From Open Sustainability
The Sustainability blueprint - Solutions concentrates on the technical aspects of the Blueprint process; it strategically ties the business strategy and conceptual architecture developed in Phase 1 to into a logical and physical architecture in Phase 2.
Overview
Phase 2 activities completes the Sustainability Blueprint by providing the following:
- Refines the overall scope requirements
- Defines the technology architecture and product direction
- Puts standards and technical infrastructure in place to support the technology implementation process
- Defines the overall program delivery plan that provides the starting point for the continuous implementation phase
Phase 2 also provides standards and policies for how this technology will be implemented. These standards and policies are driven from the Guiding Principles established in Phase 1.
In summary, the Solutions phase is a strategic phase, using input from and findings of the Risks and Opportunities phase. The outcomes of Phase 2 then provide the environment that ensures the overall solution is deployable and achievable.
There is a level of parallelism between activities in Phases 1 and 2. However, Phase 1 deliverables must be completed in their entirety before Phase 2 can be completed. Specifically, Phase 2 requires the following from Phase 1 before a full infrastructure can be prescribed:
- Business Vision for Sustainability
- High Level Business Case
- Key Information Categories
- High Level Sustainability Processes
- Scope of key systems
The depth, as well as the scope, of Phase 2 is also determined by the outcomes of Phase 1. Because this is not a waterfall approach and as increments are deployed as determined in Phase 1, the outcomes of Phase 2 will most likely evolve over time - for example, new business goals or improved technology may affect the architecture previously established or a new tool may be necessary for some new analytical function.
The activities associated with this phase include -
Working with the client to:
- Determine the strategic functional and non-functional requirements of the overall solution. This is captured at a level to make strategic decisions such as product selection, not at the level to begin implementation
- Ascertain the current infrastructure through client interviews
- Determine the ability of the current infrastructure to support the proposed solution
Developing:
- Management processes and procedures necessary to attain the new environment
- Standards for implementation
Activities
Major Deliverables
The major deliverables of this phase include:
- Strategic Functional Requirements
- Strategic Non Functional Requirements
- Gap analysis of Current State vs. Requirements
- Future State Logical Architecture
- Sustainability Governance Policies
- Sustainability Standards
- RFP issued and vendors selected
- Technology Delivery Preparation: Development Environment, Hardware and Software Procurement, System Development Life Cycle Procedures, Testing Strategy in place
- Solution Risks, Constraints, Dependencies, Revised Business Case, Deployment Timeline
There are a number of supporting work papers and an overall presentation pack that updates the Business Blueprint from Phase 1. The final recommendations are presented to the sponsor of the project as the Solutions Blueprint.
Use of Blueprint Activities for Solution Offerings
For many solution offerings, the activities from the Blueprinting phases are shown as being required. This is because most solutions offerings have been defined so that they can be applied for a large, complex organisation. In many cases these activities would also apply in smaller organisation or if the project is more tactically focused. Ideally, however, the strategy phases will not need to be conducted for every solution offering. An organisation will have done a comprehensive Blueprinting exercise that ties these different types of offerings together into an overall programme Blueprint.
This Blueprint will typically need to be refined to lower levels of detail for a very large organisation for each specific solution offering (this is why it remains for each offering). There will, however, be a comprehensive blueprint (often at the enterprise/group level) that ties all the initiatives together.
