1. 1/36 Business/IT alignment in the GRAAL project Pascal van Eck, Roel Wieringa (Dept. of Computer Science, Information Systems Group) SIKS course ‘Information & Organization’, Dec. 6-8, 2004, Vught, The Netherlands

2. 2/36 Goal of this presentation Present a theoretical perspective on business/IT alignment –… and introduce a few concepts from strategic management Present the GRAAL framework as a means for alignment research Present case study observations about alignment in practice

3. 3/36 Agenda Goal of this presentation Theory: alignment according to Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL project and framework Case study observations Conclusion Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

4. 4/36 What is business/IT alignment? Business/IT alignment: Allocation of IT budgets such that business functions are supported in an optimal way Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

5. 5/36 Strategy (and tactics) 1/2 Strategy: external position of the organization –Product/market combinations –Make-or-buy decisions –Human resources Impact of decisions: years Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

6. 6/36 Strategy (and tactics) 2/2 Tactical level: realizing the strategy by internal means –Impact of decisions: month(s) – 1 year –Example: organization structure Operational level: day-to-day decisions –Impact of decisions: day(s) – month(s) –Example: hire temps in case of sudden increase in sales Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

7. 7/36 Beware: strategy hierarchy One person’s tactical problems are another person’s strategic problems –E.g., corporate tactics become strategic goals of business units … –… and so on, and so on. Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

8. 8/36 Taken from: Henderson, & Venkatraman, (1993). Strategic alignment: Leveraging information technology for transforming organisations. IBM Systems Journal, 32(1):472-484. Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

9. 9/36 Henderson & Venkatraman’s take home message Similar to business strategy, IT strategy has to consider both internal as well as external aspects Both internal/external alignment as well as functional integration must be taken into account. Only one of them is not sufficient Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

10. 10/36 Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

11. 11/36 Agenda Goal of this presentation Theory: alignment according to Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL project and framework Case study observations Conclusion Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

12. 12/36 Project GRAAL Guidelines Regarding Architecture ALignment Goal: discovery of patterns in enterprise-level application architecture Based on case studies in Dutch financial service organizations and large government organizations Project page: http://is.cs.utwente.nl/GRAALhttp://is.cs.utwente.nl/GRAAL Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

13. 13/36 What is a system? A system is an assembly of components that behaves as a whole –There is synergy between components … –… and this synergy results in emergent properties –A product is a system with properties that are useful for someone Examples –The system of law –The Dutch national soccer team uses a 3-3-4 system –‘A systematic way of working’ Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

14. 14/36 System dimensions System aspects: externally observable properties Aggregation hierarchy: system composition in terms of components System life cycle: from conception to disposal Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

15. 15/36 System life cycle Typical stages in the life of a system During design, we should deal with all stages Conception Acquisition (build or buy) Usage Maintenance (Corrective and perfective) Disposal Time Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

16. 16/36 Software product aspects Aspects are what observers can observe Service = interaction –Behavior: in what sequence (time) –Communication: with whom (space) –Meaning: about what SW product aspect Services Quality BehaviorCommunicationMeaningFor userFor developer UsabilityEfficiencySecurity....MaintainabilityPortability... The only aspect peculiar for symbol-manipulating systems Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

17. 17/36 Aggregation Aspect and aggregation are independent Composite system System External entity External entity Component Behavior Communication Meaning Quality Behavior Communication Meaning Quality Behavior Communication Meaning Quality Behavior Communication Meaning Quality... Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

18. 18/36 The meaning of aggregation C is a component of A if –C provides service to A –A encapsulates C If we drop encapsulation, we get layering CBC A1 A2 C B A1A2 Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

19. 19/36 Architecture layers Layer structure crosses worlds This is not possible with encapsulation Business environment Business Business software SW Infrastructure Physical infrastructure Primary service provision Social world Symbol world Physical world Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

20. 20/36 Structure of the business system layer Business environment Business Applications: Functionality SW Infrastructure Physical infrastructure Primary service provision Social world Symbol world Physical world Information systems: Data Business systems serve particular user groups Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

21. 21/36 Structure of the SW infrastructure layer Business environment Business Business systems Physical infrastructure Primary service provision Social world Symbol world Physical world Infrastructure serves all user groups OS, Network software DBMS, WFMS, Directory server, Web server,... Middleware Office SW, Browser,... Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

22. 22/36 The physical world is BIG! Business environment Business Business software SW Infrastructure Processors, peripherals, UI devices, wires, electromagnetic waves, wireless access points,.... Radio network, electricity network, telephone network, water supply network, gas supply network, sewage network, road network,.... Buildings,... machine tools,.... Primary service provision Social world Symbol world Physical world Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

23. 23/36 The framework Conception Acquisition Usage & Maintenance Disposal Services BehaviorCommunicationMeaning Quality Usability...Maintainability... System life Aspects Business environment Business Business SW (applications & information systems) SW infrastructure (OS, NW, MW, DBMS, WFMS,...) Physical infrastructure (Computers, network, access points,...) Service provision Social world Symbol world Physical world Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

24. 24/36 Agenda Goal of this presentation Theory: alignment according to Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL project and framework Case study observations Conclusion Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

25. 25/36 Documents studied Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

26. 26/36 Main findings Development of application level and infrastructure level are different –Application level: Event-driven Structured according to user groups –Infrastructure level: Time-triggered Structured according to technology domains Structure development org. should follow structure of client organization Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

27. 27/36 Application alignment Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

28. 28/36 Goals Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

29. 29/36 Problems Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

30. 30/36 Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

31. 31/36 Two perspectives IT applications Business strategy Business processes Business infrastructure 1 1 IT infrastructure IT strategy 2 2 Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

32. 32/36 IT development organization and client organization: observation Development organization before reorganization: –One department per client group –Per department: subdepartment per development phase (account managers, architects, designers, programmers) Development organization after reorganization: –One department per development phase –Per department: subdepartment per client group Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

33. 33/36 Conway Conway’s Law: –“Structure of designed artefact is isomorphic to structure of development team” Consequence of restructuring: –Structure development organization no longer fits architecture (not isomorphic) –Clients miss their point of contact –Old structure re-emerges in ad-hoc fashion Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

34. 34/36 Agenda Goal of this presentation Theory: alignment according to Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL project and framework Case study observations Conclusion Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

35. 35/36 Conclusion GRAAL provides simple framework for studying business/IT alignment Case study observations: –More than one alignment perspective, this often results in mis-alignment – Isomorphism between development organization and client organization desirable Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

36. 36/36 Literature ‘Strategic Alignment Model’: –Henderson, & Venkatraman, (1993). Strategic alignment: Leveraging information technology for transforming organisations. IBM Systems Journal, 32(1):472-484. http://researchweb.watson.ibm.com/journal/sj/382/henderson.pdf http://researchweb.watson.ibm.com/journal/sj/382/henderson.pdf Extension of ‘Strategic Alignment Model’: –Maes, R., Rijsenbrij, D., Truijens, O. and Goedvolk, H. (2000). Redefining business–IT alignment through a unified framework. PrimaVera Working Paper 2000-19, Univ. of Amsterdam, Dept. Accountancy and Inf. Mngt. http://imwww.fee.uva.nl/~maestro/PDF/2000-19.pdf http://imwww.fee.uva.nl/~maestro/PDF/2000-19.pdf GRAAL results: –Eck, P. van, Blanken, H. and Wieringa, R. (2004). Project GRAAL: Towards Operational Architecture Alignment. Int. J. of Cooperative Information Systems, 13(3):235-255. http://is.cs.utwente.nl/GRAAL/eck_blanken_wieringa_ijcis04.pdf http://is.cs.utwente.nl/GRAAL/eck_blanken_wieringa_ijcis04.pdf Goal Henderson & Venkatraman The GRAAL framework Observations Conclusion

37. 37/36 Pascal van Eck Department of Computer Science University of Twente P.O. Box 217 7500 AE Enschede The Netherlands Email: vaneck@cs.utwente.nl http://www.cs.utwente.nl/~patveck