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21. Stakeholder Management
21.1 Introduction
Stakeholder management is an important discipline that successful architecture practitioners can use to win support from others. It helps them ensure that their projects succeed where others fail.
The benefits of successful stakeholder management are that:
- The most powerful stakeholders can be identified early and their input can then be used to shape the architecture; this ensures their support and improves the quality of the models produced
- Support from the more powerful stakeholders will help the engagement win more resources, thus making the architecture engagement more likely to succeed
- By communicating with stakeholders early and frequently, the architecture team can ensure that they fully understand the architecture process, and the benefits of Enterprise Architecture; this means they can support the architecture team more actively when necessary
- The architecture team can more effectively anticipate likely reactions to the architecture models and reports, and can build into the plan the actions that will be needed to capitalize on positive reaction while avoiding or addressing any negative reactions
- The architecture team can identify conflicting or competing objectives among stakeholders early and develop a strategy to resolve the issues arising from them
It is essential in any initiative to identify the individuals and groups within the organization who will contribute to the development of the architecture, identify those that will gain and those that will lose from its introduction, and then develop a strategy for dealing with them.
21.2 Approach to Stakeholder Management
Stakeholder analysis should be used during Phase A (Architecture Vision) to identify the key players in the engagement, and also be updated throughout each phase; different stakeholders may be uncovered as the engagement progresses through into Opportunities & Solutions, Migration Planning, and Architecture Change Management.
Complex architectures are extremely hard to manage, not only in terms of the architecture development process itself, but also in terms of obtaining agreement from the large numbers of stakeholders touched by it.
For example, just as a building architect will create wiring diagrams, floor plans, and elevations to describe different facets of a building to its different stakeholders (electricians, owners, planning officials), so an Enterprise Architect must create different architecture views of the Business, Information Systems, and Technology Architecture for the stakeholders who have concerns related to these aspects.
The TOGAF standard specifically identifies this issue throughout the ADM through the following concepts (see 31.1 Basic Concepts):
- Architecture View
- Architecture Viewpoint
- Concern
- Stakeholder
21.3 Steps in the Stakeholder Management Process
The following sections detail recommended stakeholder management activity.
21.3.1 Identify Stakeholders
Identify the key stakeholders of the Enterprise Architecture.
The first task is to brainstorm who the main Enterprise Architecture stakeholders are. As part of this, think of all the people who are affected by it, who have influence or power over it, or have an interest in its successful or unsuccessful conclusion.
It might include senior executives, project organization roles, client organization roles, system developers, alliance partners, suppliers, IT operations, customers, etc.
When identifying stakeholders there is a danger of concentrating too heavily on the formal structure of an organization as the basis for identification. Informal stakeholder groups may be just as powerful and influential as the formal ones.
Most individuals will belong to more than one stakeholder group, and these groups tend to arise as a result of specific events.
Look at who is impacted by the Enterprise Architecture project:
- Who gains and who loses from this change?
- Who controls change management of processes?
- Who designs new systems?
- Who will make the decisions?
- Who procures IT systems and who decides what to buy?
- Who controls resources?
- Who has specialist skills the project needs?
- Who has influence?
In particular, influencers need to be identified. These will be well respected and moving up, participate in important meetings and committees (look at meeting minutes), know what's going on in the company, be valued by their peers and superiors, and not necessarily be in any formal position of power.
Although stakeholders may be both organizations and people, ultimately the Enterprise Architecture team will need to communicate with people. It is the correct individual stakeholders within a stakeholder organization that need to be formally identified.
21.3.1.1 Sample Stakeholder Analysis
A sample stakeholder analysis that distinguishes 22 types of stakeholder, in five broad categories, is shown in Figure 21-1 . Any particular architecture project may have more, fewer, or different stakeholders; and they may be grouped into more, fewer, or different categories.
Figure 21-1: Sample Stakeholders and Categories Consider both the Visible team - those obviously associated with the project/change - and the Invisible team - those who must make a real contribution to the project/change for it to be successful but who are not obviously associated with it (e.g., providers of support services).
21.3.2 Classify Stakeholder Positions
Develop a good understanding of the most important stakeholders and record this analysis for reference and refresh during the project. An example stakeholder analysis is shown in Table 21-1 .
Ability to
Current
Required
Current
Required
Stakeholder
Disrupt
Under-
Under-
Commit-
Commit-
Required
Group
Stakeholder
Change
standing
standing
ment
ment
Support
CIO
John Smith
H
M
H
L
M
H
CFO
Jeff Brown
M
M
M
L
M
M
Table 21-1: Example Stakeholder Analysis
It is also important to assess the readiness of each stakeholder to behave in a supportive manner (i.e., demonstrate commitment to the Enterprise Architecture initiative).
This can be done by asking a series of questions:
- Is that person ready to change direction and begin moving towards the Target Architecture? If so, how ready?
- Is that person capable of being a credible advocate or agent of the proposed Enterprise Architecture initiative? If so, how capable?
- How involved is the individual in the Enterprise Architecture initiative? Are they simply an interested observer, or do they need to be involved in the details?
- Has that person made a contractual commitment to the development of the Enterprise Architecture, and its role in the governance of the development of the organization?
Then, for each person whose commitment is critical to ensure success, make a judgment as to their current level of commitment and the desired future level of commitment.
21.3.3 Determine Stakeholder Management Approach
The previous steps identified a long list of people and organizations that are affected by the Enterprise Architecture project.
Some of these may have the power either to block or advance. Some may be interested in what the Enterprise Architecture initiative is doing; others may not care. This step enables the team to easily see which stakeholders are expected to be blockers or critics, and which stakeholders are likely to be advocates and supporters of the initiative.
Work out stakeholder power, influence, and interest, so as to focus the Enterprise Architecture engagement on the key individuals. These can be mapped onto a power/interest matrix, which also indicates the strategy to adopt for engaging with them. Figure 21-2 shows an example power grid matrix.
Figure 21-2: Stakeholder Power Grid 21.3.4 Tailor Engagement Deliverables
Identify catalogs, matrices, and diagrams that the architecture engagement needs to produce and validate with each stakeholder group to deliver an effective architecture model.
It is important to pay particular attention to stakeholder interests by defining specific catalogs, matrices, and diagrams that are relevant for a particular Enterprise Architecture model. This enables the architecture to be communicated to, and understood by, all the stakeholders, and enables them to verify that the Enterprise Architecture initiative will address their concerns.
21.4 Template Stakeholder Map
The following table provides an example stakeholder map for a TOGAF architecture project which has stakeholders as identified in Figure 21-1 .
Catalogs, Matrices,
Stakeholder
Key Concerns
Class
and Diagrams
CxO
(Corporate Functions);
e.g., CEO, CFO, CIO, COOThe high-level drivers, goals, and objectives of the organization, and how these are translated into an effective process and IT architecture to advance the business.
KEEP
SATISFIEDBusiness Footprint diagram
Goal/Objective/ Service diagram
Organization Decomposition diagram
Business Capabilities catalog
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Capability Map
Strategy/Capability matrix
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Model diagram
Value Stream catalog
Value Stream Stages catalog
Value Stream/Capability matrix
Value Stream Map
Program Management Office
(Corporate Functions);
e.g., Project Portfolio ManagersPrioritizing, funding, and aligning change activity. An understanding of project content and technical dependencies between projects supports portfolio management decision-making.
KEEP
SATISFIEDRequirements catalog
Project Context diagram
Benefits diagram
Business Footprint diagram
Application Communication diagram
Functional Decomposition diagram
Business Capabilities catalog
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Capability Map
Strategy/Capability matrix
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Model diagram
Value Stream catalog
Value Stream Stages catalog
Value Stream/Capability matrix
Value Stream Map
Procurement
(Corporate Functions);
e.g., AcquirersUnderstanding what building blocks of the architecture can be bought, and what constraints (or rules) are relevant to the purchase. Acquirers will shop with multiple vendors looking for the best cost solution while adhering to the constraints (or rules) derived from the architecture, such as standards. The key concern is to make purchasing decisions that fit the architecture.
KEY
PLAYERSTechnology Portfolio catalog
Technology Standards catalog
Human Resources (HR)
(Corporate Functions);
e.g., HR Managers, Training & Development ManagersThe roles and actors are required to support the architecture and changes to it. The key concern is managing people transitions.
KEEP
INFORMEDOrganization Decomposition diagram
Organization/Actor catalog
Location catalog
Application and User Location diagram
Business Capabilities catalog
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Capability Map
Strategy/Capability matrix
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Model diagram
Enterprise Security
(Corporate Functions);
e.g., Corporate Risk Management, Security Officers, IT Security ManagersEnsuring that the information, data, and systems of the organization are available to only those that have permission, and protecting the information, data, and systems from unauthorized tampering.
KEY
PLAYERSProduct Lifecycle diagram
Data Dissemination diagram
Data Security diagram
Actor/Role matrix
Networked Computing Hardware diagram
Network and Communications diagram
QA/Standards Group
(Corporate Functions);
e.g., Data Owners, Process Owners, Technical Standards BodiesEnsuring the consistent governance of the organization's business, data, application, and technology assets.
KEY
PLAYERSProcess/Event/ Control/Product catalog
Contract/Measure catalog
Application Portfolio catalog
Interface catalog
Technology Standards catalog
Technology Portfolio catalog
Value Stream catalog
Value Stream Stages catalog
Value Stream/Capability matrix
Value Stream Map
Executive
(End-user Organization);
e.g., Business Unit Directors, Business Unit CxOs, Business Unit Head of IT/ArchitectureThe high-level drivers, goals, and objectives of the organization, and how these are translated into an effective process and architecture to advance the business.
KEEP
SATISFIEDBusiness Footprint diagram
Goal/Objective/ Service diagram
Organization Decomposition diagram
Process Flow diagram
Application Communication diagram
Business Capabilities catalog
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Capability Map
Strategy/Capability matrix
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Model diagram
Value Stream catalog
Value Stream Stages catalog
Value Stream/Capability matrix
Value Stream Map
Line Management
(End-user Organization);
e.g., Senior Business Managers, Operations Regional Managers, IT ManagersTop-level functions and processes of the organization, and how the key applications support these processes.
KEY
PLAYERSBusiness Footprint diagram
Organization Decomposition diagram
Functional Decomposition diagram
Process Flow diagram
Application Communication diagram
Application and User Location diagram
Business Capabilities catalog
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Capability Map
Strategy/Capability matrix
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Model diagram
Value Stream catalog
Value Stream Stages catalog
Value Stream/Capability matrix
Value Stream Map
Business Domain Experts
(End-user Organization);
e.g., Business Process Experts, Business/Process Analyst, Process Architect, Process Designer, Functional Managers, Business AnalystFunctional aspects of processes and supporting systems. This can cover the human actors involved in the system, the user processes involved in the system, the functions required to support the processes, and the information required to flow in support of the processes.
KEY
PLAYERSBusiness Interaction matrix
Actor/Role matrix
Business Service/ Information diagram
Functional Decomposition diagram
Product Lifecycle diagram
Business Use-Case diagram
Application Use-Case diagram
Application Communication diagram
Data Entity/Business Function matrix
Value Stream catalog
Value Stream Stages catalog
Value Stream/Capability matrix
Value Stream Map
IT Service Management
(Systems Operations);
e.g., Service Delivery ManagerEnsuring that IT services provided to the organization meet the service levels required by that organization to succeed in business.
KEEP
INFORMEDTechnology Standards catalog
Technology Portfolio catalog
Contract/Measure catalog
Process/Application Realization diagram
Enterprise Manageability diagram
IT Operations - Applications
(System Operations);
e.g., Application Architecture, System & Software EngineersDevelopment approach, software modularity and re-use, portability migration, and interoperability.
KEY
PLAYERSProcess/Application Realization diagram
Application/Data matrix
Application Migration diagram
Software Engineering diagram
Platform decomposition Diagram
Networked Computing/ Hardware diagram
Software distribution Diagram
IT Operations - Infrastructure
(System Operations);
e.g., Infrastructure Architect, Wintel support, Mid-range support, Operational DBA, Service DeskLocation, modifiability, re-usability, and availability of all components of the system. Ensuring that the appropriate components are developed and deployed within the system in an optimal manner.
KEY
PLAYERSPlatform Decomposition diagram
Technology Standards catalog
Technology Portfolio catalog
Enterprise Manageability diagram
Networked Computing/ Hardware diagram
Processing diagram
Environments and Locations diagram
IT Operations - Data/Voice Communications
(System Operations);
e.g., Network ManagementLocation, modifiability, re-usability, and availability of communications and networking services. Ensuring that the appropriate communications and networking services are developed and deployed within the system in an optimal manner.
KEY
PLAYERSNetwork and Communications diagram
Executive
(Project Organization);
e.g., Sponsor, Program ManagerOn-time, on-budget delivery of a change initiative that will realize expected benefits for the organization.
KEEP
INFORMEDRequirements catalog
Principles catalog
Value Chain diagram
Solution Concept diagram
Functional Decomposition diagram
Application and User Location diagram
Business Capabilities catalog
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Capability Map
Strategy/Capability matrix
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Model diagram
Value Stream catalog
Value Stream Stages catalog
Value Stream/Capability matrix
Value Stream Map
Line Management
(Project Organization);
e.g., Project ManagerOperationally achieving on-time, on-budget delivery of a change initiative with an agreed scope.
KEEP
INFORMEDApplication Communication diagram
Functional Decomposition diagram
Environments and Locations diagram
Business Capabilities catalog
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Capability Map
Strategy/Capability matrix
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Model diagram
Value Stream catalog
Value Stream Stages catalog
Value Stream/Capability matrix
Value Stream Map
Business Process/Functional Expert
(Project Organization);
e.g., Financials FICO® Functional Consultant, HR Functional ConsultantAdding more detail to the functional requirements of a change initiative based on experience and interaction with business domain experts in the end-user organization.
KEY
PLAYERSProcess Flow diagram
Business Use-Case diagram
Business Service/Information diagram
Functional Decomposition diagram
Application Communication diagram
Business Capabilities catalog
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Capability Map
Strategy/Capability matrix
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Model diagram
Value Stream catalog
Value Stream Stages catalog
Value Stream/Capability matrix
Value Stream Map
Product Specialist
(Project Organization);
e.g., Portal Product SpecialistSpecifying technology product designs in order to meet project requirements and comply with the Architecture Vision of the solution.
In a packages and packaged services environment, product expertise can be used to identify product capabilities that can be readily leveraged and can provide guidance on strategies for product customization.
KEY
PLAYERSSoftware Engineering diagram
Application/Data matrix
Technical Specialist
(Project Organization);
e.g., Application ArchitectSpecifying technology product designs in order to meet project requirements and comply with the Architecture Vision of the solution.
KEY
PLAYERSSoftware Engineering diagram
Platform Decomposition diagram
Process/Application Realization diagram
Application/Data matrix
Application Migration diagram
Regulatory Bodies
(Outside Services);
e.g., Financial Regulator, Industry RegulatorReceipt of the information they need in order to regulate the client organization, and ensuring that their information requirements are properly satisfied. Interested in reporting processes, and the data and applications used to provide regulatory return information.
KEEP
SATISFIEDBusiness Footprint diagram
Application Communication diagram
Suppliers
(Outside Services);
e.g., Alliance Partners, Key SuppliersEnsuring that their information exchange requirements are met in order that agreed service contracts with the client organizations can be fulfilled.
KEEP
SATISFIEDBusiness Footprint diagram
Business Service/Information diagram
Application Communication diagram
Business Capabilities catalog
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Capability Map
Strategy/Capability matrix
Capability/Organization matrix
Business Model diagram
Value Stream catalog
Value Stream Stages catalog
Value Stream/Capability matrix
Value Stream Map
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