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Take this book's manifesto and
nail it to the door of the board room.
Decree that business management will no longer stand in the dark and
let IT deliver automation under the cloak of arcane computer applications.
Available from
Also available: discounted copies direct from the publisher.
info @ mkpress.com
Description
If you are a business
manager who is not sure how to coordinate and work with your Information
Technology providers, then this book was written for you. You will learn how
business managers can understand and control Information Technology to avoid the
implementation of solutions that hamper the organization's agility. You may be
astonished by the true stories of how Information Technology detrimentally
operates when under the pressure of management deadlines.
Coverage
includes:
--- Why duct tape solutions
are sometimes needed in the short term, but should not be retained as a future
solution.
--- How measuring only
deadlines and budget can result in poor solutions.
---
How computer applications have
made the work of Information Technology invisible to business management.
---
How the architectural approach
of Service-Oriented Architecture and Business Process Management can give
business management visibility into the organization's computing resources.
--- Why Information Technology
development needs to move from a construction metaphor to that of a continuously
running factory.
--- Why estimating Information
Technology efforts can be so difficult and how it can be done better.
--- How to avoid the
sluggishness of monolithic solutions.
--- Why the transition to this
new approach will require a major culture shift for both business management and
Information Technology.
--- The basics of Information
Technology planning.
--- The need to be aware of
the changing technology environment being driven by the Internet.
---
A
manifesto of actions to understand and take control of Information Technology.
Apollo 13, scheduled to be
the third lunar landing, was launched at 1:13 P.M. Houston time on Saturday,
April 11, 1970. This mission introduced another phrase into our culture,
"Houston, we have a problem." This phrase was given by James Lovell, the
commander of the mission. An explosion had taken place that would deprive the
crew of oxygen.
The Apollo missions required two spacecrafts to go to the moon, the Command
Module and the Lunar Lander. The astronauts could only return to earth in
the Command Module, but the Command Module of Apollo 13 had been damaged and
needed oxygen from the Lunar Lander. This problem has been described as placing
a square peg in a round hole because the Command Module connector was square and
the Lunar Lander was round. The engineers on the ground working with the
astronauts came up with an adapter devised of plastic bags, cardboard, and tape.
How important was the tape? It held the entire air duct together and saved the
lives of the crew.
This book is not about the heroic use of tape; it is about the aftermath of the
events that drive us to use duct tape when there are deadlines. For the
astronauts, there was a clear and well-defined deadline. When the oxygen ran
out, they would die. This was a time of sur-vival, a time for innovation, a time
to defy the odds. But what happened on the Apollo missions that followed? Did
they double the amount of tape carried on board? Did they begin to manufacture
adapters made of plastic bags, cardboard, and tape? Of course not, NASA is
better than that and so are you.
NASA investigated the root cause of the catastrophic event and made corrections
before the next mission. As great as the innovation was, it was only for
immediate survival, not a long term solution. There was no spin-off company
designing adapters.
Have you spoken with your IT providers lately about their adapters?
This book is about following the principles to survive in the short term without
getting so wrapped up in duct tape that the business loses its agility in the
future. It is about managing the IT function from a business perspective. How
much do you know about IT? Do you have independent IT audits? Do you understand
the principle of technical debt? Are you running a business or a technology art
show? These are some of the questions that are addressed in this book.
The Manifesto of Actions:
Business Management will:
1. Provide the business leadership for IT.
2. Keep the organization agile to meet the changing business environment by
identifying and avoiding duct tape solutions.
3. Direct the development and continuous improve-ment of end-to-end business
processes that utilize sub-processes and business services.
4. Require the visualization of all IT-developed or purchased services and
processes within the context of the business model.
5. Follow a manufacturing approach to the design of the development and
production factories.
6. Set deadlines only after acquiring a complete under-standing of solutions and
estimates weighing the potential use of duct tape against future agility.
7. Require the packaging of all automated services to be within the business
domains and sub-domains rather than packaging as specific applications.
8. Recognize that culture change will be difficult for the entire organization.
9. Provide the planning and governance to assure that IT operates within the
high-level plan by jointly developing the plan and by approving all projects and
exceptions to the plan.
10. Pay close attention to the revenue opportunities driven by the growing
community acceptance of the new Internet technologies.
Table of Contents
PREFACE
1. HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!
2. YOU GET WHAT YOU MEASURE
3. THE INVISIBLE PRODUCT
4. MAKING THE PRODUCT VISIBLE
5. THE FACTORY FLOOR
6. ESTIMATING THE UNKNOWN
7. MONOLITHIC DISASTER
8. CULTURE CONFLICT
9. PLANNING, PLANNING, PLANNING
10. THE NEXT BIG CHANGE
11. THE MANIFESTO
INDEX
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TOM TINSLEY is a visionary with decades of experience in
software development, as a manager, and as an Enterprise Architect.
After years of managing Information Technology as a Vice President
in Banking and as a Director in State Government, Tom turned to
strategy, mentoring, and governance as an Enterprise Architect. He
has led Enterprise Architecture in the retail industry and the media
industry to achieve a common vision for the use of computing
technology to meet business goals. His passion has been to bridge
the gap between business management and Information Technology. Tom
has published many business-technology documents and given many
presentations to further the awareness of new opportunities and the
application of best practices. He recognizes the need for business
management to play a greater role in the actions of Information
Technology. He sees this as a win-win, where business management can
focus on servicing customers, and Information Technology can focus
on providing reliable, high-performance, automated services to
support that goal.
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