When we look at our applications at NetApp, we use a robust enterprise architecture lens. That really guides what we do and how we prioritize a lot of our work.
In addition, we recently adopted what we call a capability model. This model is tied to how we implement our services framework, and helps us look at each business capability end to end. We use it to map all the technologies, infrastructure, and applications associated with each capability.
This model has been a real eye-opener for a number of reasons. In some cases we’ve seen that to service a business capability, we may use 10 or 15 applications and a whole range of different technologies. This insight has led us to trim down, simplify and modernize our application stack.
In the past, when you needed to do something, you implemented an application. This application would get tacked onto the business capability. You might end up using three different screens or applications, or even five, if your group solved its problem in a silo.
We stopped this process by looking at capabilities across the enterprise. That expanded perspective allows us to ask, “Can we use something in our toolkit already to achieve the goal of this application? Can we take the application down in size? Or can we reduce the number of technologies we use to support the application and retire some technology debt?”
The capability model at work
Just recently we mapped a capability we needed within our sales organization to Saleforce.com and their roadmap. Now we have a very strong roadmap to say, “How do we leverage all the capabilities in Salesforce.com so we don’t have to go out and buy new point solutions?”
Of course, none of this is done without business partners. They are a part of this capability model and we map out their needs. We’ve looked at the different capabilities and invite the business to rank them red, yellow, and green as to how they meet their needs now and in the future. This exercise revealed their true needs along with any shortfalls.
We launched this practice jointly with the business. We did a listening tour among business VPs to understand what they thought about our current infrastructure, our current practices, and their capabilities. And we put all the information together and replayed it back to the business group as a whole. It was enlightening to everyone because they had a lot of the same challenges and a lot of the same pain points, even if they weren’t working together.
As a result of these enterprise-wide discussions, we started to map out what our IT roadmap should be. Then we took it down to the level of services and capabilities. And with the capabilities, we started our service discussions to say, “Well, if you expect a certain level of uptime and capability, let’s see how that is put together today.” And we started really unraveling the different capabilities.
Here’s another example. If your users have a capability around managing cases, you can hold a discussion and bring both your IT and business people together to talk about what happens when you manage a case. Define the steps involved from the business side, as well as the triggers for IT and the applications and the technology they use. I’m confident this kind of conversation will generate a deeper level of understanding between IT and the business on why you need certain capabilities and certain uptimes and resiliency. Within NetApp, part of that business understanding was expressed as, “Wow, now we understand why it’s so complex behind the scenes.”
One of the best benefits of this capabilities model is our team’s increased morale. Recently we ran what we called an IT Showcase. We used an airline theme to talk about the different capabilities and how they related to different activities, in the same way that airlines do. And then we opened it up to both IT and the business users. IT walked away saying, “Now I know what other IT groups do.” And the business walked saying, “Well, now I understand IT even better than I did before.” So that was a great morale booster. It’s pretty amazing what you can achieve by bringing these perspectives together.
Cynthia Stoddard is the Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer (CIO) at NetApp. In her role as CIO, she is responsible for providing a long-term technology vision that supports and is aligned with the company’s strategies and goals, business plans, operating requirements, and overall efficiencies. She provides leadership to the Global IT organization to enable delivery of worldwide business solutions and infrastructure that support the company’s growth. Additionally, she acts as the primary advocate of NetApp to external markets to promote further awareness of the NetApp on NetApp initiative.
