REAL Talk With Sam Holcman

Who are they? Who makes a good enterprise architect partner?  Who makes a good enterprise architect practitioner?

Who are they? Who makes a good business architect partner? Who makes a good business architect practitioner?

We discuss this and more in our podcast.

The Coronavirus pandemic is the latest in a long list of disruptors to established business models. Whether it is competitors, technology, natural disasters, foreign or domestic threats, a disruption, or the next occurrence of an unknown, businesses are recognizing that change is the new normal.

This emerging reality does not begin with new technology. Technology enables a series of business and mission-aligned initiatives to move the organization to its next state.

Our guest, Ken Metviner, very interesting & fresh perspective on the what the future holds as we move out of the most current crisis we are in. This won't be the last crisis, & perhaps we should look at consumer behavior with a bit more logic than just believe it is a “random walk”.

Ken outlines a perspective that is unique & logical - one half the economy can be characterized as stable and one half the economy characterized as variable – each requiring move-ahead approaches in their own way.

Clark Keller, of Data Driven Marketing, provides insights into marketing in the digital age.Technology has changed the way companies deliver their marketing message but hasn't changed basic marketing principles.

Customer data is the most valuable asset a company has. Customers use reviews as a way of deciding which company to do business with. Data & customer information allow companies to hyper-target their marketing message. Of course, underlying all of this is a concern with privacy.

In this unique view of distance learning, we speak to 3 college students, from 3 universities, on their personal experiences with distance learning. School closures led institutions to move instruction to online. Proper planning has given way to crisis management & implementation.

Questions include, education topics, food, housing, money, learning access, feedback, social interactions, & the “new” academic life. We will gain insights “from the trenches” on what works, & what needs improvement.

If you're tuning in in the April 2020 timeframe, we are in a bit of a turmoil situation.

Pressures are coming from a number of directions, & focus is easily lost and replaced by motions & actions that substitute for planned actions and strategies. Focus, consistency, coordinated actions, & efficiencies are more important “in the now”, yet we need explicit representations we can view & act on.

Yes, unfortunately, a short-term focus is a necessity at this hour- how to succeed in the here & now.

The cloud is discussed as the potential for better technology & business agility, but moving computing resources has two sides.

IT leaders are learning that running applications in the cloud costs more than doing so on-premises, & adds complexity & security concerns not fully appreciated in the “rush” to the cloud, leading them to rethink strategies, & bring applications back in-house.

We outline our EACOE Enterprise Architecture analysis approach on rationalizing cloud/in-house strategies.

Watch and see the presentation: https://www.architecturescoe.org/resourcesall/processvisualization-75sn8-lz977

A new reality has been set- the global movement of people & goods provides a new set of opportunities and challenges, which cannot be predicted, but should be anticipated. Today's crisis is the disease, COVID-19 & the virus, SARS-CoV-2. The next could be another virus, or massive internet outage, or a terrorist attack.

But, the reaction of most organizations is reactive & crisis driven. We must look at approaches for developing resilient organizations to anticipate the next disruptive event.