Lengo’s Question Based Architecture Tm

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CONTENTS

OVERVIEW                                                                                        3

PROBLEM STATEMENT                                                                                3

PROPOSED SOLUTION                                                                                4

FUTURE DIRECTION / LONG TERM FOCUS                                                        6

RESULTS / CONCLUSIONS                                                                        6

Overview

This paper discusses how Lengo has created a new approach to architecture in the journey from goals to delivery that bridges the gaps in existing popular frameworks.

Problem Statement

The journey from delivering the goals set by the executive board through successful change projects is made on a path of information gathered and decisions on that information. This path is often vague which means that information is often missing and more decisions are made subjectively on gut feel rather than objectively on hard facts. The result of this is that risk is introduced into the system meaning excessive cost, project overrun, or failure to meet those goals.

Many organizations find that they get so far through the change project lifecycle and find that important questions are poorly answered, haven’t been asked at all, or answered at the wrong time.

Information is often gathered and expressed in unstructured form often containing poorly defined diagrams and text without guidance or standards. Deliverables lack structure and their objectives unclear or not properly orchestrated in the chain. This creates a situation where there are gaps in the information, ambiguity and lack of clarity.

Enterprise and solution architecture attempts to solve this problem with structured thinking. However, although there are the beginnings of standards that cover an outline process and language on how to describe an enterprise, there is a lack of detail on the techniques and how value is added.

Proposed Solution

The solution is to go back to basics and lay out the questions that need to be asked during this journey and define well explained deliverables that contain the answers to those questions.

Lengo’s Question Based Architecture TM is a framework and methodology that sets the standard for architecture deliverables and introduces clarity for both the technical and business stakeholders.  Starting with the goals of the organization through to the delivery of projects, Question Based Architecture attempts to reduce cost and risk to the business.

The heart of this approach is to ensure that the right questions are asked at the right times through the cycle. In our approach we have a series of processes and gates where questions are asked and answered within deliverables.

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The first part of the journey to Gate 00 is to define the portfolio of projects that will be carried out in the business. From Gate 0 onwards each project will take its own path. This approach applies to change projects that are business only or business and IT.[pic 7]

For each segment there are

• Processes that ask questions and answer them in deliverables such as a solution architecture document or an RFI.
• Gates that ask questions of the deliverables and determine whether the project can pass that gate or not.

Based on the experiences of enterprise architecture we have built a framework of questions and a methodology to provide reliable answers via standardized deliverables to support the processes. Likewise, for the gates as key decision points to assess the solution.

Question Based Architecture brings together the best aspects of TOGAF, ArchiMate, COBIT, enhanced with our techniques to produce a powerful new framework to produce a clear set of standards and deliverables to move the organization forward with reduced cost and reduced risk.

Strategy

The ability to support IT strategy is the cornerstone of the Question Based Architecture framework.  All the answers from every question and deliverable have traceability back to the IT and business strategy. It is imperative that organizations understand where investment is made and maximize that in change that is strategic.

Deliverables

A standard repository of architecture questions has been created to provide clarity in producing and understanding the solution architect deliverables that are required as a part of a project.  These questions may be gathered into deliverables such as:

• Strategy Documents
• Business Process Documents
• Request For Information
• Business Case
• High Level Solution Architecture
• Request For Proposal
• Detailed Solution Architecture
• Architecture Decisions

The questions are framed to force the architect to consider the solution in terms of the enterprise and arrive at an answer that is clear, traceable and easy to assess.

Assessments

The risk to the organization of failure in the above journey can be assessed by reviewing the following:

• Process Questions

• These are the questions that are used to describe the what is required to be delivered between the gating milestones.  The answers to these questions will form content of the deliverables such as the High Level Architecture Document. E.g. "What business objectives will this initiative satisfy?"

• Gating Questions

• These are the questions used to identify what is required to advance past a strategic gate/milestone.  For example, "Do the benefits outweigh the costs and risk of this initiative?"

• Mechanism Questions

• These are questions to assess the ability of the organization to deliver in terms of overall workflow, organization and methodology.  For example, "Does the organization use a standard SDLC?", "Are the people qualified to gather requirements trained in the approach?"[pic 8]

The gating structure, processes and deliverables of every organization may be different but notionally the process questions should have been answered satisfactorily and gate questions asked in a similar sequence. In addition, the people can be assessed in terms of their skills, the change workflows assessed and the methodology used to answer the questions.