CONNECTING THE DOTS: FROM BUSINESS ARCHITECTURE TO IT NUTS AND BOLTS Dave Goiffon, Enterprise Architect The Business Architecture Summit December 1, 2016 Confidential and proprietary. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and Blue Plus are nonprofit independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. PRESENTATION GOAL IS TO SHOW: The progression from using business architecture for planning major business transformations to using whole IT lifecycle management for implementing IT changes to enable major business transformations by tightly coupling business architecture to physical applications, components and infrastructure. Confidential and proprietary. CONTENTS Background
Business Capability Planning Framework Business Capability Model and Capability Application Model Capability Model transformation analysis tools Physical applications* and IT configuration management Mapping business architecture to physical applications and configurations Forecasting and tracking application and component lifecycle changes * Hosted in our data center, not in the Cloud. Confidential and proprietary. BACKGROUND: FRAMEWORKS WITH TOP-BOTTOM AND BOTTOM-TOP MAPS NIST Enterprise Architecture Model - 1989 Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture - 1992 Department of Defense (DoD) Architecture Framework (DoDAF) - 1995 The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) - 1995 Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework - 1999
Confidential and proprietary. 4 BACKGROUND: BCBSMN Origins of the company go back to the early 1930s in St. Paul Information technology at Blue Cross Blue Shield began in late 1950s Information systems and infrastructure (IT) incrementally grew and evolved in proportion to company growth and change Optimizing business operations became a high priority in 2014 Multiple year program to enable support of new business strategies Usual incremental operating performance and platform improvements could limit planned business changes Realizing this goal requires EXTENSIVE architecture-IT top-bottom & bottom-top Confidential and proprietary. 5 PARALLEL, INCREMENTAL WORK FLOWS 2014: Goal set to optimize
operating performance via new platforms, processes and metrics. ct u r st n o C Reti re Target State Operating Solutions Emphasis Current State Operating Solutions Optimizing operating performance involves Incremental construction and implementation of target operating solutions
Incremental retirement of current operating solutions Constraint: Retiring current solutions must not disrupt business operations Confidential and proprietary. 6 CONTENTS Background Business Capability Planning Framework Business Capability Model and Capability Application Model Capability Model transformation analysis tools Physical applications and IT configuration management Mapping business architecture to physical applications and configurations Forecasting and tracking application and component lifecycle changes Confidential and proprietary. FEDERAL ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE FRAMEWORK - 1999 Confidential and proprietary.
8 BUSINESS CAPABILITY PLANNING FRAMEWORK Business Capability Click icon to addPlanning picture Framework The BCBS business architecture framework Based on operating models Eight submodels in the complete Business Capability Planning Framework Only two submodels discussed here Descriptions apply to all submodels Application Model
Business Capability Model An abstract and ideally visual representation (model) of how an organization delivers value to its customers or beneficiaries (Wikipedia) Operating Models Datastore Model Technology Model Vendor Ecosystem Model Organization Model Process Model Value Model Confidential and proprietary. 9 QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY BUSINESS CAPABILITY PLANNING FRAMEWORK 1. As a company, what business capabilities do we have?
Confidential and proprietary. 10 BUSINESS CAPABILITY PLANNING FRAMEWORK Business Capability Click icon to addPlanning picture Framework Business Capability Model Operating Models Confidential and proprietary. 11 BUSINESS CAPABILITY MODEL AND CAPABILITY HIERARCHY METAMODEL
L1 Business Capability (9) 1 m L1.L2 Business Capability (47) 1 m L1.L2.L3 Business Capability (230) Defined by the business, for the business
Facilitated, developed and managed by enterprise architects Confidential and proprietary. 12 BUSINESS CAPABILITY MODEL EXAMPLE 6. Manage Back Office Operations 6.3 Manage Billing and Payments 6.3.1 Generate Invoices Confidential and proprietary. 13 QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY BUSINESS CAPABILITY PLANNING FRAMEWORK 1. As a company, what business capabilities do we have? 2. What applications enable business capabilities to operate? Current Application Model and Target Application Model Confidential and proprietary.
14 BUSINESS CAPABILITY PLANNING FRAMEWORK Business Capability Click icon to addPlanning picture Framework Operating Models Business Capability Model Application Model Confidential and proprietary. 15 OPERATING MODEL LAYER: APPLICATION MODEL
Confidential and proprietary. 16 APPLICATION MODEL METAMODEL (9) L1 Business Capability 1 m (47) L2 Business Capability 1 m (230) L3 Business Capability
Enabled by::Enables 0..m 1..m App Role in Capability Confidential and proprietary. Logical Application (~500) Primary Secondary Tertiary 17 SAMPLE APPLICATION MODEL DATA 6. Manage Back Office Operations
6.3 Manage Billing and Payments 6.3.1 Generate Invoices Automated Invoice Generation System (AutoGen) Primary Electronic Invoice Delivery System (IDS-E) Primary Printed Invoice Delivery System (IDS-P) Primary Accounts Receivable Transaction System (ARTS) Secondary Billing Audit Reporting System (BARS) Secondary Confidential and proprietary. 18
QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY BUSINESS CAPABILITY PLANNING FRAMEWORK 1. As a company, what business capabilities do we have? 2. What applications enable business capabilities to operate? Current Application Model and Target Application Model 3. What applications are affected by this transformation (from Current to Target), and how is each affected? Confidential and proprietary. 19 APPLICATION MODEL HEAT MAP Retire Sustain Consolidate Out of scope for this transformation Confidential and proprietary. 20
SAMPLE APPLICATION HEAT MAP DATA 6. Manage Back Office Operations 6.3 Manage Billing and Payments 6.3.1 Generate Invoices Automated Invoice Generation System (AutoGen) Primary Recommendation = Retire Electronic Invoice Delivery System (IDS-E) Primary Recommendation = Retire Printed Invoice Delivery System (IDS-P) Recommendation = Retire Accounts Receivable Transaction System (ARTS)
Secondary Recommendation = Retire Billing-Payment History Viewer (BP Viewer) Secondary Recommendation = Sustain Billing Audit Reporting System (BARS) Primary Recommendation = Retire Confidential and proprietary. Tertiary 21
QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY BUSINESS CAPABILITY PLANNING FRAMEWORK 1. As a company, what business capabilities do we have? 2. What applications enable business capabilities to operate? Current Application Model and Target Application Model 3. What applications are affected by this transformation (from Current to Target), and how is each affected? Application Heat Map Retired, Sustain, Consolidate, Out of scope 4. How and when are current applications changed? Confidential and proprietary. 22 ROADMAPS FOR GETTING FROM CURRENT STATE TO TARGET STATE A roadmap describes how to get from our current state operating models to our target state operating models over time. Current Application Model
Confidential and proprietary. Roadmap Target Operations Business Capability Model Business Capability Model Current Operations Target Application Model w/ App Start Dates Current Application Model w/ App End Dates 23 APPLICATION MODEL METAMODEL
(9) L1 Business Capability 1 m (47) Important properties: Recommended disposition L2 Business Capability (Retire, Sustain, Consolidate) 1 End Date (No longer used; can be retired) m
(230) L3 Business Capability 0..m 1..m App Role in Capability Confidential and proprietary. Logical Application (~500) Major Moderate Minor 24
SAMPLE APPLICATION HEAT MAP DATA 6. Manage Back Office Operations 6.3 Manage Billing and Payments 6.3.1 Generate Invoices Automated Invoice Generation System (AutoGen) Primary Recommendation = Retire; End Date = 2017-09-29 Electronic Invoice Delivery System (IDS-E) Primary Recommendation = Retire; End Date = 2017-09-29 Printed Invoice Delivery System (IDS-P) Recommendation = Retire; End Date = 2017-09-29 Accounts Receivable Transaction System (ARTS)
Secondary Recommendation = Retire; End Date = 2018-03-31 Billing-Payment History Viewer (BP Viewer) Secondary Recommendation = Sustain Billing Audit Reporting System (BARS) Primary Recommendation = Retire; End Date = 2018-12-29 Confidential and proprietary. Tertiary 25
CONTENTS Background Business Capability Planning Framework Business Capability Model and Capability Application Model Capability Model transformation analysis tools Physical applications and IT configuration management Mapping business architecture to physical applications and configurations Forecasting and tracking application and component lifecycle changes Confidential and proprietary. 26 FROM PLANS TO EXECUTION Business architecture operating models work very well for planning and communicating High level, not IT implementation details Business terms, not IT language Logical, not physical However IT cannot execute on operating models
IT needs to know the implemented details Logical applications need to be mapped to physical applications Plans for logical applications need to be transferred to physical applications Confidential and proprietary. 27 QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY THE CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT DATABASE 1. What applications do we manage (in all environments)? 2. What is the structure of each application in each environment? Examples of component classes: Application infrastructure, Databases and DBMS, Network, Servers, Storage, Mainframe, Data center infrastructure 3. What is the current lifecycle status of each physical application and its components? Operational, Non-Operational, Retired 4. What applications call, or are called by, other applications? Application Calls::Called by Application relationship type 5. [Are there unused configuration items we can retire?] Confidential and proprietary.
28 LESSON LEARNED FROM EARLY LOGICAL-PHYSICAL MAPPING EFFORT The utility value of the logical-physical cross references depends heavily on the of the completeness and accuracy of the physical configuration information in the first place. Incomplete or inaccurate physical application information Causes cross reference rework (!) Increases the risk of disrupting business operations caused by unexpected consequences of undocumented applications or dependencies Software development and support management needs to make configuration management a priority Complete and correct application configurations are performance objectives for every app owner and group manager Confidential and proprietary. 29 MEASURING OUR CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
App Dev department objective: 100% complete and correct application configuration info. 2016 Eight characteristics assessed: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Process Development Business linkage Management involvement IT Participation Configuration communications Data integrity and protection Governance
2014 Architecture Maturity Models, TOGAF 9.1, Part VII: Architecture Capability Framework, The Open Group, July 21, 2011, http://pubs.opengroup.org/architecture/togaf9-doc/arch/chap51.html Confidential and proprietary. 30 PHYSICAL APPLICATION METAMODEL Important properties: Recommended disposition End Date Operational Status Physical Application Operational Non-operational Retired
Middleware Components Database/File Components Server (Virtual-Physical) Confidential and proprietary. 31 APPLICATION-APPLICATION DEPENDENCIES Individual app owners usually know the composition of their apps App Contains::Part of Component relationships Called by What about application interdependencies? App Calls::Called by App relationships Limited knowledge!
Physical Application Calls Performance management tools are the go-to source of truth Typically provide IP address and port of each connection Look up identity of object at IP address and port in network directory CMDB is updated with directional app dependencies Confidential and proprietary. 32 CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT COMPLEXITY 3 levels of dependencies shown 5 levels are most common.
Confidential and proprietary. 33 CONTENTS Background Business Capability Planning Framework Business Capability Model and Capability Application Model Capability Model transformation analysis tools Physical applications and IT configuration management Mapping business architecture to physical applications and configurations Forecasting and tracking application and component lifecycle changes Confidential and proprietary. BUSINESS ARCHITECTURE TO PHYSICAL IT MAPPINGS METAMODEL L1 Business Capability L2 Business Capability
L3 Business Capability Logical App properties transferred to Physical Apps: Recommended disposition End Date Logical Application 1 and to Physical App component CIs Physical Application m Middleware
Components Database/File Components Server (Virtual- Physical) Confidential and proprietary. 35 FORECASTING APP AND COMPONENT END DATES: SIMPLE APPLICATION AutoGen 2017-09-29 End Dates 1 Phys App 1 Phys App 1
Middleware CI Confidential and proprietary. Database CI 36 FORECASTING APP AND COMPONENT END DATES: SHARED COMPONENT ARTS AutoGen 2017-09-29 1 2 Phys App 1 Phys App 2 End Dates
Phys App 1 Middleware CI Confidential and proprietary. 2018-03-31 Shared Database CI Phys App 2 Middleware CI 37 FORECASTING APP AND COMPONENT END DATES: APPLICATION DEPENDENCY 2017-09-29 Phys App 1 Middleware CI
Confidential and proprietary. 2018-03-31 2018-12-29 1 2 Phys App 1 Phys PhysApp App22 End Dates BP Viewer ARTS AutoGen
Shared Database CI Depends on Phys App 2 Middleware CI 3 Phys App 3 Phys App 3 Middleware CI 38 INTEGRATING OPERATING MODEL DATA AND CONFIGURATION DATA L1 Business Capability L1 Business Capability
ServiceNow IT Operations: Configuration Management Database (CMDB) L2 Business Capability L2 Business Capability 1-time copy L3 Business Capability L3 Business Capability Manual updates as needed
Logical Application Troux Source Capability Planning System (CPS) Logical Application Physical Application Middleware Components Database/File Components Server (Virtual-Physical) Confidential and proprietary.
39 CONTENTS Background Business Capability Planning Framework Business Capability Model and Capability Application Model Capability Model transformation analysis tools Physical applications and IT configuration management Mapping business architecture to physical applications and configurations Forecasting and tracking application and component lifecycle changes Confidential and proprietary. FORECASTING AND TRACKING: LARGE AUDIENCES FOR BOTH Many audiences need or want to know when application lifecycles are planned to change Operational point of no return Access to legacy data if needed Other audiences need to know when application lifecycles changes are complete IT resources can be re-allocated or released
For use as an indicator of progress towards operating goal(s) Generated reports are primary means of communicating operating solution changes (planned or actual) Process and methods for ad hoc queries are required too Most reports are in Excel and summarized in presentations with Excel charts Confidential and proprietary. 41 APP LIFECYCLE PLANNING AND TRACKING REPORTING Capability Planning System (CPS) [Troux by Planview] ServiceNow Reports & Tables Configuration Management System
[ServiceNow IT Operations Management] SQL Server Repository Perspectium ServiceNow Replicator Troux Link (Custom SQL Server app) IT Data Warehouse BI Tools Confidential and proprietary. 42 SUMMARY The BCBSMN Business Capability Planning Framework and similar business architecture frameworks are highly effective tools for planning business transformations. Executing business architecture transformations requires changes to
the software and systems that enable the business capabilities affected by the transformations. For large business transformations, extensive relationships between business architecture and IT solutions and solution components reduce the time and risk of IT changes to support the business transformations. Confidential and proprietary. 43 THANK YOU. Dave Goiffon, Enterprise Architect, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota 651-662-1687 [email protected] Confidential and proprietary. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and Blue Plus are nonprofit independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
