We don’t need better tools. We need more better thinking.

Per Björkegren

Sogeti Sweden, SOA & Enterprise
Architecture Expert

I used to call myself an IT strategist and business developer. When you put those two together you get an enterprise architect. Funny thing is – I have a degree in Building and Landscape Architecture!
                  
Actually, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) today; is what I have been advocating for ten years or more. For me it’s nothing new, but now it’s got energy. I started my architect career in ’96 when the Capgemini Group set up a career path for architects. At that time we were very business-oriented in our architecture thinking and that’s what’s coming back now. Architecture has been on the agenda all the time. In the meantime, we have focused our energies on integration; not only integration between systems, but also between companies and processes – and that is exactly what SOA is about. I’ve been talking about this for a very long time, so it was natural that I became involved in contributing to SOA for Profit*, one of Sogeti’s most recent publications.      

For me, the main objective of SOA is to create a flexible and dynamic business. It starts with defining the ‘Lego pieces’ of your business; then you let your IT reflect that structure; then you become flexible. Quite easy. But actually it’s really hard and most companies start to mix the structures up. And as long as you have one business structure and one IT structure, the IT will be a hindrance for changing the business.

Start with the business and then create a business architecture; that is really important.

That’s what I call the Lego-structure of the business. As an architect, I call it a domain structure, but for non-architects, it’s like Lego pieces. Instead of building using very large pieces, you build with small pieces. That’s the principle.

If you look at a business, you have to be able to change strategically, tactically and then there’s the day to day business, so you have to be flexible at all levels. What we talk about most in IT is flexibility at a tactical level – in other words changing the systems a bit at a time. But we need both the strategic side and the daily, operational side. That’s the target for SOA; to make it really valuable for organizations.

When you talk about architecture from an IT point of view, most people think it is the structure you put in place, but in fact it’s the process of building that structure. It’s really important to think like that. The role of the architect is to understand the current structure and paint the picture, but architecture is what you’re striving for. Architecture is the thoughts, the drawings, the ideas. But once you’ve implemented that, it’s not architecture anymore, but the result of the architecture process. Most people don’t think this way, so I’m always repeating the message because I think it’s important for people to understand.

I feel like a missionary in this area. I have been promoting this thinking in Sweden, and it’s the same story wherever I go in Europe. It feels like I’m talking about something new, but it’s not. If you look at vendors, like IBM and Microsoft, they’re focused on technology, but they’re not yet talking about architecture in this way either. So I need help! Two years ago I told my CEO: “We need more architects”. Today I say:

"We need more architectural thinking."

If everyone had the same thinking then we wouldn’t have these problems.            

I take every opportunity to communicate about SOA – through seminars, I started a blog and now it’s also part of our new business pitches. On top of that, in March last year we started an internal enterprise architecture program called SEAN – Sogeti Enterprise Architecture Network. We selected 11 people among the top professionals to participate as architecture trainees. I call them my ‘disciples’. The main purpose is to train them to work together on assignments; that works much better than purely theoretical courses. They see me working and discussing business with our clients; then they understand what it’s all about!

Thinking out of the IT-box is the name of the game.

I can go into a company and after a short while we can discuss changes in their business. But I have no label that says that I am an ‘expert’ in banking or the paper industry - I’m just interested in business. When let’s say a bank is looking for an architect and they say this guy needs to have a lot of experience in banking, that’s wrong. Because if you have experience gained from other businesses, then you create cross-fertilization. If a client is more mature, they should think that it’s cool to be able to use the experience from other industries. But if they think they know best, then they are a client that I don’t want to work for – because they don’t have the right maturity.

What is my approach? I’m usually the first one in with a new client, working on strategy issues. That’s where a new, long-term business relationship starts. Look at enterprise architecture from a business point of view; that’s the most important thing. That’s why we’re able to speak the business language, and that’s when the client gains confidence in us.

My task is to influence the client with the right thinking. The best thing is if you can get a client to drive and lead the assignment; but more often than not, large companies tend to hand it over to you – you fix it; but that’s not the right way. The Sogeti way is to facilitate the client in the process and to influence him with the right thinking. Many of the Swedish companies are production- and quality-oriented, while service takes second place. But if you have a service level agreement to deliver the goods, then you have to deliver in a certain timeframe. If that concept sinks in, then it completely changes the thinking of what IT should be. That makes me happy. My passion is always to provide the best solution for clients.

* SOA for Profit, A Manager’s Guide to Success with Service Oriented Architecture, written by an international team of SOA specialists from Sogeti and IBM, edited by Martin van den Berg, Norbert Bieberstein, Erik van Ommeren, Sogeti editions, 2007. ISBN 978-90-75414-14-1