Using Business Scenarios for Active Loss Prevention Terry Blevins [e-mail]

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Using Business Scenarios for Active Loss
PreventionTerry Blevinst.blevins_at_opengroup.org
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The Open Group Gets It

• New areas, new challenges
• Active Loss Prevention is not about technologies
• It is about efficient risk management
• In3 is not about technologies
• It is about optimizing operational efficiency
• New views
• It is people, process, and technology working
  together to solve real business problems

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Business Scenarios Get It

• To generate a clear understanding of business
  needs
• Complete requirements
• Clarify the value
• Marketable solution
• To have a language to define
• Problems, best practices, policies, standards and
  technical solutions
• What is needed and why
• Business Scenarios are a product of The Open
  Groups process
• Produced in The Open Groups Architecture
  Framework

Vendor
Customer
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So What are Business Scenarios?

• A Business Scenario describes
• a business process, application or set of
  applications that can be enabled by the proposed
  solution or solution concept
• the business and technology environment
• the people and computing components (called
  actors) who execute it
• the desired outcome of proper execution
• A good Business Scenario
• is representative of a significant market
• enables the supply side to understand the value
  to the buy side of a developed solution
• is also SMART

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A SMART Business Scenario

• A SMART Business Scenario is
• Specific - defines what needs to be done in the
  business
• Measurable - clear metrics for success
• Actionable -
• clearly segments the problem, and
• provides the basis for determining
• elements and
• plans for the solution
• Realistic - the problem can be solved within the
  bounds of
• defining the bounds of technology capability and
  cost constraints
• Time-bound - there is a clear understanding of
  when the solution opportunity expires

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Business Scenarios Weve Done

• POS Upgrade
• Directory Enabled Enterprise
• Key Management Infrastructure
• Quality of Service
• Mobile and Directory
• Interoperable Enterprise
• www.opengroup.org/cio/iop
• Identity Management
• The Open Group
• The Interoperable Lottery
• In3 (Integrated Information Infrastructure)
  inspired by the Interoperable Enterprise Business
  Scenario

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The Value of Business Scenarios

• There is a business imperative
• Business Scenarios help us Get It
• The real problems in real world business
  situations
• The real business value
• Map business to technology
• Business Scenarios expose value for customers and
  vendors - a Win-Win
• Business scenarios will continue to help us
  quantify what Active Loss Prevention is all about
  and how to deliver It

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Building a Business Scenario Includes
Oh, BTW, this isnt rocket science!

• 1 - problem

2 - environment
3 - objectives
4 - human actors
After completion the scenario is basis and
yardstick of work (e.g. certification), of
customers planning/procurement, and of vendors
implementation plans
5 - computer actors
6 - roles responsibilities
7 - refinement
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Business Scenarios Set the Yardstick

• Customers
• Problem definitions
• Procurement plans
• Acceptance criteria
• Vendors
• Implementation plans
• Product definitions
• Certification tests

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Business Scenarios Help Define Requirements

• Where the technology is incomplete
• Where business processes need updating
• How to get the best out of techology
• Define what information to communicate
• Creates the basis for new standards and
  certification requirements

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What are the Phases?

• Gather information
• Workshops are a great way to gather information
  through questions
• Additional information such as strategies, plans,
  facts are solicited
• Analyze and process information
• Information is usually processed offline
• Use a small team, your architects
• Document information
• Create models of your findings, both business and
  technical views
• Augment models with detailed documentation
• Review
• Vet the models and documentation back to
  suppliers
• Have a controlled review, allocate specific
  review sections to specific reviewers
• Only a few reviewers needed to review the
  complete business scenario

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Building a Business Scenario

• Identify, document and rank problem
• the problem that is driving the scenario
• Identify environment and document it in scenario
  models
• the business and technical environment where the
  situation is occurring
• Identify and document desired objectives, get
  SMART
• the results of handling the problems successfully
• Identify human actors and their place in business
  model
• the human participants and their roles
• Identify computer actors and their place in
  technology model
• the computing elements and their roles
• Identify and document roles, responsibilities and
  measures of success per actor
• the required scripts per actor and the results of
  handling the situation

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A Workshop Agenda is Critical.For a Real Example

• Goal Brainstorm the problem of interoperability
  using the Business Scenario method
• We must bound our discussion today around real
  interoperability issues
• Introduction and seed definition of
  interoperability 30 min
• Discuss briefly what each of you mean by
  interoperability 60 min
• Discuss the pain points associated with the lack
  of
• interoperability and the implication of
  them 30 min
• Build a consensus around the priorities of the
  pain points 30 min
• Identify the critical elements of the
  environment, business,
• people, and technical 60 min
• Generalize critical elements 30 min
• Establish roles for each 60 min
• Discuss the objectives of solving the
  interoperability issue 60 min
• Check for specific and tangible 60 min
• No single agenda is appropriate for all cases,
  but each agenda Ive used is inspired by the key
  elements of a business scenario

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On Business Scenario Workshops

• Goal is to identify the key elements of the
  Business Scenario
• Bounding the problem to a solvable one
• To do so you must
• Define what a business scenario is to the
  participants to set their expectation levels
• Provide enough information so participants can
  begin to define the elements of the business
  scenario
• Usually have one day therefore focus on
• Accuracy at only the highest level
• May have more than one workshop
• Achieved through questioning, brainstorming, and
  possibly breakout sessions
• Recording is crucial!

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Some Reminders

• Business Scenarios are not It
• They are a tool to understand It
• They enable the whole end-to-end process of The
  Open Group

Business Scenario(s) Provide Coherence and
Consistency
Interview Sessions
Document Business Scenario
Requirements Validation
Identify needed standards
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In Summary

• Business Scenarios can help Active Loss
  Prevention
• I can help you do Business Scenarios by
• Providing guidance on workshops
• Providing templates
• For meeting agendas
• For documentation
• For presentation
• Use them - dont get lost in them

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Have a Great Conference