Joël Van Hoolandt — Fractional CTO | Magma Consulting

As part of my CoVid19 challenge (yes, I thought that staying home and fighting the virus deserved some extra challenges, like passing Architecture and Solutions certifications or reading Proust , for example), I passed one month ago the Togaf 9.2 certification (a combined exam allows you to pass level 1 and level 2 in one shot). What's great when achieving those challenges is that it gives you the feeling that you're not losing your time, that even confined at home, you can still learn and grow (intellectually I mean. I'm far too old to gain inches). And once the certification process finalized, you get access to specific resources (projects postings on the Open Group site - available for certified people only) or a log in to the Association of the Enterprise Architects (AEA) portal . This association is working like the ISACA or the PMI groups, divided in local chapters (per country or per town), trying to disseminate local knowledge and stimulating the communities. 

  If you ever tried to fully grasp the concept of Strategy (and, yes, we have, most of the time at least, reached consensus with what strategy is - but the understanding of what we really mean by Strategy is most of the time very variable) from an historic standpoint, I would recommend you to read the great book from Sir Lawrence Freedman: Strategy: a history. The author takes a full overview, from the Origins to the military contributions to the discipline to finish with the Business environments (where we discover that business management has not innovated that much, compared to what the military has provided to the discipline). A good investment of your time - especially in the digital and tech spaces, where people seem always puzzled by some ‘ strategic ’ questions.

After this special 2020 year, it might be time to think on what we've learned, what turned out positive, after all, on the pandemic. First and foremost, a first reminder would be that we're not all equal against the virus. And by that I mean on the genetical side, where you could be in good health but very sensitive to the infection. Or even older, but not knowing you carry it. That's the Russian roulette part of the game. A second lesson learned is that your attitude against the pandemic (and your profound belief on what to do or not) relies nearly exclusively on the way your favorite media are relating Covid19 stories. Which is quite frightening I would say. It reminds us that sources trust, facts checking are even more important today than before; look at the differences between crisis treatments in US, Brazil or Europe. From one side, you have a do nothing strategy, where people die in millions - and on the other side of the spectrum, a continent closing its internal bo...

It has now been so many months that COVID19 invited himself in our lives, forcing the whole planet to buy some facial protections, hand gel...and use technology to compensate the distance between us.  And, maybe, if you do the same kind of job that I'm doing, you still need to interact and to show (visually, graphically) some 'achieved milestones'? Well, there are some free resources you might have a look at. First, for any animation technique, online friendly or not, you can have a look at The Session Lab  where you will find zillions of animations and workshops techniques you can use with customers.  Another great online resource for Architecture maps design is the Online Diagram site  where you can access free and up to date icons, architecture blueprints, but also business analysis diagrams, balance scorecards etc. Finally, I would recommend the online Mural App  from where you can design a full online workshop and invite your customers to participate i...

It's weird that we had to face a global economic slowdown to gain in "maturity" and learn to truly work online, with virtual teams and remote connections.... Why couldn't we adopt a new way of working, before the COVID19 crisis? Because of a lack of trust from the employers? Because we all like social contacts so much that we can't refrain to commute every day (and enjoy the traffic jams)? Or because there is a need for sharing our communication in a face to face mode, trying to avoid any artificial interface between our eyes and our stakeholders? I guess the proper answers are a mix of all those reasons...but that's now for sure, that after four months in social restrain, working life will be changed for ever.

It is not that frequent that we can find a good management book, fitting for two groups of readers. When you share your days between 'business' people and 'technical' profiles, you might wonder how to bridge the gap between those two communities - and how could they feed each other? Well, I found the beginning of an answer with this book, which explains very clearly how to organize a strategic presentation and what kind of content 'business people' expect to get. If you're navigating between IT strategy and concrete deployment of those projects, have a look! This book is for you and is exceptionally clear about what you can achieve after your reading.

Disruption of the classical model creates a massive change in what and how we produce, we consume, we live. But where do we stand if we compare the business activities (what's the change, the progress we've made?) The volume starts at the inception of the business model. A startup is now Internet-based, in a optimal resource utilisation, focused on a circular vision of its economic model. Renting cheap office (if any), using collaborative and virtual spaces - and renting all what is needed to operate. This means very poor or low capital intensive businesses, with a strong profit margin if the costs are tightly controlled. Customers are close to the management - and so is the marketing strategy. Big data analysis, customer relationship management systems, all the info where insight can be gained and created (a kind of old 'back and trace' notion, but cloud-based. Modern). Improvement of productivity and efficiency. Every day, decisions, movements in the busines...