Walk-through of the scaled lean-agile architecture practice in the Personal Banking division of Nordea.

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
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

2. Architecture
Enable build process and ensure quality of building
2

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
• Vitruvius: Firmitas, Utilitas, Venustas
• EA: Desirable, Viable, Feasible, (Compliant)
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. Source: nordea.com investor relations (2021)
Nordea simultaneously responds to change and innovates
Together, we lead the way, enabling dreams and everyday aspirations for a greater good
4

5. 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
5Source: https://scaledagileframework.com/

6. 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
6

7. 7
Strategic Steer
Vision & Strategy
Target & Transition Arch.
Investment Decision
Development Budget Ask
& Business Case
Delivery of Output
Solutions
put in production
Realization of Outcome
Benefit Realization
via changed business
Purpose
Assess if we can deliver the
solutions we plan to deliver given
current state of affairs.
Purpose
Assess if we can achieve the
intended business outcomes
with the planned solutions or
without if we have to.
Purpose
Ensure investments in change
efficiently deliver
desired value and structure.
Purpose
Invest in change only to produce
outcomes we cannot get from
existing investments/operations.
Inspired by ‘Innovate – Invest – Execute – Exploit’ in Chris Potts, 2010, Recreation, Technics Publications
Architects provide basis for informed decision making
Signature-ready recommendations for Strategic Steer and Corrective Actions
Architecture Governance
Strategic / Portfolio Alignment Assessment
Recommended Corrective Actions
Purpose
Identify any mis-alignment between strategy (strategic steer and intentional design) and execution (emerging solution designs and emerging business practice/performance) and
provide recommended corrective actions and follow-up on previously decided actions

8. Architecture Board Presentation
Audience
CxO level decision makers who must
decide which potential changes
to invest in
Purpose
Inform decision making and choices
between change/architecture options
Format
PowerPoint with link to Artefact
Assistance provided
Annotated PowerPoint Template
Architecture Repository Artefact
Audience
Initiatives who need to realize the
architecture or align solution designs
with the architecture
Purpose
Steer change execution to ensure
alignment with strategy
Format
Word document in Repository and
presentation(s) in Architecture Forum
Assistance provided
Annotated Word Template
8
Working Material
Audience
Fellow architects and other contributors
to architecture work with architecture
competence
Purpose
Enable our work with architecture and
enable alignment across units
Format
Material on GA Confluence, GA
SharePoint, and in Mega Hopex
Assistance provided
Description in Architect’s Handbook,
Annotated Confluence Template, …
Written material is targeted to the receiver
Gartner ‘rule of 3’: Provide material for decision makers, build teams, and fellow architects

9. Budgets&Guidelines
Controlling&Reporting
Henry Mintzberg, 1983, Structure in Fives, Designing effective organizations, Prentice-Hall 9

10. Sunshine
10James C Scott, 1992, Domination and the Arts of Resistance, Yale University Press

11. Architecture Board
Includes COO’s and CIO
Head Architect
Dual competent
Solution Architect
Dual competent
Developer
Cross-functional teams
trust
trust
trust
11Steve Jobs: The people that really create the things … are both the thinker and doer in one person.

12. 12
Trust and Collaboration is a key enable for Success
Architect community across levels, Development communities across roles & practices

13. Escalate to create transparency into the actual state of affairs
Portfolio Governance ensures that the Balancing Act is done by Senior Decision Makers
13
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)

14. 14
Group Leadership
Team
Data & Technology
Committee
Architecture
Board
(What to invest in)
Architecture sub-
Board
(Low impact)
Development
Portfolio Planning
(How to invest)
Nordea Board
IT Strategy
Goals and strategies for
IT operations
decide
Technology Standard
Operationally
supportable technology
standards
Architecture Steer
Steer change execution
to achieve Nordea
priorities
approve
align
Budget in Nordea IT
Investment and
Develop-ment System
(NIIDS)
Business Strategy
Goals and strategies for
business operations
Business Strategy
Goals and strategies for
business operations
Business Strategy
Goals and strategies for
business operations
Application
Management
(Maintain & Operate)
Budget in Application
Portfolio Planning
(APP)
escalationpath
Clear escalation path is important to resolve Impediments
(Also Top-) Managers as Servant Leaders is key to achieve Flow in execution structure

15. 15
Strategic Steer
Quarterly backlog grooming based on the needs of initiatives in the portfolio and
prioritization with senior stakeholders (SAFe role: Epic Owners)
Architecture Governance
Quarterly assessment in collaboration with Hubs (mainly lead architects)
Quarterly presentation of findings to PeB COO with follow-up on action log of corrective actions
Architecture Governance ensures Execution aligned with Strategy
COO is ultimately responsible for the business and IT development budget (change the business)

16. Recommended actions first 100 days…
• 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
• Find out who also wants to supply such
answers
• Find out which of these could be allies and
which are opponents
Key take-aways
Recommended practice (in a SAFe contect)…
• Enterprise architects build trust relations with enterprise /
portfolio budget and epic owners
• Enterprise architects / cross-functional teams provide
signature-ready strategic steer just before build-teams need it
• Solution architects build trust relations with developers and
execution leaders and (co-)leads development
• Cross-level architecture community discusses strategic steer
and solutions designs and knows the extent to which
intentional = emerging
• Enterprise architects propose and track execution status of
corrective actions