The Role of Business Architecture in Strategic Planning · The Role of Business Architecture in Strategic Planning Business Architecture Information Day March 21st 2012

The Role of Business Architecture in Strategic Planning

Business Architecture Information Day

March 21st 2012

About Export Development Canada (EDC)

Canada’s fully self-funded export credit agency

Sole purpose is to develop & expand Canada’s international trade

Operates like a bank & insurance company with about 1100 staff

Serves 8,200 Cdn companies - 80% small & medium sized

Offers financial tools, trade expertise, market connections

Increasingly partnering with other financial institutions

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The Challenge

Siloed lines of business controlling their own IT budgets created custom systems tailored to own processes & data definitions

Shift to customer & process centricity highlighted problems Could not share data in key areas to get consistent customer / corporate views

Legacy systems not built to handle increased demand for flexibility

Built on separate platforms

Increasingly costly to maintain, heavy reliance on inhouse staff

IT budget split across LOBs created redundant support & reinforced LOB tactical rather than corporate strategic investment

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The Approach

Develop EDC Core Value Chain

Align LOB functions

Identify gaps & overlaps in IT support

Reduce redundancy by standardizing on viable single-instance systems or building shared corporate SOA services

Improve information flow through the value chain

Migrate to stable technology platforms

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The Picture – EDC Current-Future States circa 2008

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The Strategy – application refactoring

Current Future

Lean Processes

Data Management

Retire Redundancies

Application Refactoring

Business Services

Roadmaps

Duplicated data sources, redundant capability support,

complex integration, misaligned process design

Rationalized data sources and capability support, SOA

in place of data synchronization, process-

centric design

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What happened?

General support, formation of a Business Architecture Review Committee made up of cross-LOB VPs

Corporate funding secured

What do we do first? System A, B or C?

Uh oh. Despite business transformation driver & support, no traction Functionality focus undermined redundancy - is this really the same as that?

Logical non sequitur: “What is the future state of system A when A is gone?”

No help rationalizing the data

No help knowing which processes to keep, which to reform, which to abandon

Reams of technical roadmaps, no business confidence = no business initiative

Core value chain was incomplete view of organization & too process-oriented

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New Approach

3rd party review: sound strategy, misguided approach

Introduced Business Capabilities Mapping Comprehensive view of EDC business architecture – end-to-end relational view

What the business does not Who or How – cut through d-m paralysis

Connects people, process, tech, info – filled gaps in previous framework

Aligned toolset – Capabilities, Value Streams, Lean processes, Info mapping

Let processes be processes, and business strategies come to the forefront

Leveraged business strategies to reframe the IT strategy From “application refactoring” to “closing gap between existing systems and new

business processes”

Stop talking about IT roadmaps, start talking in consistent business vocabulary

IT roadmaps become the outcome, not the focal point - much less contentious

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Revised Picture (where did IT go?)

Provide Solutions Custom

er, P

artner P

rosp

ect,

Cus

tom

er,

Par

tner

Create Interest &

Awareness

Identify & Qualify Lead

Identify Customer

Need Develop the Solution Secure the

Business

End-to-End EDC Value Stream (aka Core Value Chain)

Administer Policy Define & Confirm Opportunity

Administer Solution

Manage Changes

Retire Solution

LOB Lean Value Streams

Review Buyer File

Request Info & Update Buyer File

Analyze Buyer

Information

Manager Review of

File

Endorse Request

Approve Request

Issue Offer AM Deal Segmentation

Service Deal

Facility Underwriting

Close Deal Facility Monitoring & Surveillance

Assess & Triage Deal

UW Assignment

Analyze Deal

Approve Deal

Disburse Funds Close Loan

Analyze Deal

Approve Deal

Send Offer

Activate Policy

Bonding

Loans

Insurance

- Credit Granting

Business Capabilities invoked by Value Streams

•Solution Pipeline Mgt •Solution Request Mgt •Solution Qualification •Solution Info Mgt

Request for Buyer Credit

•Solution Structuring •Solution Risk Assessment •Solution Pricing •Solution Info Mgt

•Marketing Communications •Lead & Opportunities Management •Customer Information Management

•Solution Fulfillment •Solution Monitoring •Solution Administration •Solution Info Mgt

Marketing LOM

Marketing LOM

Marketing LOM

Expire Facility

Expire Policy

•Claims Management •Capital Management •Finance Management

•Solution Retirement •Solution Offering •Solution Billing Mgt •Solution Info Mgt

What we learned

Talking about IT is an addiction on both sides but IT is a means to a business outcome – is that outcome well understood?

Get out of a comfort zone and force the conversation to be in business language, about the business architecture

Identify the business strategy & business solutions, apply a predictable set of solution principles, and technology issues largely take care of themselves

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