Innovation Norway’s Automated Information Assortment With Ardoq

When Innovation Norway determined to embark on their Enterprise Structure (EA) journey, they recognized 3 challenges to resolve. They wanted to: 

1. Construct an correct overview of their functions and integrations in order that they may perceive the affect of change
2. Talk the effort and time it takes to cut back technical debt 
3. Have a transparent overview of who controls possession of functions

Most significantly, they needed an automatic knowledge assortment resolution that may assist them to effortlessly preserve an entire, up-to-date overview of their structure. 

Meet Innovation Norway

Innovation Norway is the Norwegian authorities’s most vital instrument for nurturing innovation and improvement for Norwegian companies, investing billions of Norwegian Kroner in companies annually. It contributes to sustainable progress and exports for Norwegian companies by way of capital and experience, with representatives in 30 nations worldwide. 

The corporate makes use of an agile approach, the place architects and senior builders work in interdisciplinary product groups. These agile product groups have the autonomy to make selections, set updates, and take accountability for his or her architectures. This brings an general stronger scalability by empowering the product groups to work with focus and effectiveness. 

Whereas Jon Loken is Innovation Norway’s sole devoted Enterprise Architect, many others in his group additionally make the most of EA. Working throughout their groups they’ve achieved an important take care of Ardoq since April 2018.

Advantages for the IT staff:

• Mechanically capturing 40% of the structure
• Liberating up time to spend on worthwhile tasks as an alternative of manually creating documentation fashions for integrations
• An in depth overview of the mixing elements
• A complete understanding of the affect of proposed adjustments
• Extra correct venture estimations
• “Bridging the hole between enterprise and IT.” IT groups at Innovation Norway can now simply clarify the complexity of tasks and the affect of change on management.

Advantages for the entire group:

• Fast time to worth. Innovation Norway finds Ardoq’s iterative and incremental strategy to modeling structure useful to producing insights quick. New elements and different knowledge equivalent to price and well being rating may be simply added as they go when wanted.  
• Prepared-made, up-to-date, and customizable shows for the administration staff.
• Displaying a steady up-to-date overview of their structure.
• Recognized 97 elements between APIs and Capabilities which are related. 
• Persistently correct overview for selections and insights by way of automated knowledge updates each 24 hours.

They first needed to outline their challenges and discover options to achieve these advantages. 

For extra particulars on their technical strategy, learn How Innovation Norway Automatically Updates Their Integration Landscape In Ardoq.

Defining the Challenges

Problem 1:  Understanding the Affect of Change

Innovation Norway’s utility and integration panorama was an entire thriller to these outdoors IT. The IT staff had been utilizing a number of non-EA instruments to mannequin their structure with out a lot success. Not one of the instruments allowed them to effortlessly preserve an up-to-date architectural panorama that may assist them perceive the affect of change.

When IT wanted to clarify the affect of change to management, one individual manually seemed by way of the code and drew the integrations by hand. This meant that staffing was an important constraint on the variety of integrations IT may successfully course of and doc. 

Because of the time and specialised abilities wanted to analysis and hand draw functions, the integrations between their many functions remained a ‘black field’ for everybody outdoors of IT. Management couldn’t perceive the complexity of a venture, the affect of change, and what was driving its prices, making it troublesome for them to execute data-driven decisions.

Problem 2: Speaking Technical Debt Discount Efforts 

As firms develop, so does their technical debt. Innovation Norway wants a correct overview of the elements which are including to their technical debt to allow them to simply clarify to management the effort and time it should take to deal with them. 

Particularly, Innovation Norway wants to speak to management the variety of integration elements that wanted updating to the most recent model of the .NET framework, a software program framework to construct functions that run on Home windows. Plus, they wish to present correct timeframes for supply, estimated prices, and monetary penalties if not upgraded. This data would assist administration make strategic selections.

“With an excessive amount of technical debt, it is advanced and troublesome to seek out points.”

– Jon Loken, Enterprise Architect, Innovation Norway

Problem 3: Concern of Possession

Each time an worker modified positions within the firm, IT bumped into a problem of possession of the functions. When an worker moved to a different staff or was offboarded, the functions nonetheless belonged to their electronic mail deal with. Innovation Norway wanted an answer to stop time-consuming changes and staffing adjustments. 

Fixing Issues, Saving Time

Armed with express data of their challenges, Innovation Norway looked for a instrument to assist them implement an answer. They selected Ardoq as a result of it offers them full management over their functions, permits impactful selections, and automates the invention and modeling of their integrations by way of the Ardoq REST API. 

Saving Time With the Automated Information Assortment Resolution

Modeling a New Structure

One in all Innovation Norway’s first steps concerned getting an entire overview of its utility panorama by transferring their current portfolio from Excel to Ardoq.

Innovation Norway makes use of Application Lifecycle Management, Application Integration Management, and Application Rationalization to:

• Acquire an outline of their functions and the way they’re related
• Perceive the affect of change by way of dependency mapping
• Have a centralized repository with a single supply of fact
• Enhance governance
• Drive determination making about their portfolio
• Facilitate enterprise case and affect evaluation processes
• Cut back pointless renewals
• Set up possession of functions to mannequin accountability
• Import Azure AD into Ardoq, making certain the proper names and electronic mail addresses are synced

Staying As much as Date

Subsequent, they mixed their in-house improvement abilities with Ardoq’s REST API to:

• Mechanically preserve an up-to-date As-Is state. Utilizing their very own developed utility, ‘Doc Grasp,’ Innovation Norway fetches new elements operating in manufacturing from their Azure occasion and robotically imports them into Ardoq utilizing the Ardoq REST API. This eradicated the time spent on manually modeling functions. They name these robotically imported functions integration elements.
• Have a extra detailed structure. Innovation Norway has automated the import of Readme information and related Github repository URLs for every integration element to have extra data available when exploring the structure. 

Moreover, they use Ardoq Surveys and are testing Broadcasts to canvass key stakeholders throughout the group and uncover much more new elements. Surveys are a quick and simple approach to collect utility knowledge, whereas Broadcasts permits structure groups to robotically attain the fitting individuals, on the proper time, with the fitting message.  

Modeling Integrations to Unlock EA Insights 

When Innovation Norway began utilizing Ardoq, Jon offered the instrument to all groups. One of many builders identified that the mixing layer may very well be added by way of the Ardoq REST API. 

Automating the modeling of their integrations permits Innovation Norway to construct a wealthy overview of its structure shortly. They perceive how their functions are related and which of them could be affected by adjustments. 

“Earlier, the mixing layer was a black field. Nobody knew what was inside it. We did not know who to ask if one thing broke down. Now once we present the integrations to management they might not perceive them, however they do perceive the complexity and the large quantity of labor wanted to vary the elements.”

– Jon Loken

After two workshops to determine easy methods to robotically uncover the connections between their functions and push them to Ardoq utilizing the REST API, that they had a pilot operating and started manufacturing simply two days later. With all the pieces now up and operating, they usually have robotically modeled 40% of their structure. 

Learn the way Innovation Norway automated the modeling of their integration layer with Ardoq’s REST API on this in-depth article: How Innovation Norway Automatically Updates Their Integration Landscape In Ardoq.

Speaking and Visualizing Technical Debt

Innovation Norway plans to construct the overview of their integration elements’ technical debt and bridge the hole between enterprise and IT. They’ll classify integration elements into “Up to date”, “Have to be up to date”, and “Have to be up to date” classes. Subsequent, they’ll import this new data as fields into Ardoq with the Ardoq REST API.  

Utilizing Ardoq’s graph expertise, management can visualize the mixing elements that must be up to date, perceive the dimensions and price of their technical debt, and why it could take as a lot time to deal with it. IT groups at Innovation Norway could have the means to current insights to management and information determination making simply.

“For instance, say I’ve 50 integration elements, and I do know that 45 are up-to-date. I do know it’s roughly 3 months work to replace 5 elements (…) and in case you wait too lengthy, it prices extra.” 

– Jon Loken

The New Possession Protocol Resolution

Innovation Norway developed a brand new possession protocol assigning possession of functions to product groups relatively than people. On this manner, even when individuals within the product staff go away the venture or the corporate, the possession and the accountability to develop and function an utility stays with the staff making certain consistency, sustainability, cleaner handovers, and higher documentation for future adjustments. 

This adjustments how they mannequin. Now, Innovation Norway fashions references in Ardoq for individuals and groups to point which functions are assigned to completely different groups and people. Now they’re testing utilizing a Gremlin question in Ardoq to establish the fitting individuals in a given staff that ought to obtain a Broadcasts message. 

“Our groups are small, 7 to 11 individuals, and autonomous. They’ve the accountability to verify ‘their’ utility is developed, all of its operations are operating, and it’s maintained.” 

– Jon Loken

Having fun with the Outcomes 

The Worth of Automated Information Assortment 

Utilizing Ardoq’s Relaxation API, Innovation Norway has robotically captured 40% of its structure. Automated knowledge assortment has enabled them to painlessly preserve an at all times up-to-date structure panorama.

Automation helps Innovation Norway mannequin integrations by way of the Ardoq API and continues to assist them preserve map connections, saving additional hours of labor. They’ve found 97 elements between APIs and Capabilities which are related.

Innovation Norway has achieved an correct overview of their structure and the way it’s related, empowering them to resolve their black field and technical debt points. By means of transparency, they will now:

• Simply perceive the complexity of a venture and the affect of change
• Higher estimate prices and the time it could take to ship a venture, scale back their technical debt, or implement adjustments
• Make data-driven selections
• Unencumber assets so groups can give attention to extra impactful tasks
• IT groups can now successfully talk with enterprise leaders, information decision-making, and get approval for his or her proposed adjustments

For extra particulars, examine how Innovation Norway used Ardoq REST API in our article: How Innovation Norway Automatically Updates Their Integration Landscape In Ardoq.

From Black Field to Transparency Between Groups and Tasks

Now EA is proving its worth to Innovation Norway. With in-depth data of their structure, they will present the connections in administration conferences and information decision-making utilizing auto-generated visualizations in Ardoq that showcase the affect of change.

Innovation Norway can now robotically uncover and present the advanced net of connections behind functions, so the ramifications of utility adjustments are clearer to the broader group. Jon explains, “We’ve got one supervisor who says, ‘I don’t perceive it, however now I can see how large it’s, perceive the complexity, and know why a venture takes so lengthy.’ Now leaders know why it takes time and prices cash.” The EA data has been utilized in prime administration conferences to indicate prices and the significance of integration groups.

Now that the black field is clear, stakeholders can:

• Have entry to good present documentation
• See the complexity wanted to implement a change or initiative
• Alter timelines realistically
• Perceive why common updates forestall future bills 
• Present new workers and consultants the entire structure at just a few clicks of a button
• Give stakeholders possession of their functions and mannequin accountability

A Higher Administration of Technical Debt 

As soon as Innovation Norway will get their technical debt into Ardoq, management gained’t longer must marvel on the considerably mysterious approaches of their IT groups to cut back technical debt. Innovation Norway now makes strategic selections based mostly on EA data. Ardoq’s graph expertise makes the knowledge for selections straightforward to eat and accessible when wanted. 

With Ardoq, IT groups can immediately present management the elements that want updating and the next affect when making adjustments to the structure. This data helps leaders make knowledgeable selections. As well as, they will shortly estimate how a lot time and effort a job will take. They’ll additionally see bills over time, displaying how a simple repair may change into sophisticated and costly if a change is delayed for too lengthy. 

Worth of Possession Protocol

With Innovation Norway’s manner of modeling, the elements usually are not related to 1 proprietor however to a product staff. When a person goes on go away or adjustments jobs, there isn’t a want to vary the structure. This strategy makes it straightforward to take care of.

Now that they’ve achieved a lot with automations, technical debt, and possession, they’re trying on the subsequent challenges to iterate in direction of. They plan on including domains and grasp knowledge from data architects, placing enterprise capabilities in place, and growing privateness with an outline of information topic roles and processing actions.

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