Tom Graves discusses different perspectives on enterprise architecture. He argues that mainstream enterprise architecture is too IT-centric and inconsistent. Different perspectives can expose hidden assumptions. Using toy models like toy trains can help illustrate different stakeholder perspectives and how contexts interact. A transaction follows a consistent pattern of shared purpose, relations, agreement, interaction, and completion, but this is often overlooked. Ignoring contexts and stakeholders can undermine trust and viability. Architecture needs multiple perspectives to account for the human dimension.

1. Enterprise Architecture:
Perspectives, conflicts and how to resolve them
Tom Graves, Principal Consultant, Tetradian

2. Hi.
(maybe I should update
my profile-photo...?)
I’m Tom.
I’ve been around
the EA scene
for a while now.

3. These days
I’d describe myself as
a maker of tools for change
– all sorts of tools...

4. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Tetradian www.tetradian.com
Project By Date
VersionHolomap
shared-enterprise / indirect-context
includes community, government, non-clients, anticlients, others
includes investors, beneficiaries
market / direct-context
includes competitors, regulators, recruiters, trainers, journals, others
transactional-context
includes suppliers / providers, customers / consumers, transactional partners
prospect prospectsupplier / provider
partner
client / consumer
partner
organisation
service-in-focus
…such as this…

5. …and this…

6. …and this…

7. Sales-
pitch!
https://leanpub.com/tb-changes/
New
book!

8. …enough of an intro?
Okay, let’s get on with the show!

9. Perspectives
on architecture

10. To make sense of
perspectives...
...we’ll need to go
back to the basics
...question our assumptions

11. Important questions to ask:
What’s the point?
What’s the purpose?
What are we striving for?

12. Why architecture?
What is its real purpose?

13. The aim of all architecture...
Things work better
when they work together,
on purpose.
(It’s about effectiveness.)

14. What are the keys to
architecture?

15. The Architect’s Mantra…
I don’t know…
(but I know someone who does, or how to find out)
It depends…
(and I know what it depends on, and why)
Just enough detail…
(and I know what the right level of detail would be)

16. Everyone wants to sell us
ready-made answers...
...yet the real challenge is
to find the right questions
...“solutions!”

17. Finding the right questions
can be even more important
than finding the right answers
(in part because questions
tend to stay the same,
whereas answers will change
with time and context)

18. Mainstream
‘enterprise’-architecture is:
- relentlessly IT-centric
- riddled with inconsistencies
- riddled with
hidden assumptions...

19. A matter of perspective
...in reality, the BDAT-stack is an arbitrary special-case

20. A matter of perspective
...further confused by misframed ‘Business Architecture’

21. A matter of perspective
...and even worse at whole-enterprise scope

22. In short,
it’s a mess...
...which may be why
management keep yelling at us?

23. So how do we
get out of this mess?

24. Expose the assumptions...
If we change the perspective,
we can expose, explore and highlight
the hidden assumptions

25. People,
Process,
Technology!
Maybe the real problem
is our usual approach:

26. Technology
CC-BY-SA xdxd_vs_xdxd via Flickr
Process
People
The usual architecture view

27. which gives us...

28. …yawn…

29. …“can I go to sleep now, please?”

30. No fun at all...

31. So how do we find these
‘missing perspectives’?
- and maybe have some fun doing it, too…

32. Short answer:
Raid the kids’ toy-box!

33. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Viga-Wooden-Train-Set-49-Piece/dp/B00486QD0S/

34. Toy-train as
service-metaphor…

35. …who or what are the various
uses / users of the service?

36. …how do those uses intersect?

37. …how might those uses conflict?

38. …what decisions
need to be made?

39. …what scheduling /
prioritisation do you need?

40. …what infrastructure
tolerances do you need?

41. …how does it interconnect
with other services?

42. …what disruptions
could careless
users cause?

43. …what disruptions could the
service cause for others?

44. …how, where, with what must it
intersect without connecting?

45. …how might others impact
your infrastructure?

46. …what impacts could that
have on service-delivery?

47. …what are the hazards,
potential sources of disruption?

48. …what happens
when
external risks
eventuate?

49. …what happens when
the service itself fails?

50. …what disruptions
could failures cause?

51. …or, in other words…

52. …context, context,
context!

53. …which brings us back to…
a matter
of perspective!
- yeah, which way we look at things does kinda matter here…

54. Perspectives and journeys
Service-delivery is a journey of interactions
where ‘inside-out’ (the organisation’s perspective)
touches ‘outside-in’ (the customer’s / supplier’s perspective)

55. Outside-in…
CC-BY Fretro via Flickr
“Customers
do not appear
in our processes,
we appear in
their experiences”
Chris Potts, recrEAtion, Technics, 2010

56. Every service has its own myriad of stakeholders
Whose story?

57. A stakeholder
is anyone
who can wield
a sharp-pointed
stake
in our direction…
CC-BY-NC-SA evilpeacock via Flickr
Who are the stakeholders?
(Hint: there are a lot
more of them than we
might at first think…)

58. Will stakeholders defend us...?
CC-BY dspender via Flickr
...or work against us?

59. How can we explore this
with execs and others?

60. Short answer:
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
back to the toy-box!

61. To make sense of this,
we need first to
map out the context

62. The entirety of architecture?
business
architecture
information-
systems
architecture
infrastructure
architecture
“enterprise
architecture”
organisation

63. organisation
The idea that IT is all is... odd...

64. organisation
A myriad of other services...

65. organisationsupplier customer
Links with suppliers, customers...

66. transaction
across the supply-websupplier-
prospects
customer-
prospects
organisationsupplier customer
supplier’s
supplier
customer’s
customer
The overall transaction-web...

67. market
(direct-interaction)
includes competitors, regulators, recruiters, trainers, journalists, analysts, others
transaction
across the supply-websupplier-
prospects
customer-
prospects
organisationsupplier customer
supplier’s
supplier
customer’s
customer
Outward to the market...

68. ...and beyondshared-enterprise
(indirect-interaction)
includes community, government, investors, non-clients, anti-clients, others
market
(direct-interaction)
includes competitors, regulators, recruiters, trainers, journalists, analysts, others
transaction
across the supply-websupplier-
prospects
customer-
prospects
organisationsupplier customer
supplier’s
supplier
customer’s
customer

69. In generic form, for any service...
services implemented by any appropriate mix of people, machines, IT
indirect-interaction
direct-interaction
transaction
service-in-
focus
partner partner

70. So far, so abstract.
And so yawn, too…
Instead, let’s make it come alive,
via the human dimension
– just with simple mini-figures

71. Stakeholders we already know...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
...such as managers and execs
Manager

72. The immediate supply-chain...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
...suppliers, customers and more
ManagerSupplier Customer

73. Also other internal services...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
...any number of these!
Facilities Accounts
IT
Production
Planning
Engineering

74. Internal stakeholders
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
(These may be under direction,
but never truly under control!)
ManagerFacilities Accounts Production Planning Engineering

75. Supply-chain extends further...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
...to almost any distance
Supplier’s
supplier
Customer’s
customer

76. Then there are our prospects...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
...for suppliers, customers etc
Supplier prospect
Customer
prospect

77. Transaction stakeholders
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
Supplier Customer
Supplier prospect
Customer
prospect
Supplier’s
supplier
Customer’s
customer
‘Us’

78. Outward to the next layer...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
...direct-interactions in the market
Competitor
s
Regulators Recruiter Journalist Analyst

79. Market stakeholders
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
Competitor
s
Regulators Recruiter Journalist Analyst
(These interact with us, but do not
transact for products/services)

80. Outward to shared-enterprise...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
Other services Families
Governmen
t
Big-picture
Anticlient
s
Criminals
...indirect-interactions of all kinds

81. Enterprise stakeholders
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
(These interact only indirectly,
but sometimes with major impacts)
Infrastructure
and other
‘broad scope’
services
Families,
community
and more
Government,
politics, other
countries
Big-picture,
observers of
‘big-story’
Anticlients
– inherent,
betrayal
Hackers
and other
criminals

82. That’s a lot of stakeholders...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian

83. Each transaction or interaction
will tend to follow the same
consistent pattern
Using the human dimension
makes it easier to follow
how the pattern unfolds

84. A cyclical pattern...
(Start here)
5.
Complete
(closure)
payments etc
1.
Purpose
(trust)
brand etc
2.
Relations
(respect)
marketing etc
3.
Contract
(agreement)
planning etc
4.
Transact
(action)
delivery etc

85. Here’s the overall pattern...
transaction
shared-purpose
relations / policy
conversation / contract
transaction / interaction
(delivery of service)
(completion of actions)
(completion for provider)
(completion for consumer)
(completion for enterprise)
(reaffirmed trust)provider consumer
(each step of the pattern will be supported by distinct services
– marketing, sales, delivery, accounts, customer-service etc)

86. A simple transaction-example...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
service-provider, service-consumer

87. Step 1: Shared-purpose...
(in other words, establish a common story,
a shared reason to connect and interact with each other)

88. Establish an initial connection...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
such as via reputation and brand

89. Step 2: Make a connection...
(the same principle of ‘who are you? do we trust each other
enough to proceed?’ applies to human and machine alike)

90. Establish personal connection...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
provides basis for interaction rules

91. transaction
shared-purpose
relations / policy
conversation / contract
provider consumer
Step 3: Agree a plan of action...
(this settles the details of what will be exchanged in each
direction – information, services, products, payments etc)

92. Establish / confirm agreement...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
‘handshake’ on agreed plan of action

93. transaction
shared-purpose
relations / policy
conversation / contract
transaction / interaction
provider consumer
Step 4: Enact the transaction...
(the content for the transaction / interaction depends on all of
the previous stages – don’t over-focus on this stage alone!)

94. Set up and run the transaction...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
take action on the agreed plan

95. transaction
shared-purpose
relations / policy
conversation / contract
transaction / interaction
(delivery of service)provider consumer
Service or product delivery...
(this is what we would map out in all the fine-detail of
conventional process-modelling and suchlike)

96. Engage the internal services...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
others may do the actual work!

97. transaction
shared-purpose
relations / policy
conversation / contract
transaction / interaction
(delivery of service)
(completion of actions)
provider consumer
Step 5A: Complete the actions...
(completion has several distinct sub-stages, of which the first,
here, is to ensure that there is a clear end-event or marker)

98. Establish that work is complete...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
typically in terms of a contract

99. transaction
shared-purpose
relations / policy
conversation / contract
transaction / interaction
(delivery of service)
(completion of actions)
(completion for provider)
provider consumer
Step 5B: Complete for provider...
(in a commercial context, this typically occurs when the
customer/consumer pays the supplier/provider)

100. Support-service for completion...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
role of accounts-department etc

101. transaction
shared-purpose
relations / policy
conversation / contract
transaction / interaction
(delivery of service)
(completion of actions)
(completion for provider)
(completion for consumer)
provider consumer
Step 5C: Complete for consumer...
(for consumer, completion may often occur some time after
completion of action – e.g. bought-food is eaten)

102. Completions may be different...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
customer must satisfy their customer

103. transaction
shared-purpose
relations / policy
conversation / contract
transaction / interaction
(delivery of service)
(completion of actions)
(completion for provider)
(completion for consumer)
(completion for enterprise)
(reaffirmed trust)provider consumer
Step 5D: Complete for enterprise
(for long-term viability, all interactions must be seen as fair
and balanced, by all enterprise players – not just transactors)

104. Always about whole-enterprise...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
always about overall shared-story

105. Warning:
Don’t try to short-cut
that sequence or cycle!

106. A broken cycle...
(Start here?)
5.
Complete
(closure)
payments etc
1.
Purpose
(trust)
brand etc
2.
Relations
(respect)
marketing etc
3.
Contract
(agreement)
planning etc
4.
Transact
(action)
delivery etc
PoliciesValues
Trust

107. transaction
shared-purpose
relations / policy
conversation / contract
transaction / interaction
(delivery of service)
(completion of actions)
(completion for provider)
(completion for consumer)
(completion for enterprise)
(trust ignored) consumerconsumer
(maximise
short-term
profit)
consumerprovider
The quick-profit trap...
(we may get better results in the short-term by focussing
only on our own needs – but we risk longer-term viability)

108. Ignoring others’ outcomes...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
...will awaken angry regulators!

109. All in full view of stakeholders...
CC-BY-SA Tetradian
...a quick way to create anticlients!

110. Remember, everyone’s watching!
CC-BY-SA Tetradian

111. In short…
…we must pay attention
to the story as a whole!
- not just the easy bits…
Context, context, context…

112. It’s easier to engage people
in exploring perspectives
of the architecture
if we can include
the human dimension!
The punchline for this story:

113. THANK YOU!

114. Contact: Tom Graves
Company: Tetradian Consulting
Email: tom@tetradian.com
Twitter: @tetradian ( http://twitter.com/tetradian )
Weblog: http://weblog.tetradian.com
Slidedecks: http://www.slideshare.net/tetradian
Publications: http://tetradianbooks.com and http://leanpub.com/u/tetradian
Books: • The enterprise as story: the role of narrative in enterprise-
architecture (2012)
• Mapping the enterprise: modelling the enterprise as services
with the Enterprise Canvas (2010)
• Everyday enterprise-architecture: sensemaking, strategy,
structures and solutions (2010)
• Doing enterprise-architecture: process and practice in the real
enterprise (2009)
Further information:
Support our work! – become a patron on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/tetradian