Digital transformation implies changing business models. To be able to adapt organizations are using IT operating models and working methods that work at different speeds causing alignment issues between models and working methods. Consequences are (too) high support and maintenance cost, slow innovation, and inconsistent customer experience. The use of archetypes for IT operating models provides a handle to arrange adequate orchestration between operating models and working methods.

1. Multimodal IT and
Orchestration for
Digital Transformation
This article is an adjustment of the Dutch version published in AG Connect in June 2017
Leon Dohmen & Wouter Geurts
November 2017
Digital transformation implies changing business models. To be able to adapt organizations
are using IT operating models and working methods that work at different speeds causing
alignment issues between models and working methods. Consequences are (too) high support
and maintenance cost, slow innovation, and inconsistent customer experience. The use of
archetypes for IT operating models provides a handle to arrange adequate orchestration
between operating models and working methods.

2. Multimodal IT for digital transformation
2
Business models
Digital transformation is about the deployment of technology and the way it impacts
businesses and society. It is often assumed that it requires the introduction of new disruptive
technologies, like the smart phone. But the digital transformation has also its fair share of
influence on the structure of business processes and supply chains powered by efficiency-
focus and strive for customer satisfaction. A company like Netflix has created new and easy
methods to select, watch and pay for movie content. Other examples of digital transformation
are the online web shops of Amazon.com and Alibaba.com. Where the delivery chain of
Netflix is completely electronic, Amazon and Alibaba deliver physical goods which require
different supply chain solutions. In healthcare is the therapeutic robot Paro appreciated for his
calming effect on dementia patients, while the electric self-driving car is expected to
completely reform car driving and the associated infrastructure. The mentioned examples
show that the influence of digital transformation is therefore very diverse and requires a
nuanced elaboration. We hereby determine that the composition of a business product and/or
service (digital/physical) is an important driver for the required business models in the era of
digital transformation (CGI Global 1000).
The business model is the description how a business creates customer value with its business
activities, financial means and products/services. In the recent decennia digital transformation
has changed the role of IT from business support or operational/efficiency improvement of
internal business activities to a multi-functional ‘Swiss army knife’ for value creation. IT
contributes more and more to the social and emotional (digital) customer experience.
Therefore the right choices in your IT operating model are crucial for sustainable business.
This explains the popularity of widely used techniques such as service design thinking and
customer journey when developing (new) business models and associated IT operating
models.
IT operating models and value streams
An IT operating model comprises the entanglement of and interplay between technical
resources, organization (processes and structure) and people. In modern terms this interplay is
called ‘the value stream’. Besides that the product/service composition (digital/physical) is an
important determiner for the business and IT operating model, also product complexity
(batch/standard vs customized) and delivery dynamics (planned vs fast/ad hoc) are of
paramount importance. A customer need that can be foreseen and delivered as planned
requires a different set up of the IT operating model than is needed for fast and ad-hoc
delivery of products and services. The delivery of (bulk) standard services and products
requires a different organization than specific customized delivery. Delivery dynamics and
product complexity together define the four archetypes for IT operating models (see also box
1):
1. Fast and ad hoc delivery of a standard product or service;
2. Planned delivery of a standard product or service;

3. Multimodal IT for digital transformation
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3. Fast and ad hoc delivery of a bespoke product or service;
4. Planned delivery of bespoke product or service.
The diversity of products and services and variations in delivery dynamics within one
organization explains the interest in the bi-modal IT model introduced by Gartner. The bi-
modal IT promises room for experimentation and innovation while keeping the current
business as usual running at the needed stability and predictability. We postulate that bi-
modal IT is not accommodating the real life situations where all four archetypes of IT
operating models are (sometimes) present in one organization. A more proper term seems to
be ‘multimodal IT’. The deployment of different IT operating models working together side
by side requires orchestration and coordination of the working methods and their interrelation.
Working methods
Due to the need to work with different delivery speeds in combination with reliable,
predictable service delivery, organizations deploy both Agile/DevOps working methods and
ITIL/PRINCE2 to mention some popular examples. Agile/DevOps strives for fast feedback
by introducing extremely short delivery cycles at risk of (small) failures, while
ITIL/PRINCE2 strive for predictability and risk reduction. The combination of working
concepts optimizing for different parameters is the source of various conflicts on the work
floor. The following problems have been observed:
− Wrong application of agile methods (also so called agile ‘in name only’) leads to an
endlessly continuation of projects;
− New and innovative apps that fail to comply with security regulations and lead to sprawl
in the IT landscape. A higher diversity of technology (‘specials’) increases IT support and
maintenance cost;
− Sprawl of IT components and fragmentation of IT delivery do increase security risks and
vulnerability;
− In case of integral chain management, suppliers or IT departments delivering individual
components have different service levels and key performance indicators (KPI’s). The
value stream delivered by the chain is compromised by individual parties optimizing their
KPIs.
A lack of alignment between working methods leads to islands of optimization,
misunderstandings and a lack of overview and control with possibly chaos as consequence:
customer satisfaction and safe use of IT are at risk, maintenance cost will increase and
innovation slows down. Then, IT departments and involved suppliers are under (high)
pressure.
Orchestration
The choice of proper working concepts (see box 2) is directed by the business model via the
corresponding IT operating model archetype. The orchestration between the operating models

4. Multimodal IT for digital transformation
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is not available out-of-the-box, but the following two proposed solution advices, implemented
in parallel, amplify each other:
1) Deploy smart automation in abundance. Technical maintenance and application
maintenance are supported well by monitoring tools combined with analytics. The
archetypes 1 and 3 will flourish using this measure. Monitoring will drive standardization
and incident resolution will move to incident prevention. Automation of tests in software
development is a good investment returning higher quality releases and predictable
deliveries in combination with lower relative cost at higher delivery frequencies. This
supports archetype 2 and 4. Automated testing is faster and increases release consistency.
Other automation includes the administrative processes for (cloud) infra provisioning or
Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM). CCM supports security improvement by
continuous feedback on compliance with international, national or industry specific
regulations and best practices.
2) Deploy explicit alignment of the roles, actions, authorizations and responsibilities.
Different working concepts (PRINCE2, SCRUM, etc.) introduce their own job/role
descriptions and definitions. It is quite common that in Agile delivery (archetype 3)
agreement on project results and service levels are made by the product owner. His
counterpart can well be a Service Manager, part of a service organization operated by ITIL
(archetype 2). Working with DevOps working concepts (archetype 1 and 3) requires
adequate agreements with a service department to deploy continuous delivery and
integration to its full value. Integral chain management (all four archetypes) offers a
platform on strategical and tactical level to align different KPIs and work processes.
Examples and experiences from practice show that an integral approach leads to 15 to 25%
reduction in maintenance cost and increase of a factor 2 to 4 in delivery speed for innovation
and introduction of new products and services.
Separated models
We have presented the business model and IT operating model as separated models. In real
life this separation is less and less strict. Business and IT become more and more integrated.
A web shop cannot exist without IT. In real life we also observe differences between
young(er) and old(er) organizations. Young(er) organizations do not have to deal with a
legacy of traditional IT. The multimodal IT, the presence of different IT operating models
working at different delivery speeds, is not the end state. Integration will create a more diffuse
entanglement of archetypes, rather than four quadrants. The integration of business and IT
will lead to further new technical and organizational challenges for the orchestration of
operating models and working methods. Orchestration then needs a consciously chosen and
appropriate practicing of 'instruments'. Without this, the ´orchestra´ cannot connect.

5. Multimodal IT for digital transformation
5
Box 1: Four archetypes of IT operating models
1) Fast (and ad hoc) delivery of standard-IT products and services requires a standby
capacity. This can be a physical stock or a pool of human resources. An example is the
pay-per-use Amazon web service (AWS) or Microsoft’s Azure. This archetype is
characterized by extreme automation of service delivery fully. Based on forecasts the
process of ordering and configuration is completely automated and capacity is managed
proactively (e.g. building stock) to be able to deliver.
2) Plan based delivered standard IT products and services can be best served with an
archetype IT operating model based on process optimization and standardization. The
routine and repetition of work provide a good basis for (continuous) optimization (lean
production to customer pipeline). The delivery of a standardized workplace (virtual
desktop) is an example of this type.
3) Fast delivery of customized or client specific (bespoke) solutions is the biggest challenge.
Flexibility and craftsmanship are key for the support of this business model. Business and
IT need to be work closely together to act on deviation, validate new directions. An open
(partner) relation is needed to support amplified feedback. This model covers the
development of innovative apps.
4) Delivery of customized products or services in a planned way asks for specific knowledge
and skills (craftsmanship). Adequate risk management and well organized and structured
development and production processes are crucial. Quality (in combination with driving
total cost of ownership) is the driver, more than price and speed. An example is an
infrastructural project like IT systems for tunnels.

6. Multimodal IT for digital transformation
6
Box 2: Popular working methods categorized per IT operating model archetype
Working methods serve a primary purpose. The following ordering and assignment of
working methods to IT operating models is based on this. This does not exclude that working
methods may also be appropriate for the other IT operating models.
IT Operating model Working methods Description from Wikipedia (or otherwise indicated)
Archetype 1:
Standard product/service
and fast delivery
Key issues:
(Flexible) capacity and
automation
Continuous Controls
Monitoring (CCM)
is the process and technology used to track compliance
and risk issues related to an organization's financial and
operational environment.
Continuous Delivery
(CD)
is a software engineering approach in which teams
produce software in short cycles, ensuring that the
software can be reliably released at any time.
Continuous Integration
(CI)
several times a day, merging the individual pieces of work
of software developers into one.
DevOps (the Ops-part
of DevOps)
is a culture, movement or practice of collaboration and
communication so that software developers and other IT
professionals together can find the optimal balance
between trustworthy business and changes.
Digital Platform (self-
service portal)
is an integrated set of electronic business processes and
technologies, applications and data supporting these
processes. The platform integrates a set of coherent
processes and transactions (IT Savvy, Weill & Ross).
Service Automation transforms manual, error-sensitive (application) service
tasks in reliable, repeatable, and timely processes to obtain
control (on application, packaging, placement, change,
troubleshooting, recovery and auditing).
Archetype 2:
Standard product/service
and well planned
delivery
Key issues:
Process standardization
and efficiency
Application Services
Library (ASL)
is a process framework that describes the processes of
support, maintenance and renewal of information systems
and applications.
Control Objectives for
Information and
Related Technology
(COBIT)
'Control objectives for information and related technology'
is a framework for structured setup and assessment of an
IT operations environment.
Lean management philosophy in the field of operations
management that aims to achieve maximum value for the
customer with as little waste as possible.
Information
Technology
Infrastructure Library
(ITIL)
Information Technology Infrastructure Library has been
developed as a ‘best practice’ reference framework for the
organization of support processes within an ICT
organization.
Integrated Service
Management (ISM)
provides, integrates and unlocks the resources that the IT
(support) engineer needs for the organization and
management of the support organization (source:
www.ismportal.nl).
Shared Services
(Center)
concern the combined and streamlined (usually standard)
facilities in a (mostly) larger organization that are used by
multiple organizational units.
Six Sigma is a management strategy originally developed by
Motorola in 1986 in the US. Six Sigma seeks to improve
the quality of the results of business processes by
discovering and removing the causes of defects or errors
to reduce the variance in processes.
Archetype 3:
Customized
product/service and fast
Agile (for example
Scrum)
is a way of software development focused on
collaboration and autonomy.
DevOps (the Dev-part See DevOps, the Ops part.

7. Multimodal IT for digital transformation
7
delivery
Key issues:
Craftsmanship and
flexible capacity
of DevOps)
Dynamic Systems
Development Method
(DSDM)
is an agile project delivery framework, mainly used as a
software development method.
Dyna-center Here, supply and demand are brought together and linked
by competency matching. A Dyna-center facilitates
dynamic and durable anticipation of changing
circumstances.
Hackathon is a meeting of software and website developers beyond
all daily constraints to deliver a result as accelerator for
innovation.
Holacracy is a control model for organizations. The model removes
traditional top-down management and distributes authority
over all employees in the organization.
Kanban is a concept used in lean manufacturing and just-in-time
production. Focus is directed to flow and reduction of
work-in-execution.
Open Source is the philosophy that, if the source is freely accessible to
the user, the user is better able to make choices and give
feedback.
Rational Unified
Process (RUP)
is an iterative software development process.
Scaled Agile
Framework (SAFe)
is an agile software development framework consisting of
a knowledge-base of integrated patterns intended for
enterprise-scale Lean-Agile development.
Wirearchy a dynamic two-way flow of power and authority, based on
knowledge, trust, credibility and focus on results, made
possible by interconnected people and technology
(www.wirearchy.com).
Archetype 4:
Customized
product/service and well
planned delivery
Key issue:
Craftsmanship
Business Information
Services Library
(BiSL)
is a framework for performing functional management and
information management.
Capability Maturity
Model Integrated
CMM(i)
is a model that indicates the maturity level of software
development of an organization.
International Project
Management
Association (IPMA)
a Swiss-based international organization for the promotion
of project management.
Nine square model
(also known as
Amsterdam
Information
Management Model)
model that ensures that the information needs arising from
different work and business processes of an organization
are translated into information provision.
Project Management
Institute (PMI)
is an American professional nonprofit organization for
project management.
Projects in Controlled
Environments
(PRINCE2)
is a method or standard for project management.
System Development
Method (SDM)
is a phasing method. It is mainly used for development of
(automated) information systems.
Waterfall is a sequential (non-iterative) design process, used in
software development processes, in which progress is seen
as flowing steadily downwards (like a waterfall) through
the phases of conception, initiation, analysis, design,
construction, testing, production/implementation and
maintenance.

8. Multimodal IT for digital transformation
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Leon Dohmen works at CGI as Principal Management Consultant. He is
involved in IT governance, service integration and operating model issues.
Since 2011, he is conducting research to the speed of IT projects.
- http://www.linkedin.com/pub/leon-dohmen/0/b24/92 -
Wouter Geurts works as principal solution architect at CGI. He is involved in
major software development and system integration projects. He is also practice
lead in the agile/DevOps departments.
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/wgeurts/