS MANAG ERS°SOMETIMES NEGOTIATING WITH THE BUSI NESS MANAGERS DIRECTLY°BEFORE THE WORK IS FINALLY DONE

4HE FINAL STEP IS TO MAKE DETAILED PRO VISIONING DECISIONS°BUILD VS BUY FOR EXAMPLE°FOR THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT HAVE BEEN SELECTED

!LONG THE WAY #)/S CAN CREATE A COMPREHENSIVE MAP FROM CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS TO SOLUTION ELEMENTS TO IMPLEMENTATION TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL BE USED TO SUPPORT CONTINUING SOLUTION

DETERMINING THE APPROPRIATE 2/) MODEL AND LEVEL OF EXPECTATION FOR EACH ELEMENT OF THE PORTFOLIO

.O T EVER Y PROJEC T°HOWEVER CRITICAL TO THE OVERALL PLAN°YIELDS THE SAME LEVEL OF RETURN AND EVERY BUSINESS JUSTIFICATION MUST REFLECT THAT 7HO GETS THE BENEFIT&(!!#x1f!!); (OW MUCH WILL THE BENEFIT BE AND WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO ACHIEVE&(!!#x1f!!); #)/S NEED TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER ALL THESE QUESTIONS BEFORE THE WORK IS COMPLETE

4HIS IS A TOUGH DISCIPLINE THAT A GOOD MANY ) 4 SHIPS DO NOT ENFORCE VERY WELL 4OO MANY PROJECTS GET LAUNCHED DESPITE FAILING THE ±GOOD FOR SOMEONE² TEST A SURE ROUTE TO EVENTUAL FAILURE

6ETERAN ) 4 CONSULTANT *OHN 0ARKINSON IS A COLUMNIST FOR #)/ )NSIGHT