Enabling Platform

The complex set of technologies enabling today’s business need not be complicated. (See http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_berlow_how_complexity_leads_to_simplicity.html for a perspective on complex v complicated.)

Our observations of enterprise technology implementations reveal a preference for a rather simplistic approach of finding the best available technology solution for any specific problem area. Somehow these blinkered views of the problem space are expected to aggregate into a superior and enabling infrastructure for running a business. But mostly, this is a recipe for a fragmented and fractured collection of technology knick-knacks barely supporting the business processes at quite a cost.

For a business, there’s rarely one primary technology piece, but the technology initiatives are often run as if the current is the killer one. Case in point is ERP. ERP as an infrastructure for handling the business transactions is, of course, a key and a critical element for business enablement – but we have always asked more from technology and to achieve the competitive advantages or higher business efficiencies many more elements need to be orchestrated. Also, it is convenient (and misguided) to think of information systems as one other piece in the business’ jig-saw, a view that completely ignores the all-permeating nature of IT and end-less dependencies that information systems have.

This is complicated, nay, complex. This quagmire is compounded by presence of immense and ever-evolving technology options and the fact that parts of business may not fathom technology impact on business as a whole. Information technology is increasingly business critical and, of course, technology is a business decision. That, business process architecture is a key success factor, cannot be ignored.

Embracing complexity is the first step leading to emergence of simple solutions. One needs to step back (and, not dive deeper) and and take an overall view. The Platform Vision model allows us to do that being a method to discern, comprehensively, the business and technology architecture components. The knowledge about various industry verticals, major technology and services vendors and the value parameters for business impact can be, thus, used to ascertainment of best mix of business process and technology components.

This can lead to a roadmap for an enabling technology platform for business as the considerations of best fit and value along with technical and business dependencies, interoperability concerns and technology futures can be adequately addressed.

These Eventful Five Years

We recently completed (on July 1) five years of operations as Advaiya. As we celebrated this milestone for the organization and for the team members who have travelled along this journey, we did look back through these years with nostalgia and pride. During these years, the organization has indeed seen growth, and successes and failures, but most importantly we have matured into a community of passionate professionals, working with whom is rewarding, stimulating, and fun.

Platform Vision

At Advaiya, we have enormous opportunities to observe,  analyze and influence how businesses use technology. These experiences, coupled with our unifying thought approach, have lead to crystallization of many ‘patterns’ allowing us to view enterprise information technology in a uniquely harmonious manner. Platform Vision attempts to surface some such insights.

The Platform Vision is also a framework enabling a very practical way to classify, assess and plan technology and knowledge assets. As such, this facilitates a seamless enterprise architecture approach for business value. The trick here has been to build a perspective which is not based on typical application silos (horizontal or vertical or any of their specific combination) but on specific business benefits that any piece of bundle of technology has potential to bring.

Thus, we identified over-arching technology patterns and their various component patterns. We set out to develop required approaches which can result in unifying the component patterns, unlocking the business value. We analyze the relationships—the dependencies and synergies—between these patterns to bring about one unified view of IT, regardless of umpteen applications, vendors or departments.

The value in this is enormous. The framework can be applied with ease, progressively or directly, at any level, that is, for a specific implementation, applications, their bundle or entire enterprise. The inherent knowledge base allows assessment from the point of view of value to business. It helps in identifying cost-effective steps forward towards a definable technology future.