Architecting the Future Enterprise PDF
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Architecting the Future Enterprise Architecting the Future Enterprise Deborah J. Nightingale and Donna H. Rhodes The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales pro- motional use. For information, please email [email protected]. This book was set in ITC Stone Serif by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited, Hong Kong. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data. Nightingale, Deborah J. Architecting the future enterprise / Deborah J. Nightingale and Donna H. Rhodes. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-02882-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Business enterprises. I. Rhodes, Donna H. II. Title. HD2351.N54 2015 658 — dc23 2014029656 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Preface vii 1 Why Architecting Matters 1 2 The ARIES Framework 11 3 Understanding the Enterprise Landscape 27 4 Performing Stakeholder Analysis 41 5 Capturing the Current Architecture 55 6 Creating a Holistic Vision of the Future 71 7 Generating Alternative Architectures 83 8 Deciding on the Future Architecture 99 9 Developing the Implementation Plan 111 10 LM Devices Case Study 125 11 Seven Architecting Imperatives 139 Appendix A: Architecting Case Study: ISSA, a Business Unit of I-Software Systems 147 Appendix B: Architecting Case Study: Allan Design Group 161 Notes 171 Index 177 Preface In this ever-changing world, enterprises of all shapes and sizes are under constant pressure to innovate and transform in order to stay viable. Architecting the Future Enterprise is about creating the “ blueprint” for what the enterprise will look like in the future, after a transformation vision is realized. Our Motivation The subject of this book is a framework for undertaking a significant endeavor in order to evolve an existing enterprise, or to design a new one. Our ARIES framework has its origins in our prior experiences and in our research on enter- prises as systems. We have personally led enterprise transformation efforts and served in industry leadership positions in enterprises undergoing major change. We have researched and observed underlying theory and applied enterprise transformation. More than a decade ago, we decided that there was a significant gap in the existing enterprise transformation theory and practice. This gap was the failure to adequately apply architecting as the initial phase in the transformation life- cycle. We recognize the accomplishments and continuing progress in the devel- opment of enterprise architecture frameworks, yet we concluded and continue to believe that these are insufficient. This motivated us to undertake a significant research endeavor in our ongoing research program at the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology. Existing architecture frameworks are highly useful in what we would call the design phase. Our work is targeted upstream from that phase, in the early concept phase. Just as systems, hardware, and software engineering found the need to establish architecting as a unique activity within engineering, enterprises require the same. Modern enterprises are increasingly complex and intercon- nected. Architecting is necessary to make the “ (re)engineering of enterprises” tractable. viii Preface Influences Our work has been influenced by many insightful publications and individuals too numerous to identify individually. A number of key thinkers in the areas of systems and enterprises have had a powerful impact on how we think about enterprises, and on why we believe architecting is so important to the field of enterprise science. We include notes throughout the book to highlight some individuals, books, and papers. Many colleagues in industry and government have helped shape our under- standing of enterprises and the challenges that must be overcome. They are individuals we have worked with in our respective industry careers, in our educa- tion and research careers, and through our involvement in professional societies. These include partners in other research programs around the world, as well as the executives we have worked with — and learned from— in education settings, in research, and in consulting engagements. Our work has been influenced by numerous colleagues in the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) and the Inter- national Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). At MIT, many colleagues and students have influenced our work on enter- prises. These include (but are not limited to) colleagues from the Engineering Systems Division, the Lean Advancement (formerly Aerospace) Initiative, the Sociotechnical Systems Research Center, and the Systems Engineering Advance- ment Research Initiative. Organization of This Book The eleven chapters of our book tell a story, from start to finish, about architect- ing the future enterprise. In chapter 1, we describe the motivation for our work, and how we believe it adds to the already significant body of knowledge on the art and practice of transforming an enterprise. In chapter 2, we present the ARIES (Architecting Innovative Enterprise Strategy) framework, including our ten – enterprise element model and our architecting process model. The next three chapters concern enterprises as they presently exist. Chapters 3 and 4 focus on the larger ecosystem of an enterprise and on stakeholder value— today and for the future. In chapter 5, we outline an approach for capturing an understanding of the current enterprise, as relevant to the enterprise ’ s strategic imperatives for change. Creating a holistic vision for the future enterprise is the subject of chapter 6. We discuss the use of vivid descriptions, stakeholder vignettes, and narratives told through the various lenses of our ten-element model. Preface ix Chapter 7 covers our approach to generating concepts and developing alter- native architectures— in other words, discovering what is possible for a future architecture. Chapter 8, on the process and techniques for evaluating these pos- sible architectures, focuses on the difficult decision of choosing the future architecture. In chapter 9, we present a technique for checking alignment in the future architecture. We discuss implementation planning as well as communicating the new architecture to stakeholders. Chapter 10 tells the story of a recent enterprise architecting project. While every architecting endeavor is unique, this chapter provides a sense of how the ARIES framework is used in real-world practice to produce a blueprint for the future. Chapter 11 presents our seven architecting imperatives: the fundamentals we believe should be part of every enterprise transformation project, regardless of the specific framework or techniques used. Throughout the book we incorporate examples from many of the enterprise architecting projects we have been involved in. At the end of chapters 3 through 9, we include suggested exercises and questions for consideration, which you can apply to your enterprise to enhance your understanding of the material in the book. Finally, two appendixes are included at the end of the book, to provide executive summaries of two additional architecting projects. Acknowledgments We would like to acknowledge the many graduate students who have partici- pated in our classes and research programs, too numerous to call out individu- ally. They have had a major role in what we have achieved and in shaping the material presented in this book. Many of their contributions made through graduate thesis work are referenced within. We would also like to sincerely acknowledge the colleagues who spent time reviewing our materials and providing invaluable input and suggestions for improvement. In particular, we would like to acknowledge Mark Prendergast for his creative graphics and help in developing other materials over the past several years. We also extend a special thanks to our former doctoral student, Caroline Lamb, who worked with us in the early stages of organizing our materials for the book. Finally, we would like to thank our family and friends for their encourage- ment and patience throughout this process.
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