REAL Talk With Sam Holcman

Application Portfolio Rationalization and Optimization Strategies

Application Portfolio Rationalization & Optimization is an approach to maximizing the value of current application assets, & laying a firm foundation for future growth. Organizations are moving to the cloud, or other off-premises environments, wouldn’t it make sense to rationalize & optimize your portfolio before the move? Let’s clean out the basement first, so to speak!
We outline the eight phase process we use to guide these efforts. The savings from this effort are real & straightforward.

Business Architecture Actually Developing Business Capabilities

Model mania develops model after model, based on some identified general body of knowledge, rather than doing REAL Business Architecture – the identification, & development of Business Capabilities that enable business strategies and missions.
We define the methodology for developing a REAL Business Architecture (BA) – one that is “human consumable”. Identify the Business Capabilities you need to move your organization to its desired state, through analysis rather than declarations!

Business Architecture - Identifying Needed Business Capabilities

Business Architecture is explicitly representing an organizations desired state and as is state, through a set of independent non redundant artifacts, defining how these artifacts relate with each other, developing a set of prioritized and aligned Capabilities needed to meet the organizational Mission or Goals.
REAL Business Architecture is the enabler of Business Capabilities. Business Capabilities are the true result of REAL Business Architecture driving business to its desired state.

Cutting Through Technobabble/Claptrap in Business and Technology

IoT Platform, Deep Neutral Networks, Digital Twin, Biochips, Brain-Computer Interface, Quantum Computing, & 5G. Global, downsize, marketplace, 110 per cent committed. We have enough to digest in the near-term, and there’s nothing candidly in our sightline suggesting we’re involved in engaging anything we’re going to acquire.
We bring understanding to the more common ill defined, or not defined consistently, terms you may read about or deal with, in your day to day activities.

The Digital Transformation Mistakes to Avoid!

Public reports states 84% of Digital Transformation projects are failing to deliver their expected benefits. Organizations realize that looking for the “silver bullet”, technological magic, or magic pill, that will magically and mystically transform the organization to a 2020’s enterprise by “Monday morning” is not going to happen. From this horrifying failure statistic, are there some lessons than can be learned? The short answer is yes!

Enterprise Architecture – The How-To Methodology

Most information technology personnel look at & “do” information technology modeling & implementation rather than REAL Enterprise Architecture – the enabler of enterprise and business strategy and missions.
We define a four-phase methodology of developing a REAL Enterprise Architecture – one that is “human consumable.” This methodology has been practiced, taught, & implemented in organizations large & small. Get the essence of developing REAL Enterprise Architecture in this episode.

Enterprise Architecture – what is it and what is it not, actually

A great thing about the internet, is anyone can write anything about anything. One of the problems with the internet IS, anyone can write anything about anything! For Enterprise Architecture (EA), the Google popularity list tool also thought of by some as a search engine, shows 811,000,000 search entries for EA. Not very useful.
We bring method to this madness. REAL EA is the enabler of Business Strategy. Building computer systems – Enterprise Information Technology Architecture – is different!

Enabling Business Strategy in the Hypercompetitive Digital World

Public reports state that 84% of Digital Transformation projects fail to deliver their expected benefits, organizations look for “silver bullets”, that transform organizations to a 2020’s enterprise by “Monday morning”.
We review what Strategy is – we focus on this word, & what it actually means. It's more than implementing a new technology! We look at this approach enabling an organization’s strategy, especially in this age of continuous change & the hypercompetitive environment we're in.

Hyper-Competition – Going Beyond Digital Transformation

Many organizations embarked on digital transformations are underwhelmed at the return on investment they see. Our observations suggest a high percentage of digital transformation projects and programs are “paving existing cow paths” – useful but far from game-changing.
The 2020’s & beyond businesses & enterprises require a full capacity to take on new & novel actions in response to new & changed circumstances. It's the ability of the business and its enabling technologies to deal with variance.

Cybersecurity – what you need to know

We discuss cybersecurity, & what you as a business person, technology professional, or just an innocent citizen needs to know. Do you need or know about cyber insurance? What are your rights if your personal information (bank accounts, passwords, social security numbers, credit cards, etc.) are “released” by a 3rd party? Do we need an agency that investigates, independently, cyber attacks? What about facial recognition? For organizations, what vulnerabilities exist in your supply chain?