TOGAF Unlocked (The Missing Pieces): Deliver Business Value with IT! – Design: Spell Out IT Activities From a Demand and Supplier Side

Martin Palmgren is a recognised thought leader and works with business and IT executives on their “IT Value proposition” that is how do we deliver value to the needs of the business and demonstrate that we do so:

“How do our operations and IT systems function for the benefit of the business and our customers?”,

“How do our core systems help / leverage our employees capabilities in their work for customers?”,

“How do we increase performance and reduce cost?”

The ”Deliver Business Value with IT” series focus on how to execute the business strategy supported by IT demonstrate how we do this. Martin is among the few to effectively deploy existing frameworks to pull logics together.

What the reviewers said: “ The “Deliver Business Value with IT” series is an extremely solid piece of work that comes across as the A-Z reference of how to execute and implement IT strategy from a CIO level perspective. The reader will learn robust approaches to deliver services designed to support IT and Business drivers. The perspective that Martin spells out permits an overview of how to leverage existing frameworks but also to effectively support the execution of an IT Strategy aligned with the Business Strategy.”

“The focus that Martin takes in the “Deliver Business Value with IT” series will help in tackling the seven main non-technical challenges any CIO or other senior IT business leaders will face:

1. How and what should I communicate to whom in what way?

2. What to think of when it comes to competences needed to provide my IT services?

3. How to provide the best value at the best cost?

4. What to think of when ensuring efficient and effective delivery of projects?

5. How to establish a sourcing strategy and determining how to manage your vendors?

6. What are the best practices for managing my operations, and what to think of?

7. How can I best scan for and analyse emerging technologies?

The approach taken utilizing basic business management principles and applying them to how to run an IT department are explained clearly, and takes this publication above and beyond the standard publication proclaiming to ‘run IT as a business’. The 2 key trends identified in the publication for the CIO to focus on of “Differentiation” and “Cost” are a perfect example of this.

Mats Hultin, CIO Saab Defence and head of one of the most business centric IT organisations that I have seen consider “Deliver Business Value with IT” series as a toolbox that all CIO’s or IT Executives would like to have at hand and consult on a regular basis as they start to Design, Build and Run Effective IT Strategy execution to business needs.

It is critical to articulate the execution of the Business and subsequently the IT Strategy in to a Business and IT Architecture. The objective of TOGAF is to help IT leaders provide a business view of the IT departments ability to create value and support enterprise goals through effective IT processes and build process capability.

Yet most TOGAF practitioners find it difficult to understand, articulate and demonstrate the business value of an end-to-end or partial Enterprise Architecture investment and more “Frame work” compliance in a setting where most Business Executives would claim an increased focus on the needs of the business.

The TOGAF Unlocked (the missing pieces): Deliver Business Value with IT! series is a reply to “How do we put the IT Strategy in place” and how do we communicate effectively with our stakeholders and provides a number of techniques and tools to understand how to meet stakeholder expectations where TOGAF can be used to demonstrate how to consolidate the service strategy (Design, Build, Run).

A demonstration that would cover both the "IT Business Model" that is how well do we provide IT services as well as the "Business (IT) Value Proposition" that is how well do we support the needs of the business.