Competences of IT Architects

The field of architecture in the digital world uses a plethora of terms to refer to different kinds of architects, and recognises a confusing variety of competences that these architects are required to have. Different service providers use different terms for similar architects and even if they use the same term, they may mean something different. This makes it hard for customers to know what competences an architect can be expected to have.\ud \ud This book combines competence profiles of the NGI Platform for IT Professionals, The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF), as well as a number of Dutch IT service providers in a comprehensive framework. Using this framework, the book shows that notwithstanding a large variety in terminology, there is convergence towards a common set of competence profiles. In other words, when looking beyond terminological differences by using the framework, one sees that organizations recognize similar types of architects, and that similar architects in different organisations have similar competence profiles. The framework presented in this book thus provides an instrument to position architecture services as offered by IT service providers and as used by their customers.\ud \ud The framework and the competence profiles presented in this book are the main results of the special interest group “Professionalisation” of the Netherlands Architecture Forum for the Digital World (NAF). Members of this group, as well as students of the universities of Twente and Nijmegen have contributed to the research on which this book is based

Attaining business alignment in information technology innovations led by line-of-business managers

With the advent of digital technologies, the line-of-business (LOB) managers have a unique opportunity to innovate by developing LOB specific technology applications. While this is opportune for the LOBs, such myopic innovations often yield conflicts with the corporate IT strategy, creating a mis-alignment. Past literature argues that for IT innovations to create firm performance, they must attain a high degree of IT-business alignment. With a backdrop of growing prevalence of digital technologies, corporate compliance and security reaching highest levels of importance, this research investigates how firms encourage LOB-led innovations, while maintaining corporate IT-business alignment. Using data from four cases, the study provides early insights into LOB-led innovation process and three alignment types emanating from LOB-led innovation

Planning strategically, designing architecturally : a framework for digital library services

In an era of unprecedented technological innovation and evolving user expectations and information seeking behaviour, we are arguably now an online society, with digital services increasingly common and increasingly preferred. As a trusted information provider, libraries are in an advantageous position to respond, but this requires integrated strategic and enterprise architecture planning, for information technology (IT) has evolved from a support role to a strategic role, providing the core management systems, communication networks, and delivery channels of the modern library. Further, IT components do not function in isolation from one another, but are interdependent elements of distributed and multidimensional systems encompassing people, processes, and technologies, which must consider social, economic, legal, organisational, and ergonomic requirements and relationships, as well as being logically sound from a technical perspective. Strategic planning provides direction, while enterprise architecture strategically aligns and holistically integrates business and information system architectures. While challenging, such integrated planning should be regarded as an opportunity for the library to evolve as an enterprise in the digital age, or at minimum, to simply keep pace with societal change and alternative service providers. Without strategy, a library risks being directed by outside forces with independent motivations and inadequate understanding of its broader societal role. Without enterprise architecture, it risks technological disparity, redundancy, and obsolescence. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this conceptual paper provides an integrated framework for strategic and architectural planning of digital library services. The concept of the library as an enterprise is also introduced

Orchestration of External Resources

The way economic value is created is fundamentally changing. As a result of increased utilization of resources of suppliers and partners, the cost of purchased goods and services can be even 70-80% of revenue. These suppliers and partners producing the majority of the costs, value and innovation of a company can be considered as the external resources of a company. Management of external resources is problematic for companies, as rules which apply for internal management do not apply as such. At the same time relying on pure market approaches is neither a sufficient approach. From a governance model theory perspective new, network and hybrid forms have emerged.  In the research reported here, the practices for management of upstream external resources are investigated from a focal company perspective. The research is scoped around practices of a manufacturing company. The research question is: How a focal company can manage its supplier base in different managerial situations?  Findings of this research demonstrate that the concept of orchestration is relevant from the external resource management point of view, and it can be identified empirically. The concept of orchestration is characterized as an activity, where a company is intentionally leading and influencing its external resources beyond the set of operative activities it conducts itself.  In order to develop a strategy for external resource management, a firm must identify and define its business objectives. This should be done both from the overall company perspective, and also for each of the buyer-supplier relationships, choosing between innovation focus and cost competitiveness focus. Additionally, the business objectives must be combined with an intended governance approach in order to develop an appropriate strategy for external resource management. As a part of this research, a categorization model for management situations is developed. The buyer-supplier relationships can be arranged according to the dimensions of relationship focus – between cost and innovation, and governance approach – between bilateral and unilateral governance. For each of the situations it is necessary to adapt a suitable managerial practice. Findings from the research suggest, that the practices related to orchestration of external resources can be divided to four broader clusters: value positioning, product and network architecture, relationship governance practices, and operative management practices.Taloudellista arvon luomisen tavat ovat muutoksessa perustavaa laatua olevalla tavalla. Toimittajien ja kumppanien osuus arvontuotannosta kasvaa niin, että yrityksen ulkopuolelta hankittujen tavaroiden ja palveluiden osuus voi olla jopa 70-80% liikevaihdosta. Näitä toimittajia ja kumppaneita, jotka tuottavat suurimman osan sekä kustannuksista että monesti myös innovaatioista, voidaan pitää yrityksen ulkoisina resursseina. Ulkoisten resurssien hallinta on ongelmallista pääosalle yrityksistä, sillä sisäisiä toimintatapoja ei voida hyödyntää sellaisenaan ulkoisten kumppanien kanssa. Samalla kuitenkin myöskään puhtaasti markkinaehtoiset toimintamallit eivät ole riittäväviä ulkoisten resurssien johtamiseen. Johtamisen näkökulmasta on syntynyt uusia teoreettisia malleja, mm verkostoon perustuvia hallintamalleja sekä hybridimalleja. Tässä tutkimuksessa on selvitetty käytäntöjä ulkoisten resurssien hallintaan, keskittyen valmistavan yrityksen arvoketjun alkupäähän. Tutkimus on tehty ydinyrityksen näkökulmasta. Tutkimuskysymys on: Miten ydinyritys voi johtaa ulkoisia resurssejaan erilaisissa liiketoimintatilanteissa?  Tämän tutkimuksen löydökset keskittyvät neljän teeman ympärille. Tulokset osoittavat, että orkesteroinnin käsitteellä on merkitystä ulkoisesta resurssien hallinnan kannalta, ja että käsitteen mukaista toimintaa voidaan tunnistaa empiirisesti. Käsite orkesterointi luonnehtii toimintaa, jossa yritys tarkoituksellisesti johtaa ja vaikuttaa toimittajiinsa ja partnereihinsa tavoilla, jotka menevät perinteistä operatiivisen toimintaa pidemmälle ja laajentavat perinteistä toimittajaverkoston johtamisen sisältöä.  Jotta voitaisiin kehittää asianmukainen strategia ulkoisten resurssien hallintaan, yrityksen on tunnistettava ja määriteltävä sen liiketoiminnan kokonaistavoitteet. Erityisesti tulee määritellä painottuminen innovaatioiden ja kustannuskilpailukykyyn keskittymisen välillä. Lisäksi liiketoiminnan tavoitteet on yhdistettävä tavoiteltuun johtamisotteeseen. Osana tätä tutkimusta kehitettiin luokittelumalli johtamistilanteiden tunnistamiseksi. Ostaja-toimittajasuhteet voidaan järjestää tämän mallin dimensioiden mukaan. Vastaavasti orkesterointikäytännöt voidaan mukauttaa tilanteeseen sopiviksi johtamisprofiileiksi. Tutkimus osoittaa, että ulkoisten resurssien orkesterointikäytännöt voidaan jakaa neljään laajempaan ryhmään: arvon tuottamisen strategiaan, tuotteen ja verkon arkkitehtuurin johtamiseen, suhteen hallinnointiin, sekä operatiivisen rajapinnan käytäntöihin. Nämä neljä ryhmää käytäntöjä muodostavat perustan ulkoisten resurssien orkestroinnille

An Exploration of Enterprise Architecture Research

Management of the enterprise architecture has become increasingly recognized as a crucial part of both business and IT management. Still, a common understanding and methodological consistency seems far from being developed. Acknowledging the significant role of research in moving the development process along, this article employs different bibliometric methods, complemented by an extensive qualitative interpretation of the research field, to provide a unique overview of the enterprise architecture literature. After answering our research questions about the collaboration via co-authorships, the intellectual structure of the research field and its most influential works, and the principal themes of research, we propose an agenda for future research based on the findings from the above analyses and their comparison to empirical insights from the literature. In particular, our study finds a considerable degree of co-authorship clustering and a positive impact of the extent of co-authorship on the diffusion of works on enterprise architecture. In addition, this article identifies three major research streams and shows that research to date has revolved around specific themes, while some of high practical relevance receive minor attention. Hence, the contribution of our study is manifold and offers support for researchers and practitioners alike

Correlating Architecture Maturity and Enterprise Systems Usage Maturity to Improve Business/IT Alignment

This paper compares concepts of maturity models in the areas of Enterprise Architecture and Enterprise Systems Usage. We investigate whether these concepts correlate, overlap and explain each other. The two maturity models are applied in a case study. We conclude that although it is possible to fully relate constructs from both kinds of models, having a mature architecture function in a company does not imply a high Enterprise Systems Usage maturity

IT Leadership in Transition - The Impact of Digitalization on Finnish Organizations

Digitalization is transforming business models across industries. As information technology (IT) is becoming embedded in products and services, IT leadership has an increasingly dualistic role in supporting the organization and also serving its customers' changing needs. The ACIO research program studied how Finnish industry and public sector organizations utilize information technology in developing and managing critical business capabilities. The focus was on understanding and analyzing contemporary approaches to IT leadership. This research report summarizes some of the key research findings, providing scholars and practitioners with insights into and understanding of digitalization and changes in IT leadership in Finnish informationintensive organizations

Understanding organisational use of IT/IS for demand and supply chain management in a MNC pharmaceutical company

Demand supply chain management (DSCM), which integrates market segmentation with supply chain strategy supported by proper alignment in organizational configuration, is regarded by researchers as the next stage of evolution of supply chain management. Through an exploratory case study of the pharmaceutical industry, this study investigates the role of information systems / information technology (IS/IT) as an enabler of DSCM. The findings reveal that there is little alignment between IS and supply chain strategy even though technology is used widely in the company that is investigated. The lack of alignment has prevented the organisation from being DSCM capable. The study highlights the impacts of lack of alignment between IS and DSCM and helps practitioners understand the implications