Time flies: Week 3 is now gone. (Actually 4 is gone too, but the writing for it will come in a few days.) If you have missed Week 1 and Week 2 β you can quickly catch-up here and here π
Another great week when it comes to new content and team collaboration.
Topics discussed this week were Architecture standards, Architecture blueprints, and Current vs. to-be Architecture.
To prepare for the presentation we had to discuss the case study and address the key points outlined in it. Our audience this week was the Enterprise Architect of the company.
She was expecting to see how the proposed architecture is different from the one that is currently in place, what business problems will be solved and what will be the key #ServiceNow capabilities which will be implemented during the project.
And judging by the scores we got, I can assume that her expectations were fulfilled. We got 14/15 (93%) from the Master trainer and 88% from the peer reviews, which is quite impressive in our opinion. In addition to that, Zoe Alonso was invited to present during the virtual collaboration session and she showed enviable skills. Expectedly, she did a great job and was awarded a Star of the week badge β second badge for our team in three weeks β not bad, right? Honestly, right after here presentation, I was sure that will get that badge again, and that is why I delayed the article you are currently reading β just to brag a little bit more π
As always, we put our bets on the things that proved to be working from the past weeks β deep discussions of the main points, different viewpoints and, of course, good slides.
We have presented a three-phased implementation approach, with clear justification for each one of the phases and the capabilities to be developed. In the instance strategy we went few steps further from what was required by the case study and along with the standard 4-instance strategy map, we proposed a Sandbox, and a Secondary Production instance (if needed), because the customer is a financial institution and some additional security obligations may apply. Further, we have proposed a centralized GIT repository, data anonymization, and store applications as well.
My key takeaways when it comes to architecture and capability roadmaps are:
- Try to clearly demonstrate what is the difference between the current and to-be architecture.
- While presenting the proposed solution, refer to the project objectives as much as you can.
- To avoid big-bang approach (which is usually causing troubles), avoid releasing all functionalities at once. Go with a phased approach and split the implementation into logical chunks. Be ready to defend the logic behind the capabilities to be implemented in each one of the phases.
- Start small, by delivering a minimum viable product (MVP). This will lead to immediate value streams and will bring some good return on the investment in ServiceNow.
- Think out of the box (really confusing term, isnβt it?) and try to demonstrate platform capabilities that were not implicitly requested. This will show the client that the architecture is tailor-made and will quite often oversatisfy their expectations.
- Show what is the best possible solution and put it on the table for discussion. It is their decision at the end of the day, but it is our job to help them decide.
Overall, it was quite satisfactory week and I enjoyed it from the very first draft of the presentation till the Star of the week award.
Thanks for reading!
See you on the next one.
