kamala’s blog

Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is a cyclic learning system which uses models of human activity to explore with the actors in the real world problem situation, their perceptions of that situation and their readiness to decide upon purposeful action which accommodates different actor’s perceptions, judgements and values (Checkland, 1984, p.98).
We interviewed Stephen Powell from the coeducate project to identify the art of producing activity models in SSM in reality.

(1)SSM as an inquiring process, in turn established the ‘hard/soft’ distinction in systems thinking. Do you agree with this statement?
My opinion is that, it is a process of enquiry closely aligned to action research (i.e.) identification of problem, where the solution is enhanced by people working in itself. It enables people to identify, come up with the solution process to solve the problem themselves at some stage.

(2)The rules of SSM are always applicable to high level mapping. What’s your view on this?
I don’t see SSM as a mapping exercise. My view with a bit of experience in co educate project is as a problem solving one.

(3)Regarding the adoption and use of SSM; level of exposure is considered as a major factor and many feel it’s time consuming too. What’s your opinion on this?
Yes, I agree with this statement. Definitely it’s not a one man show. Adoption and use becomes easier when working in groups. In real world, we need to be pragmatic and practical. Following the seven steps of SSM rigidly might be time consuming.
I’d like to share my experiences with SSM like,
Initially, understanding the idea of complexity of the problem was a big milestone. Through interviews, focus groups we identified the exact location where the problem sits. We then made choices on discussions, interactions after the root definitions were framed up. Then identified, the biggest strength of SSM is that it’s practical usability in a wide range of situations by people without technical background.

(4)People taking baby steps in modelling, do you recommend soft side of modelling at the start or the hard bit like the Enterprise Architecture Modelling?
Yes, definitely I will recommend SSM to be the starting point to understand the problem scenario and then migrate to the hard side of the modelling spectrum. The main advantage to start with the soft side is that, SSM as a methodology offers good facility where the intensity of the problem can be compared at each stage.

(5)What are the advantages of SSM considering that it has played a good role in the co educate project?
I feel it’s not hard, simple to understand. The harder bit is the interactions with the people and formulating the problem scenarios. It does address some questions at the end by analysing the problem. I feel Enterprise Architecture modelling is not really involved in solving a problem. It’s a diagrammatic depiction of the problem.

References and Resources
(1) THE ART OF MODELLING IN SSM by Dr Mark P. Mobach,Prof.dr Jos J. van der Werf,Prof.dr Th. (Dick) F.J. Tromp
(2)Soft Systems Methodology in Action by Peter Checkland and Jim Scholes.

The focus of the modelling world is now shifting from a purely technical perspective to a more holistic approach. Due to increased interest in modelling; the necessity of using comprehensive modelling tools has become fashionable now. The session answered the question: Why modelling?And suggested different ways of modelling

1. Modelling problems in all situations –SSM (Soft Systems Methodology)/SODA techniques
2. Modelling complex situations , dynamic systems modelling
3. Enterprise architecture route to modelling
4. Modelling organisations as systems –VSM(Viable System Model)

Certain issues have been identified such as

1. We’re using a number of blueprinting approaches to simplify the work, but do they do their job?
2. We need a model to be shared between IT and business people and sometimes we prefer to use a flow chart as it satisfies the purpose instead of complex modelling languages such as UML, BPMN, Archimate’’
3. Models can be quite difficult to use/ or do not give a precise answer to many of our problems
4. How can we choose an appropriate model for our project? Once we’ve chosen, can we use it as a basic model and re use in future?
5. We can draw ‘’as-is’’ and ‘’to-be’’ scenarios for considering the institutional priorities/capabilities.

Certain Key findings for the above listed issues were

1. A model for whole organisation doesn’t exist. Once universities realise that the Enterprise Architecture approach is beneficial, it then becomes necessary to use the skills of an Enterprise Architect. However most institutions do not have access to such a person.
2. It’s important to first identify the level of abstraction required, who is it for, why are we doing it, etc and then to identify the different ways in which people communicate using the modelling world. Only then can the decision be made on how to proceed.

It was a very good session in the JISC CETIS Conference headed by Oleg Liber. I felt it’s a good theme to look in to the future and explore the different ways of Modelling.

The general outcomes were

1. Need to manage complexity and sheer volume of information
2. Trying out a number of methodologies like SSM.
3. Increased interest in process modelling

Finally,Model is the thing which will be used in between to understand Business and Code. Model is nothing but a description of a domain. It can be a System Domain like UI/Service etc… or can be a Business Domain like Finance/HR etc… (Eric Rosh ’s SOA blog)

The JISC FSD programme aims to highlight the role of the current IT infrastructure in colleges and universities, the challenges faced by it and how effectively and efficiently it can be used. One high level technique suggested is to take the Enterprise Architecture approach to managing the processes, information and systems that make up such an infrastructure. A particular route within EA is to design and implement a Service Oriented Architecture, which can help senior managers in the HE/FE sectors to achieve a flexible and agile IT environment.

The FSD programme runs from the 1^st July 2009 till 1^st march 2011, and is part funded from two sources: the HEFCE/HEFCW capital funded programme to support IT infrastructure and JISC’s core budget. More information about the programme structure can be found at https://fsdsupport.pbworks.com/.

The FSD support and Synthesis is comprised of

· JISC-CETIS for technical development support

· JISC Info-Net for synthesis activity

· UCISA and ALT to liaise between the Strategic Technologies Group of the FSD and the wider community and supplier engagement

The first activity in the JISC FSD Programme is the establishment of the Strategic Steering Group (STG) that brings the representatives from different educational institutions; explore different flexible ways of providing academic and administrative services. The STG will have a first meeting on October 2nd in London. More details on the FSD programme, the STG and the meeting are available at https://fsdsupport.pbworks.com/STG-Meeting-Agenda-2-Oct-2009. A comprehensive, high level overview of the STG’S activities, drivers and benefits is provided by a JISC flyer on the topic.

Finally, JISC aims to act as an impartial facilitator by between the suppliers (open source applications providers of administrative and academic systems) and customers by running a series of workshops, maintaining good engagement with suppliers by discussing the barriers and possibilities for flexible and shared service provision, and identify and prioritise the requirements for solving them.

Zachman is being recognised for his contributions to Enterprise world.

John Zachman receives a Lifetime Achievement Award and delivers a great speech.The award was presented at the CAEAP Summit on June 20, 2009 in Los Colinas, Tx.

I enjoyed the entire set of informative videos of the presentations given at the Centre for the Advancement of the Enterprise Architecture Profession (CAEAP) Summit.

Hats off !! Congrats for your achievement.

What is Enterprise Architecture?

Enterprise Architecture is an important element in any organisation because it addresses the principles, methods and models used in designing the organisational infrastructure, business processes and information systems. Organisations are now starting to realise the importance of Enterprise Architecture when adopting new business strategies. Enterprise Architecture is about understanding all of the different elements that go to make up the organisation and how those elements
inter-relate.

Why is it Important?
Enterprise Architecture is a coherent description of products, services and processes within the organisation. The degree of usage varies between organisations. As organisations are now tending to focus on strategy and to introduce new business models that require the complete integration of technology, processes and the business itself, organisations are starting to understand how Enterprise Architecture can:
• Efficiently align business (processes, strategies, goals and so on) with technology (computer applications, data controlled by processes, etc )
• Provide control over Information Technology costs.
• Reach the expectations of customers (supply versus demand).
• Create a strategic vision for the whole organisation, particularly now that Information Technology has become such a powerful force, which is bringing about many fundamental changes.
• Manage and control organisational changes.
• Easily adapt to changes in meeting customer demands.

The need to move toward an Enterprise Architecture approach becomes more important when the current architecture stops supporting the organisation, or when the organisation starts to modify its current architecture. Also, the recent trend of migrating towards new modelling tools and frameworks has been increasing steadily.
Regarding the usage of Enterprise Architecture, such as how, when and to what degree it should be used by an organisation, JOHN A. ZACHMAN, in his “A Framework for Information Systems Architecture”- (IBM Systems Journal, vol 26, no 3 1987), states: ‘’Without a predetermined structure in the development of organisation-wide information systems, all efforts will lead to chaos and disintegration of the organisation’’.

What are the advantages in Using Enterprise Architecture?
The advantages for any organisation in using Enterprise Architecture are:
• Increasing controllability of organisational change.
• Clarifying connections between different domains.
• Offering a tool for improving business ICT (Information and Communication Technology) alignment.
• Increasing efficiency of the organisation’s Information Technology function.
• Minimising investment risks by reducing the complexity of the Information Technology infrastructure and increasing its flexibility.
Finally, although Enterprise Architecture is not a revolution in itself, it does offer a different perspective on the management of organisations and provides an effective execution of change management. However, it still all depends on how the organisation interprets Enterprise Architecture and how it is used.

I attended the JISC Timetabling workshop on 14^th October 2008 in Manchester run by Oakleigh Consulting Limited, appointed JISC to run the study on timetabling and resource scheduling. This workshop included participants from HE and FE sectors. The workshop was divided into three main sessions. The first and the second covered the general positioning and the process model in timetabling whilst the third concentrated on drivers to it. The common processes involved in timetabling, problems in the current processes, how current and re-engineered processes are supported by technology and finally the actual links between timetabling, resource scheduling, and curriculum delivery and planning and course delivery were also discussed.

One of the sessions covered the position that most institutions take with regard to the three high level approaches/drivers to timetabling. The approaches/drivers are:

1. Distributed scheduling and requirements identification –central location allocation

2. Distributed scheduling and requirements identification and allocation of locally ‘owned ‘ locations – central location allocation of ‘high demand’ pooled locations

3. Distributed requirements identification –central scheduling and location allocation

The three high level approaches which are applicable to both central or distributed allocation, include factors such as depends on efficiency, curriculum complexity, locus of control, culture , student satisfaction (retention perspective), physical layout(environment) and so on. Most universities fall somewhere between the second and third but generally aim for the first one.

The workshop included a lot of participation from the audience. We were divided into groups to answer some scenarios on timetabling and resource scheduling. A sample is given below.

Scenario: Cross institutional delivery is becoming increasingly common.

Question: What process improvements can be made in this area to achieve benefits such as production of a single timetable for students, effective transfer of information etc?

Answer: Cross institutional delivery started in the FE sector. As the main challenge is the liaison between people and planning, then course development and resource planning must go hand in hand.

Oakleigh Consulting Services have published their final report with the ultimate deliverables from the timetabling study .

Recently, Enterprises started adopting more open source software. Bernard Golden, CEO of Navica, in Open source in the Enterprise, identifies six prime drivers for enterprises adopting more open source software systems are

• Agility and scale
• quality and security
• breaking vendor lock-in
• cost
• sovereignty
• innovation

In practical usage web 2.0 companies (You Tube and Face book) are built on open source software. Most of the IT Enterprise organisations are under stress with regards to the annual budget. The reason behind is that they focussed only the strategy part, migrating to new business models and so on.Also,the reason for the adoption to open source software is low cost and easy access.

Gartners report:

Gartner prediction is that by 2012, nearly 90% of the enterprise organisations will use open source software because of its attractive feature,massive scalability at no transaction cost, for whatever you are doing.

My personal feeling is that

(1) With regards to the adoption statistics,it is extremely a challenging task to assess the usage of open source software in Enterprise organisations.

(2) Many Enterprise organisations have already been using open source software to a very less degree. I would say because of the success of the web 2.0 companies, Enterprise organisations have started focussing on open source software to a high degree.

An enterprise architecture is an important instrument to address any organisation. It is a coherent description of products,services,processes in the organisation.The degree of coherence varies between organisations.Recently,organisations tend to focus on the strategy part and introduce new business models that really require high involvement of the integration of technology,the processes and the business itself.Organisations then realise a need for an enterprise architecture to

-aligh IT and Business.

-Control over IT costs.

-reach the expectations of customers. ( Supply versus Demand)

-To create a strategic vision over the organisation when the Information Technology (IT) has become such a powerful force and everything seems to be changing.

-Manage and control organisational changes.

Many frameworks are developed around the world to reach the criteria mentioned above.One of the frameworks that aims to provide the above integration is Archimate.Archimate is a modelling language like UML (Unified Modelling Language ) for describing the enterprise architectures.It visualises the relations which enhances the communication between the stakeholders. Though identifying the structure of each domains ,aligning them,highlighting their interdependencies, reaching the top level of management in any organisation, is possible through a modelling language like UML , archimate does pave a better path through physical visualisation.The general opinion from different attendencies in the 2 day

workshop organised by LJMU (Liverpool John Moores University) is that ‘Archimate is definitely in a reachable position to model their Enterprise Architecture within the institutions’.

Education has become more student centred. A main goal of institutions is to satisfy the needs of the students. Problem based learning is a student centred strategy taken by the institutions where students solve their problems or queries or puzzles based on authentic experiences. The aim is not necessarily to solve each problem but to get a deep understanding of it and figure out the ways of solving it. It is a method of building confidence in students. The seminar on the 19th June at UCLAN on problem based learning explored a lot. Currently the health sector is aware of PBL concepts. The conference concentrated on the SONIC and BRADTON projects. Carolyn Gibbon, the facilitator introduced the SONIC ( Students Online in Nursing Integrated Curricula ) project and ended up with the small discussion of extending it. SONIC points the users in right direction to identify the resources and scenarios,taking a blended learning approach. The main advantage is that the SONIC website is accessible to everyone andas a result they get hits from all over the world. The disadvantage is that they have an increase in the amount of spam when the website is accessible to all. The next session introduced us to the Bradton project which is currently between Blackboards and Webct. The process is almost similar to the SONIC project with the scenarios and resources being supplied and the patient journey are recorded using digital recorders.

Both projects found PBL does improve the attitude of the students and motivation towards learning. When these two factors are high there may be, more chance for any institution to achieve it’s goal.