lean4it

Chapter abstracts

Here are the draft abstracts for the major Second Edition chapters:

Chapter 1. IT in a world of continuous improvement

Abstract: Discussions of IT management struggle when they are not grounded in fundamental principles. This chapter sets forth working definitions of “Information Technology,” “IT Service,” “Lean,” and “Lean IT.” Basics of Lean and related continuous improvement are presented, with cautions as to their applicability in an IT services context. Proposed is the concept of two axes of IT value (product versus transactional). Establishing a correct analogy between IT and manufacturing operation is discussed, and the equation of IT transactional delivery with an assembly line is proposed and contrasted with the failed concept of software assembly line. Quality management in IT is summarized from a Lean perspective, and IT waste is discussed. Current trends in IT management are examined from a Lean light and a “TPS house” for IT is proposed. The Lean concepts of flow, small batches, kanban, and other terminology is presented.

Chapter 2. Architecture approach

Abstract: A generic enterprise architecture analysis approach is presented at an IT generalist level, based on the concepts of catalogs, matrices, and diagrams. The catalogs are enumerated, mutually exclusive and comprehensive lists of value streams, processes, functions, data entities, and IT management systems. Practical basics of IT transactional value are presented within an overall context informed by value chain and process management theory. Using entity lifecycle analysis, the IT value chain is decomposed into four major value streams: application service, infrastructure service, asset, and technology product. Also based on the entity analysis, nine cross cutting processes are proposed: demand, project, release, change, request, transaction, restore, improve, retire. Grounded in principles of functional and data architecture, forty IT functions and twenty-nine IT conceptual entities are defined. MRP and ERP origins, value, and challenges are discussed with reference to industrial literature, the idea of “ERP for IT” is introduced, and nineteen major classes of IT management systems are defined. Finally, each major catalog is matrixed to each other to show interactions.

Chapter 3. Patterns for the IT processes

Abstract: The concept of design patterns is introduced: named nuggets of insight addressing particular recurring problems in large scale IT management. The patterns in this book focus greatly on questions of integration and enabling processes and lifecycles to flow across the functions, via shared data. In this chapter, patterns for each of the nine major IT processes are discussed. Examples include Understand Aggregate Demand, Clarify Service Entry Points, Integrate Project Management, Integrated Release Management, Justify Change, Integrate Drift Management, Clarify Service Semantics, Integrated Continuous Improvement, Integrated Service Retirement and more. Extensive discussion of patterns surrounding Configuration Management is presented, including Distinguish between Element and Enterprise Configuration Management, Capture CMS Data at Appropriate Level, Mature the Configuration Management System Iteratively, and more.

Chapter 4. Patterns for the IT Lifecycles

Abstract: Continuing with the discussion of design patterns, this chapter focuses on the longest lived IT concepts, the multi-year lifecycles of application service, infrastructure service, asset, and technology product. The challenges of identifying these concepts are covered in detail, and overall lifecycles are examined in depth, with attention to data, function, and enabling systems. Patterns include Identify applications in the portfolio, Application semantics in detail, Integrate Application Portfolio and Configuration Management, Integrate Metadata Management; Applications, Infrastructure, and the ‘Hosting Zone of Contention;’ Solve the Vendor/Product Master Data Problem, Technology Product Lifecycle as Demand, Distinguish IT Asset Management from Configuration Management, Establish Traceability via Overlapping Identifiers, Portfolio Management Overview, and more.

 

 

Wordle just for fun

Wordle of my book manuscript (all 139,000 words)

Click to enlarge

 

 

Generalizing the "Improve Service" process: emergent idea?

Alert readers may have have noticed in my overall process architecture the idea of a generic process "Improve Service," and corresponding concepts of Improvement Opportunity in the data architecture and Continuous Improvement System in the systems architecture.

This is the outcome of a long standing conundrum in considering ITIL as a process architecture: I can count Changes and Incidents, but I cannot count Capacities or Availabilities. And if I have initiatives to improve capacity or availability, those initiatives compete for the same resources answering service requests and resolving incidents, and prioritization across these activities is typically ad-hoc and local. Service improvements (under which I also include process improvements) can take many forms, and be driven from many uncoordinated directions in the enterprise.

These are important themes in the new edition, which goes into the problem of cross-queue prioritization in the large IT shop from a few different angles.

A new preface

I'm struggling with a new preface and introduction for my 2nd edition. So here goes with new writing. Comments greatly appreciated. If you read the passage below, would you buy the book?

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Around 2003, when I was leading an application team at Best Buy, I met a senior business executive. The conversation went something like this:

Exec: "So, what do you do?"

Me: "I'm building a metadata repository."

Exec: "Boy, that sounds like a business we shouldn't be in."

Demoralizing! Yet this interaction, and others like it, sowed the seeds of this book.