REAL Talk With Sam Holcman

With the increased emphasis on Business Architecture in Business and Enterprises worldwide, organizations are finding that requires a “gauge” on how they are progressing with this endeavor. As the phrase goes “you cannot manage what you cannot measure”, and therefore the need exists for understanding how organizations are progressing in maturing their practice of Business Architecture.What organizations have now recognized, is that measuring the development or execution of a Business Architecture approach is a good start, but only a partial understanding. The effectiveness of a Business Architecture approach is not the end measure for the stakeholders in the business. The effectiveness of a Business Architecture approach is how effectively the developed Business Capabilities support the business or mission goals.Maturity Models provide guidance for Business Capabilities maturing, growth, and practice improvements in an organization, based on industry standards, academic rigor, theoretical soundness, and decades of practice and observation of Business Capabilities effectiveness in organizations. As organizations Business Architecture activities mature, it is critical that organizations provide guidance and definitions necessary for the successful integration of information and services across the Business, by developing Goal-enabling Business Capabilities. These and other characteristics of successful Business Architecture activities are crucial for success, and the Business Capabilities Maturity Model TM provides guidance on Business Capabilities, use, maturity, and growth.Samuel Holcman, your Webinar Leader, the President of the Business Architecture Center Of Excellence (BACOE), and the Enterprise Architecture Center Of Excellence (EACOE), has spent decades educating, researching, practicing, and enabling Business Architectures, and Business Capabilities with organizations worldwide. This direct experience provides the foundation for the development of the Business Capabilities Maturity Model, based on real-world experiences, and a suggested move ahead plan to gauge Business Capabilities development and maturity in your Organization.This Webinar will focus on:• A foundational review of Business Capabilities• A review of Business Capabilities deliverables to measure Maturity• Understanding the need for Frameworks, as the basis of Business Architecture and Business Capabilities Maturity• Understanding the need for a Methodology, as the basis of Business Architecture and Business Capabilities effectiveness and maturity• An implementable practice-based Business Capability Maturity Model (BCMM TM)• An approach to enable the Business Capabilities Maturity Model in your Organization• A move ahead plan.

Empirical evidence has indicated that who does Enterprise or Business Architecture has as almost as much importance as the framework or methodology followed. In the “physical” world, a clear distinction and separation of responsibilities have been understood and in place for decades. Yet, in Business and Enterprises today, this understanding is rare. It is an inhibitor to Enterprise or Business understanding of how Enterprise or Business Architecture can actually benefit the organization, with or without technology implementation considerations.

This webinar will explore what progressive, agile Enterprises and Businesses are doing to leverage real Enterprise or Business practices from this understanding and what organizations can do today to benefit from this tried and true separation of responsibilities, duties, and skills.

True Enterprise and Business Architecture – the baseline for addressing, leading, and managing change. True Enterprise and Business Architecture – the enabler of business and mission strategy. Let us take a brief time out and look at Strategy – what it is, the hyper-competition and hyper-speed changes that organizations are facing, and its relationship to Business and Enterprise Architecture.We bring you this webinar, partially as a reminder, as to what the endgame of Business and Enterprise Architecture is – helping the business run better. Let us step away from the bombardment we as business and enterprise architects get from all of the online sources we look at that try to convince us that the newest model, diagram, tool, or “silver-bullet” is what we need. We need to focus on the endgame – the business of the business.Join us – whatever your business or enterprise discipline is, and see how all of this fits together. We hope this webinar will bring a calming effect to all, that are now suffering from the too-common disease – internalities!

A few out-of-context examples. Congress is measured on the number of laws that are passed - really!! That is a measure of success – really?? Not what I would measure. Advisory firms and tool vendors (sorry!) are measured on how many additional "features" or "new approaches" can be added - needed or not. New Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture representations are added, without asking - if we need this now, what was missing?? What should we take away if we have this now?

Let us remember the end objective – enabling business and mission strategies. How do we get there as efficiently and effectively as possible? And of course, with human beings' ability – stakeholders – to see the end game and understand how to get there. That is real Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture.

This webinar will explore both the human side and technology side of what stakeholders need to understand their business and mission objectives, which are in a format that is both human consumable and implementable. Focus on the end game – not how many different types of diagrams can be created.

Have you recently passed your Business Architecture exam? Perhaps you have had your Business Architecture certification for some time now? Are you now wondering, well, what's next? This is where the Business Architecture Center Of Excellence, BACOE, can assist. Our practitioner-focused workshop understands that you have of Business Architecture to the next step of actually developing a Business Architecture.

What do we mean by this? BACOE provides a fully integrated environment – integrated tools, methodology, project plans, examples, and templates so that you can actually produce a Business Architecture.

The Workshop that we offer is geared to providing you with what you need to develop a Business Architecture. We are a field-practitioner firm that also does education and will provide you with a step-by-step guided approach to take what you know now about Business Architecture and go to the next step of actually delivering a Business Architecture that is "human consumable." We emphasize the word Workshop, and the reason for this is, you are actually practicing, demonstrating, and getting experience in actually doing Business Architecture in the Workshop. We prepare you to do Business Architecture – not just provide you with general knowledge of architecture or prepare you to take an exam.

This webinar will outline the 26 components that we provide to remove as much of the burden of developing a Business Architecture as possible. We provide the tools, recipe, and all of the ingredients! All fully integrated into one very usable package

Reality has set in.  Near term and long-term enterprise and information technology priorities are being “reshuffled”.  Naturally, sort term “keep the lights on” projects are high on the list.

What is the baseline for these decisions, and what effect do these short-term decisions have on long term growth and sustainment?  Is there a method that can be applied to a bit of the madness that is being witnessed?  The answer is yes!

We will outline an approach to a one-week examination of current project priorities, which will be revised “continually” – explicit representations that both business and technology executives and managers can view and review.  Of course, this approach cannot continue for very long – plug a hole in the dyke, as they say.

This approach will be the foundation for a six-week cycle of project reviews.  Difficult times require quick thinking – yes, and keep an eye on the future!

Business Capabilities, Business Capability Models, Business Capability Heat Maps, Capability Flows, Capability Footprints, System Capabilities, and I can of course list many other “capability” oriented phrases and ideas.  The fundamental question we will address in this Webinar is, what is a “Capability”, and is it a result of a solid Business Architecture Framework and Methodology, or is it more of a “declarative” used for some business or technology purpose.

I believe you know that are answer is the former – it is actually an “output” – a result – of a Business Architecture.  The primary result of a Business Architecture are business-aligned capabilities, developed through the Business Architecture, that will enable Business Strategy.  And of course, we will have two states – the required Capabilities needed to enable that Business Strategy, and the “as is” Capabilities, the business now has as its current assets.

This webinar will begin with a comprehensive definition of a Business Capability and its components, an example of analyzing an organizations Business Capability Ability, and what organizations need to do to develop Business Capabilities, though solid analysis techniques.

Cyber threats are possible actions or actions that intend to cause some degree of harm, using digital weapons and digital ammunition. It is much more than information security. More broadly speaking, cyber threats have the potential of disrupting our lives as we know them today.

Our EACOE Enterprise Architecture practice has looked at security as part of Enterprise Architecture, not as a separate activity. Simply, the objective is ensuring only authorized access to a process or a data component.