The definitive source for your Enterprise Architecture Practice.

“Reaching the Pinnacle: A Methodology of Business Understanding, Technology Planning, and Change (Implementing and Managing Enterprise Architecture).”

by Samuel, B. Holcman

Reaching the Pinnacle: A Methodology of Business Understanding, Technology Planning, and Change (Implementing and Managing Enterprise Architecture)

Foreword;

How does an organization gain an advantage over its competition? I have often heard from people in the information technology community suggest it comes through increased “agility.” Contrary to this popular belief, I do not believe that agility necessarily means handcrafting information systems faster and/or smaller. While both fast and small can be helpful – neither of these are the critical component. Agility means being able to react to internal demands, external opportunities, and threats faster and less expensively than the competition. Decades of history, outside of the information technology community, have shown, that for an organization to become more flexible (agile), two key elements are required: (1) architecture and (2) “assemble to order” (building and manufacturing) processes. I have come to believe these are the essential elements of agility for businesses in the future.

I first met Sam Holcman, and the Pinnacle Business Group, Inc. decades ago. When I ran across their work in Enterprise Architecture, I “liked” it (this was well before Facebook) but could not fully figure out why until I had a one-on-one meeting with Sam in Detroit, Michigan, one afternoon. After a few minutes of polite banter, we started talking about my background, my training as a lawyer, and his background as an engineer. I remember grabbing a marker pen and diagramming the process that lawyers go through, laying out a legal case to a jury. The process involves developing a logical path for the jury to follow, from the initial framing of the essential issues in the case to creating an understanding of the relevant evidence, which then usually leads to a story that weaves together the critical elements with the relevant laws, and then ideally to a conclusion. This process sometimes involves taking something of significant complexity, describing or breaking it down into bite-size chunks in a manner that people with possibly no direct knowledge of the subject area can understand.

When this is done skillfully by a good lawyer, a jury of average citizens can usually handle cases of enormous complexity and confusing details. On a parallel board, Sam laid out his Enterprise Architecture process. The legal process I described, and the Enterprise Architecture process he described, were startlingly similar. Smiles came to both of our faces!

This book is about architecture – enterprise architecture. Be careful to not confuse this with enterprise IT architecture commonly discussed within a CIO’s organization; this is about true, business-driven enterprise architecture. Enterprise Architecture is like a blueprint, explicitly representing the business opportunities, needs, and desires and the transformations of these opportunities into solutions, some of which are technology-based. It is about understanding something very complex (the Enterprise), describing it in a manner that is both understandable to the business and the technologists (laying out the case), and developing a set of move-ahead initiatives (projects) to move the Enterprise to its desired state (the conclusion).

The concepts Sam Holcman, the Pinnacle Business Group, Inc., and its subsidiaries present in this book deserve consideration. This is a book of action, not surveys or choices – moving from theory to implementation. The book offers a no-nonsense, direct, and easy-to-follow approach to Enterprise Architecture. The Enterprise Architecture process presented is both theoretically sound and actual-practice refined. Nothing is wasted – no “architecture for architectures” sake, just architecture for helping the business run better. Enterprise Architecture is clearly presented as a forward-looking process dealing with enterprise issues - not a cumbersome process that generates lots of documentation that nobody reads. I believe that the clear approach presented in this book will increase the likelihood that you will produce an understandable and usable Enterprise Architecture – from both a business and technology perspective.

As Sam often says, Enterprise Architecture is about understanding complexity – enterprise complexity. Your Enterprise is complex – the methodology to understand it should not be! Let me close with a quote that is attributable to both Albert Einstein and E. F. Schumacher:

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.”

This book is moving Enterprise Architecture in the opposite direction (the right direction)! My best as you pursue your Enterprise Architecture development and implementation efforts.

Tony Scott

Former Corporate VP and CIO

Microsoft Corporation

On Reaching the Pinnacle

My first experience with Enterprise Architecture was influential to many aspects of my career. I had the opportunity to work with the book’s author, Sam Holcman, as he not only taught my team about EA, but also worked with us in the practical application of the principles. I used EA as the cornerstone in developing a business and IT strategy for the company I was working for. We were able to take the concepts and apply them at all levels of the organization using Pinnacle’s EA methodology in order to define and align the company strategy for the next 5 years. Beyond that initial experience, I’ve found many practical uses for an “architected” type of thinking and approach to leading teams, organizing efforts, explaining problems, and creating solutions. I can honestly say that because of my initial attendance in Sam Holcman’s EA training class and one-on-one work with him, my career and my capabilities to positively impact the company I work for have both been enhanced greatly.

Ed Rybicki

Director, Process Integration

Information Technology Process and Organization Volkswagen

This book hits all of the relevant topics for implementing and managing Enterprise Architecture need by the modern EA professional. The coverage of the Pinnacle Business Group, Inc / EACOE methodology for business understanding, technology planning, and change is excellent – a much-needed component in the toolkit of today’s EA professional.

Brian H. Cameron, Ph.D.

Executive Director, Center for Enterprise Architecture, Penn State University

Founding President, Federation for Enterprise Architecture Professional Organizations

The Enterprise Framework TM in reality!

Through the years as an IT professional, I have seen strategies of IT departments focus primarily on cost reductions activities. The focus or trend of a non-revenue generating operation (as IT is viewed) is to deliver and support IT at lower operational costs. The big contradiction is that IT is still expected to provide the same services, preferable at improved quality (better) and at greater speed to market (faster). The focus is on the task or project, not on what makes up the Enterprise.

Technology is an enabler of the business’s strategy. It is intertwined with the Enterprise’s operations. In most cases the impact of decisions made within one department or business function is not well understood across the Enterprise. Adding two more floors to your house will not work well without knowing if the foundation of the house can support it. In IT, we add and remove floors all the time without understanding the overall impact to the Enterprise. Only through established blueprints of the architecture and proper engineering will you know the impact of the planned action. How many Enterprise “blueprints” equals the blueprint of a house?

The reason large centralized business applications, data center consolidations and outsourcing of services do not provide the expected savings and becomes challenging to manage, is because of the lack of knowledge of the overall picture. These are projects that often are initiated to save costs and improve operations. They are isolated initiatives that make sense on paper. Everybody do these things so we should do them too. They might make complete sense. However, without knowing “why the Enterprise do what they do, how do we do what we do, or need to do, what things are of interest to us, who is of interest to us, where are the locations of interest to us and when are we required to do what we do” we are making decisions in the dark.

The Enterprise Framework represents a shift in thinking. To me it was one of those “light bulb” moments where you realize this is the way to do it. The Enterprise Framework isn’t difficult to understand, it is not difficult to practice and it is cheap! No need to make expensive investment in software to be able to apply it to your organization or processes. The challenge is to get people to see the simplicity and be willing to change how we have been doing it for years. Henry Ford represented a shift in thinking for how to build cars. While all other manufactures were doing custom made cars, Ford revolutionized the manufacturing process through building one car for everybody. A different approach but made completely sense. The Enterprise Framework works the same way.

Jon Myklebust

MIS Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing Competency

Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc.

I have had the pleasure of working with Sam Holcman and the Pinnacle Business Group, Inc. both as a student in one of his classes and partnering with him to launch an EA effort using the Quick Start methodology. Sam brings his wealth of practical experience using the concepts of John Zachman’s work, and elaborations of Zachman’s work in the Enterprise Framework TM, to provide a repeatable process to initiate an EA program. The pragmatic approach laid out in this book enables the practitioner to rapidly develop a thorough understanding and explicit descriptions of organizations in a way that both business and technical resources can easily digest (and collaborate to refine). This gives visibility to opportunities for rationalization and simplification across the enterprise, and ultimately provides a business-driven answer to the all-important question “what do we do tomorrow?” (and next month, and next year) to achieve the organization’s future state goals. Turning sound theory into executable practice, Sam provides a straightforward path for using EA to drive value for the organization.

Jeffery A Gades

Manager, Enterprise Architecture

Practicing Enterprise Architecture can be the most exciting, innovative, and rewarding group in the organization. Unfortunately, it can also be the most frustrating, irrelevant and unsuccessful group as well. Over the past 15 years, I have seen patterns that will predict ultimate success or failure of the EA group. Whether your organization realizes it or not, you have a functioning Enterprise Architecture...the key to success is the degree of documenting the architecture, changing the architecture and using a process to manage the architecture. But not just any process- the process must be a highly visible business facing process that enables corporate strategy. I have personally utilized Sam’s approach to EA during my career as a practicing EA professional. Sam’s process provides practitioners with a clear and actionable planning process utilizing the Enterprise Framework. At several large organizations I’ve been a part of, this methodology allowed us to clearly define the as-is and three year to-be architecture that was driven by business strategy. Sam’s Quick Start Methodology uses the Enterprise Framework, helping you understand which cells to focus your efforts on. Best of luck!

Mike Boeselager

Lead Enterprise Architect

Briggs and Stratton

I am very happy to finally see Sam Holcman’s long-awaited book in print. Written by a practitioner, for practitioners, “Reaching the Pinnacle” is the distillation of Sam’s many years of experience in training enterprise Architecture professionals. The book is solidly grounded in the Zachman framework and the Enterprise Architecture Center of Excellence (EACOE) Quick Start methodology, and every chapter of the book relates to that framework and methodology. Enterprise Architecture is clearly presented as more than just an information technology issue of concern to the CIO, but is instead a tool to facilitate business understanding, strategic planning, and alignment of resources toward the goals of a business.

Dr. Robert A. Walker

Director, School of Digital Sciences

Kent State University

About:

Holcman uses his 40 years of experience as a leading trainer and consultant in enterprise architecture in writing “Reaching the Pinnacle.” “Reaching the Pinnacle” explains how an organization and its important departments can achieve their goals through a series of project initiatives. Holcman offers a simple, easy-to-understand way to implement an enterprise architecture project into one’s organization. “While the approach is not quick — it may take up to a few years to transform an organization — my methodology provides an effective means for moving the organization from its as-is state to its desired state in an iterative manner,” says Holcman.

Holcman’s methods and approaches have been used by numerous Fortune 500 companies and have led him to be the top consultant on the topic. He believes the ‘for practitioners, by practitioners’ approach of “Reaching the Pinnacle” will make the book a crucial resource among business and technology personnel everywhere.

“Reaching the Pinnacle: A Methodology of Business Understanding, Technology Planning, and Change (Implementing and Managing Enterprise Architecture)” is available for sale for $55.00 USD online at Amazon.com, directly from the author, and other channels. REVIEW COPIES AND INTERVIEWS ARE AVAILABLE.

Copyright © 2013 Samuel B Holcman

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

The information in this book is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranty. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, the author shall not have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information or use of the information in this work.

ISBN: 0615669875 ISBN 13: 9780615669878

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012944343 CreateSpace, North Charleston, SC