1. The document discusses Mikkel Brahm's background and experience in enterprise architecture and software engineering over 25 years. 2. It provides definitions of key terms like enterprise, architecture, and enterprise architecture. Enterprise architecture involves designing the intentional structure of a business or organization. 3. Brahm advocates for an iterative approach to enterprise architecture and change management rather than a strict waterfall model, as contexts and problems are complex with many interdependencies not captured by models.

1. In Charge of
Technology Enabled
Business Transformation
(not in Control of…)
Doctor of Management (Ph.D) Mikkel H Brahm
Head of Personal Banking Architecture | Nordea

2. Mikkel H. Brahm
Doctor of Management (Ph.D)
Head of Personal Banking Architecture | Nordea
25+ years of experience in the fields of
Software Engineering and
Enterprise Architecture
Slides available at SlideShare
https://www.slideshare.net/mikkelbrahm
Doctoral (PhD) Thesis available at UH
Seeking to Control Enterprise with Architecture
the limits and value of an engineering approach
from the perspective of an Enterprise Architect
http://uhra.herts.ac.uk/handle/2299/17596
ENTERPRISE
Intentional process of doing and organizing business
emerging from enabling/constraining figurations of relationships always in flux
ARCHITECTURE
Guiding organisation of structuring structures
including human conventions and mechanisms

3. Enterprise Architecture
Some definitions to ensure that we understand each other
Architects design Architecture
Architecture is Structuring Structures1
We impose Structure to achieve Qualities
• e.g. Firmitas, Utilitas, Venustas
• ~ Durability, Usefulness, Beauty
Everything that is Formed has Architecture
• whether or not an architect designed it
• whether or not emergent = intentional
A Company may engage in one or more Businesses
A Business is a Purposeful Exchange of Valuables
(tangible or intangible; for profit or non-profit)
The Business takes place in an Ecosystem of
Players who play some role in the Context of the
Business e.g. customer and supplier, but also
market regulators, competitors, partners, media, ..
Enterprise can mean the Ecosystem, the Business, the Company, or the IT of either of these
Enterprise Architecture can mean the design of the (intentional) structure of the Enterprise,
or/and the (intentional and emergent) structuring of the Enterprise
1) Pierre Bourdieu, (1972) 2013, Outline of a Theory of Practice, Cambridge University Press 3

4. 3. AS-IS MODEL 2. TO-BE MODEL
0. AS-IS REALITY 1. TO-BE REALITY
4. GAPS
• A
• B
• C
5. ROAD MAP
Best Practice (waterfall) Change Management
Rarely delivers the desired outcomes – but it is something you can do without having to think too much
4[E.g. TOGAF-ADM] Open Group, The (2013) TOGAF® Version 9.1. Zaltbommel: Van Haren Publishing.

5. Best Practice (waterfall) Change Management
Partial answer to why this approach rarely seem to deliver the desired outcomes
Pattern1: Context (= set of Forces) + Problem + Solution
Our models are (over) simplifications of the real world
=> they do not describe all the relevant forces and aspects of problem and solution
1. Gaps between as-is and to-be models are only a subset of gaps between realities
◦ dependencies exist between gaps, both gaps that show up in models and gaps that do not
2. Changes in our roadmap are only a subset of all the changes that occur e.g. do not cover
◦ changes emerging without intentional actions
◦ changes that result from the intentional moves of other players in the ecosystem
3. Some changes that are included in our roadmap, we are not always able to effect
◦ the people available to us may not have the required know how or technologies
◦ “wielding power” to influence, sell, motivate, etc. is difficult and complex
◦ the objective we are pursuing may not be realistic
1) Christopher Alexander, 1979, The Timeless Way of Building & 1977, A Pattern Language, Oxford University Press 5
Iterative approaches may better support learning and navigating along the way

6. Some games can be won or lost…

7. … others are more complex!

8. If we cannot control or predict particular outcomes,
how can we be in charge of technology enabled business transformation?

9. Practice
Being in Charge without being in Control

10. Source: Nordea, Annual Report 2017, nordea.com Investor Relations
Nordea simultaneously responds to change and innovate
Together, we lead the way, enabling dreams and everyday aspirations for a greater good
10

11. Nordea’s adoption of Scaled-Agile Framework
This is a work in progress – roughly 50 % of development is done in a SAFe (“inspired”) structure
• Nordea has split our total investment in change into 7 portfolios
• Initiatives in a portfolio are sized according to investment level (essential, large, full)
• Cadence is common 4*12 weeks PI’s (+3+1 weeks of vacation) = matches fiscal year & quarters
11Source: https://scaledagileframework.com/

12. Group Business Support
Nordea Organisation, simplified
No split between IT and Business, nor Silos; just Run the Business and Change the Business
Group
Functions
Personal Wholesale
RUN THE BANK
CHANGETHEBANK
Group Functions Portfolio
Personal Portfolio
Commercial Portfolio
Commercial &
Business
Wealth
Wealth Portfolio
Wholesale Portfolio
Change Execution Initiatives funded by Portfolios
Product (not Project) funding i.e. ≈ Stable Burn Rate
Architectural Governance is a mix of Investment Gates and
Solution Architects assigned into Hubs
Group Data Portfolio
Group Tech Portfolio
Group
Architecture
CEO
12

13. Budgets&Guidelines
Controlling&Reporting
Henry Mintzberg, 1983, Structure in Fives, Designing effective organizations, Prentice-Hall 13

14. Sunshine
14James C Scott, 1992, Domination and the Arts of Resistance, Yale University Press

15. Architecture Board
Includes COO’s and CIO
Head Architect
Dual competent
Solution Architect
Dual competent
Developer
Cross-functional teams
trust
trust
trust
15Steve Jobs: The people that really create the things … are both the thinker and doer in one person.

16. 16
Strategic Steer
Architectural
Governance
Solution Design
Portfolio
Architecture
Governance &
Strategic
Architectural
Alignment
Delivery
Architectural
Alignment
Artefact &
Technology
Adoption and Use
WHAT
Enterprise & Portfolio Architecture supports management by providing
proposals for strategic steer of change execution initiatives and
architectural governance of the portfolio of change execution initiatives.
Solution Architecture leads build teams’ realization by participating in
day-today leadership of change execution initiatives and by transforming
strategy and target architectures into concrete solution High-Level
Designs and Low-Level Designs.
HOW (5 pillars of Architecture Governance)
Portfolio Architecture Governance
​Demonstrate that the annual and quarterly review of budget is optimally
balanced by taking into account strategic and architectural priorities, as well
as tactical and operational demands. Provide a level of assurance that
funded initiatives are architecturally aligned, that critical dependencies are
identified and reconciled. and that meaningful prioritization exists.
Strategic Architectural Alignment
Demonstrate that the highest cost and/or impact initiatives have optimal
architectural/strategy alignment and executive support
Delivery Architectural Alignment
Demonstrate that initiatives (whether project or agile-based) have their
scope/epics aligned with approved artefacts, and are consuming IT
standards
Technology Adoption and Use
Demonstrate that a minimal set of operationally supportable technology
standards exist to meet business objectives, that obsolescence and security
risks are mitigated through robust lifecycle management, and that cost,
complexity and risk is reduced through service-based delivery of technology.
Artefact Adoption and Use
Demonstrate that artefacts have been approved by accountable persons
from architecture, business, functions, technology, data, security and
risk/compliance areas/domains, in an inclusive manner.
Architecture
Embedded into Management and Solution Design
Gartner (G00450389): Enterprise Architecture Must Evolve Into an Internal Management Consultancy

17. Escalate to create transparency into the actual state of affairs
Portfolio Governance ensures that the Balancing Act is done by Senior Decision Makers
17
Ambition Level
Scope
Calendar Time / Deadline
Prioritization
Epics / Features
Architecture – Business Needs
Capacity
Budget / # of Teams
Consultants / Sourcing
Do you want to
invest more money in
change execution to
become more aligned?
Should we do more
enablers and fewer
business features
to become more
aligned?
Should we lower the
ambition level
to become more
aligned?
(or just wait)

18. 2018 © Nordea Digital Company confidential
Customer Statement
“I will trust a bank that guides me when I
feel lost, comforts me when I feel
frustrated, and encourages me when I need
motivation.” Take my hand
and I will trust
you
Customer Statement

19. Enterprise Architect toolbox
Processes rarely work as intended, but tools can be useful if you know when & how to use them
19
Enterprise Architecture
(and Technology)
Tools, Methods, and
Understanding
Business and
Change Management
Tools, Methods, and
Understanding
Leadership and
Psychology
Tools, Methods, and
Understanding

20. • Find out what you are architecting
• Find out who is building / making decisions on what you are architecting
• Find out which questions the builders / decision-makers have
• E.g. how to build in a desirable, viable, feasible (, …) way
• Find out who also wants to supply such answers
• Find out which of these could be allies and which are opponents
• Do whatever it takes to provide the needed answers / guidance
Universal Architecture Method