The Turning Point: A Novel About Agile Architects Building a Digital Foundation

This is a novel from The Open Group Press: The Turning Point: A Novel About Agile Architects Building a Digital Foundation.

The novel is about a fictional company on a Digital Transformation [1] journey. The story is seen through the eyes of the main character, Dr. Kathleen Stone, Chief Architect for ArchiSurance. Kathleen and her team uncover many of the typical problems faced by companies as they make decisions to deploy digital technologies.

The story describes the foundational work necessary for companies that would like to deploy digital technology at a faster pace. It describes the difficulties that companies encounter due to organizational structures that have caused redundant roles, processes, information, and tools over the course of many years. This is frequently the case when functional groups focus on their own goals versus common outcomes across value streams. The ArchiSurance Digital Transformation calls for a new way of working in cross-functional teams that align with the flow of work and new technology being deployed.

The authors enjoyed reading the books “The Phoenix Project” [2] and “The Unicorn Project” [3] and have taken a similar approach for this Digital Customer Intimacy story; an easy read that provides guidance for a Digital Transformation. Many of The Open Group standards are used throughout the story to solve complications that arise during the ArchiSurance Digital Transformation. The TOGAF^® framework, the IT4IT™ Reference Architecture, and the ArchiMate^® modeling language are the primary standards featured.

The story will appeal to many roles in a company because it explains how Enterprise Architecture helps to characterize the work that needs to be accomplished by the organization to drive a transformation initiative. Many of the details and artifacts that were generated are provided in the Bonus Material.

At any time you can refer to the following list of the characters in the story to remind yourself of the roles they play in the transformation journey.