Agenda

  1. Roll Call (by time zone - East to West)
  2. Scribe Shout-out - It's easy to scribe: How To Scribe Itana Notes
  3. Main Topic - Driving Solution Meetings
  4. Itana Business
    1. New2EA 2024
    2. Steering Committee Updates
    3. Working Groups: 


Attendees

Announcements - Itana News, Working Group Report out

  • New to EA - The program has kicked off and had 2 meetings. 
  • Business Architecture - meetings happening please join
  • Steering Committee update - change in topic for the Dec. 8th meeting.  Educause top 10.  

Topic Title: Driving Solution Meetings

Slides link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tqOrQtVIK0ojAYu5CzZ31Tm73R83_mLvF4lUs2db05I/edit#slide=id.p1

  • What is a solution? Approach to address a business or tech need that delivers value
  • Approach Architecture as practice – work to get better, sport analogy
    • What are you playing - know the game you are playing, the kind of game
      • Influences the kind of meetings
      • May have different scales/risks and that will influence your role as architect
    • What are the rules – know the rules of the game
      • What are constraints, things like time, money, etc.
    • Who are the players (stakeholders/power brokers in the room)
      • Who should be in the room? Driver of project, domain experts, project manager, BA, SME, who is the target audience.
      • Different types of architects from technical to Enterprise and focus on strategic vs. tactical.
    • How do you show value (keeping score)
    • When does it start/when is it over – how do you know, how does work come in to the architecture effort. Slide of intake flow for architecture work. 
    • What is the relationship to the other things going on
    • What skills are useful
      • Listening
      • Facilitating
      • Time management
    • Equipment
      • Whiteboard/markers
      • Flip charts
      • Postits
      • Hybrid – still nice to have people in person if possible
        • Body language, getting coffee together, etc.
      • What to bring to the meeting
        • Goals of project/institution
        • Current state analysis of it exists
        • If have it future state view
        • Any relevant system diagrams
        • Key data requirements
        • Known risks, issues, tech debt
      • At the end of the meeting
        • Clarified goals
        • Updated requirements
        • High level drawings
        • Draft roadmaps
        • Next steps
        • People to loop in
      • Plan
        • Follow on meetings
  • image shared by Jeff as we were talking about the various types of architecture and the continuum between technical to enterprise.  Some chatter in the chat about how different institutions handle job titles and the types of architects at various institutions.  

Questions / Comments:

  • Not being in the game from the start as an architect (coming in as a sub), architecture sometimes isn’t consulted early on, can come in after the decision has been made. We all feel the earlier the better and the more influence that can be had on ultimate outcome.
  • Continuum of architects – what they do, and their focus. How that may differ from institution to institution.

Explored 3 scenarios as a group:

  • Peoplesoft is going eol, customized over 15+ years, central management, distributed SME expertise among the schools.
    • Can you have more than the 2 years or is it a hard stop?
    • 1st meeting keep tech people away, this is a seismic shift, expensive and disruptive.
    • Crazy convoluted processes that have come along as cruft to this point, process redesign.
    • Principles at the executive level that were agreed to
      • Best practices in the solutions, and institution adopts best practice (help to adapt away from old practices customizations)
      • How are we going to behave around this work
    • Not an IT project – business transformation project. High level sponsors, let the vendor lead on best practices and coach, augment with professional services who have done it before, and leverage tech staff as well. 
    • Do things from a business process, stop with the duct tape and baling wire to try and recreate the previous experience from before. Go to the questions of why we do things one way, and how should we be doing it, rather than re-creating what was there before. 
  • Capital planning and budgeting looking to replace current solution w/ SaaS, act as project management, tie to procurement system, connect with suppliers
    • Already assumed that something will be bought
    • Some requirements already determined.
    • Understand what the drivers are.
    • Disconnect between Design, construction, maintenance arms. So thinking needs of stakeholders that may not be included in the current project statement. 
    • What is the problem they are trying to solve. What outcome are they trying to drive.  Job may be to step back to understand the drivers of the change. 
  • Grad ceremony, ticket list to stadium, people accept, tie to ticketmaster, commencement team non-technical.
    • Time bound solution – date is critical
    • Privacy concerns of data exchanged with an outside entity.
    • Outsourcing – what can you leverage with outside expertise
    • Can this one be quick and dirty for this round, rather than making it a major project?
    • What is the business need, how do we address it.
    • Careful of the emerging requirements that weren’t disclosed in the beginning


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