ALFABET 10 WHAT S NEW IN. New Alfabet features span

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1 WHAT S NEW IN ALFABET 10 Smart investments, innovations & insights what you need to compete in the IoT age TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 New Alfabet features 2 Operational project management 5 ServiceNow integration 6 API planning and management 7 Technical infrastructure planning and management 8 Deployment information flows 8 ARIS/Alfabet interoperability enhancements 9 Business process versioning 10 Query-based report icons 11 Take the next step Ensuring smart IT investments to free up budget for innovation, moving forward aggressively on digital business strategies and making IT agile for faster solution delivery the three tenets of Alfabet s product development are all reflected in Alfabet 10, our latest release. Alfabet 10 is essential to making your enterprise a strong competitor in the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 era while avoiding the steep fines of non-compliance. Tactical and operational project management capabilities enhance proven IT portfolio planning & management and Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) capabilities. Insight into the relationships and interdependencies of logical and physical systems lays the foundation for better IoT planning. In addition, insight into and control over information movement helps you comply with new data protection regulations like Europe s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). New Alfabet features span Operational project management: Ensure project execution is closely tied to project investment decisions using tactical and operational project planning and management capabilities. Allocate budget and resources at a task level, monitor changes to original project plans and assess the impact of alterations to those plans. ServiceNow integration: Completing the full bi-directional integration with ServiceNow, relate data from Alfabet about applications and their business WHITE PAPER

2 context, technologies, standards and planned changes to ServiceNow for a better understanding of the change impact on business, better control of IT standards and a basis for change operationalization. API planning and management: Define, plan, manage and clearly communicate APIs as part of your technical services portfolio to better manage the complexity of integrated applications inherent with digitalization. Support faster IoT solution development with API lifecycle management and versioning. Technical infrastructure planning and management: Plan and manage technical networks as part of your technology architecture and application deployment strategy to achieve architectural efficiencies, strengthen application security and build a foundation for IoT solution development. Deployment information flows: Capture and visualize information flows between application deployments to better understand the physicality of data flows, e.g., variances in APIs among different physical instances of the same logical application or exactly where data is destined to be processed and moved to. ARIS/Alfabet interoperability enhancements: Achieve greater insight into the process/system dependency by connecting from each entity (mandate) of your organization in Alfabet to its specific ARIS database instance. Business process versioning: Specify versions of business processes and designate these to their enabling business supports to better understand process usage, plan process roll outs and contain risk. Used with ARIS, this feature gives you an even greater understanding of the impact of process change. Query-based report icons: Design more informative reports with the ability to place objects represented by icon images on cluster and matrix maps. Let s look at each new feature in more detail. Operational project management Digital business requires more from IT in many ways: more investment into IT transformation, more innovative solutions and more speed in delivering those solutions. The margin is increasingly thinner for project errors, which can be costly in terms of time, money and opportunity. This means a higher dependency on sound architecture solutions and a more agile execution of transformation initiatives both of which translate into an acute need to bring project execution management closer to architecture and portfolio planning. The benefit of being able to vet project plans against the existing and planned IT asset portfolios has always been one of Alfabet s strong suits and a main reason for its leading position in the market. Alfabet 10 provides a closer tie between the portfolio management and project management disciplines by extending its capabilities into operational project management. This improves the quality and speed of project execution and ensures that project execution follows project investment decisions. Critical to accelerated solution delivery is the ability to re-plan projects in-flight in response to the realities encountered during project execution and as dictated by fastchanging business environments. The tight connection between portfolio management and project execution management in Alfabet 10 ensures uninterrupted, seamless decision processes and flow of information. The new capability also includes support for resource utilization across both modes of bimodal IT, a critical enabler for digitalization and a weakness in many traditional IT planning and portfolio management solutions. Alfabet s new ability to support the non-project development work that typically constitutes more than half of development and IT management work is a significant benefit for digitalization-driven organizations. 2

3 KEY CAPABILITIES INCLUDE: Resource planning: For the first time, you can allocate budget and resources at a project task level. A project resource plan is the detailed planning and scheduling of the skill requests and resource requests for a project. In contrast to high-level project planning of project resources, which focuses on the general scope of skill requests and resource requests needed for the project, the project resource plan targets the management of resources including the persons and organizations responsible for carrying out the associated tasks as well as the overall costs and scheduling of the required skills and resources. Multi-currency support: Mindful of the global reach of most large organizations today, Alfabet 10 supports multiple currencies to allow project costs to be captured in different currencies across the enterprise. For each of the currencies defined, currency units can be defined that allow a multiplier or factor to be used in order to simplify capturing and reporting currency values for that currency. All defined currencies and currency units are available in the relevant editors in which cost values are captured. Users specify the currency/currency unit for each cost type, thus allowing costs to be defined for various cost types of a project in the currency in which they are captured. Independent of the currency used to capture costs and benefits, all reporting can be performed in a currency of choice applying current exchange rates. Project baselining: A new project baseline capability allows changes to a project to be tracked during project execution. The project baseline captures the scope of the project at the time the project baseline is created and allows deviation of the project from its original scope to be tracked over time in terms of total project costs and income, resource costs, project evaluations, scheduling and achievement of project milestones, and the changes to the to-be architecture. Project scenarios: A new project scenario capability supports scenario planning for projects in execution. Project scenarios allow multiple what-if scenarios to be explored, planned and potentially implemented for a project s to-be architecture, budgeting and cost calculation, scheduling, and resource planning. The new project scenario capability is an extension to the existing project solution concept and provides more flexibility and functionality in the planning and implementation of what-if scenarios, particularly for projects already in execution. Project issue tracking: Track issues that need to be addressed about a specified project in Alfabet. Issues are of a certain issue type which relates to the architecture. For example, an issue type could target the project s time schedule, costs, as-is architecture, to-be architecture, resources, milestones, value nodes, cost centers, sub-projects, or input demands. For each issue, a planned completion date can be defined as well as the issue s status and the priority of the issue. Scheduling and time reporting: In order to support the tracking of time worked on tasks, the concept of an enterprise calendar and a personal calendar has been introduced to Alfabet. The Enterprise Calendars functionality allows multiple calendars to be defined per year for the enterprise. When the enterprise calendar is defined specific days can be blocked out as holidays or weekends in each calendar to cater to the various regions of the enterprise. The personal calendar can be based on an enterprise calendar, and the block-out days specified in the enterprise calendar will be copied to the user s personal calendar. Users can add blocked-out days to their personal calendars, as needed, or remove unnecessary ones. The new My Tasks and Time Reporting capability allows you to keep track of the hours worked on all assigned tasks for skill requests associated with projects, applications, operational business supports, tactical business supports, strategic business supports, components, standard platforms, devices, deployments and service products. Prerequisite for this capability is the IT Planning Advanced server package. 3

4 Figure 1: With its new operational project management functionality, Alfabet now has the means to track and report on projects as they are being executed. Figure 2: Project baselining enables monitoring of changes to original project plans and assessment of the impact of alterations to those plans. 4

5 ServiceNow integration Enterprise Architecture (EA) and IT planning & portfolio management tools such as Alfabet are typically the system of record for change planning of the IT environment ( change the company ). The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is the system of record for the current configuration of the IT environment ( run the company ) and the basis for operational change processes governed by IT Service Management (ITSM). Both systems are dependent on each other for relevant and accurate information. Alfabet can relate data about applications and their business context, technologies, standards and planned changes to the CMDB/ITSM so that the CMDB/ITSM has a better understanding of the change impact on business, better control of IT standards and a basis for change operationalization. By relating data from the CMDB/ITSM on IT deployments and locations, performance metrics (for example, incidents and downtime) and actual changes to Alfabet, Alfabet has a better understanding of change impact on deployed IT, intelligence for portfolio analysis and assurance that deployed IT follows strategy. Generally, data and process quality are improved. Further, by making the wealth of information in a CMDB/ITSM on the state of IT available to Alfabet, integration supports choosing the right technologies and applications for the business. Risky technologies and application dependencies become transparent leading to their elimination from the portfolio. Thus, IT risks are reduced and business risk along with it. Alfabet 10 uses a bi-directional web service interface to communicate with ServiceNow. For importing data into Alfabet, ServiceNow data is uploaded into staging tables in Alfabet. Structuring of the tables is standardized and automated using an assistant. In the second step, users work with the Alfabet Data Integration Framework (ADIF) to define the semantic mapping of ServiceNow data into Alfabet. This leverages the standard ETL technology customers are familiar with. The export of Alfabet information into ServiceNow is based on reports built with the Alfabet Query Language (AQL). An assistant helps to create the ADIF scheme used to export the data to a ServiceNow web service which feeds the underlying table via a transform map. For both directions, customers may opt to only transfer net changes to maintain high performance. Prerequisites for this capability are the expansion sets ADIF, Custom Report Configuration and Solution Configuration. Figure 3: Alfabet 10 exports data to the CMDB on applications and their business context, technologies, standards and planned changes. 5

6 API planning and management APIs have been around since applications started exchanging information but they were mostly relegated to the developers corner and not given much consideration except as a technical necessity for application integration. As the IoT becomes more prevalent as a part of your digital business strategy, APIs are increasing in their commercial relevance. Openness, federation and ease of connection of APIs are basic principles for business success in the IoT value chain. Yet adhering to those principles can be difficult considering the sheer number of APIs involved. In IoT where every endpoint is an application and every interaction pattern between endpoint applications and back-end applications needs to be defined, the task is mind-boggling. Add to that the challenge of ensuring corporate data and functions are secured and safe from intruders or malfunctioning technology and it becomes clear that transparency, structure and governance are essential. Alfabet 10 introduces APIs for the first time as a part of the technical services portfolio. As a technical service, an API (or service call) can be documented as the source and target of an information flow between applications. Using the interface system editor, you can select a technical service and using the information flow editor select the local component providing the source or target interface. Technical services can specify the business data they are operating on. This is helpful in knowing precisely which data is flowing through the API. Several new views display all of this newly won intelligence: Information Flow Usage showing all of the information flows involved in the technical service; Technical Services and Information Flows for business data; and an Interface Business Data Usage diagram. When developing, growing and maintaining connectivity with partners along the IoT value or service chain, clearly communicated APIs are essential. Visibility into current API usage enables economic viability assessment and management of complexity. Documentation and definition of peripherals representing value/service chain partner contribution needs to be part of the architecture as well as API versioning to enable fast evolution. Backward compatibility secures the existing customer, partner and user base. Alfabet 10 supports these requirements making it an important facilitator of IoT strategies and initiatives. Prerequisite for this capability is the Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management server package. Figure 4: The new Interface Business Data Usage Diagram displays the information flows transferring the business data between the source interfaces and target interfaces. 6

7 Technical infrastructure planning and management The new industrial age being heralded as Industry 4.0 is characterized by new business models and customer interaction opportunities that technology advances are bestowing on the manufacturing industry. It leads to a largely extended IT footprint with IT embedded into products and manufacturing lines requiring a convergence of planning across business and IT with blurring lines between IT, product and production. The need for transparency into where, when and how technology is employed throughout the enterprise is essential for planning, management and governance of front- and back-end architecture. Alfabet 10 continues its path in support for Industry 4.0. New features for representing technical networks as part of the technology architecture and application deployment strategy enable planning and management of the infrastructure to achieve architectural efficiencies, strengthen application security and build a foundation for IoT solution development. Network is a new class as is Network Route. Users can define the spatial scope of a network, i.e., LAN or WLAN which may, for example be the network of a connected car, turbine or production line. Network Route defines a route into a network. The source of a network route can be a device or network. The new capability allows devices (including routers), e.g., those received from the CMDB, to be assigned to multiple networks. The new Network Diagram ensures a clear and communicable depiction of networks. This new capability is significant even for non-manufacturing companies, for example for financial services companies whose regulators extend transparency requirements to cover infrastructure. These organizations need to know, among other things, whether applications are running in the right network either for the sake of efficiency or for security protection, e.g., in a location guarded against natural disasters or with strict regulations for data protection. Prerequisite for this capability is the Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management server package. Figure 5: Alfabet 10 provides new features for representing technical networks as part of the technology architecture and application deployment strategy. 7

8 Deployment information flows Continuing in the vein of physical architecture, Alfabet 10 provides the means to define information flows between application deployments. This helps to better understand the physicality of data flows, e.g., variances in APIs among different physical instances of the same logical application or exactly where data is destined to be processed. The new Deployment Information Flow Diagram provides graphical representation. Prerequisite for this capability is the Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management server package. Figure 6: The Deployment Diagram page view allows the deployment architecture including the deployment information flows to be visualized by means of the Alfabet Diagram Designer. ARIS/Alfabet interoperability enhancements ARIS Business Process Analysis and Alfabet IT Planning and Portfolio Management comprise Software AG s Business and IT Transformation solution, a collaborative environment for shaping compelling customer experience and achieving digital operations excellence. Each new release delivers a significant advancement towards ensuring that 360-degree view required for effective change. The solution provides a continuum of design, planning and management support from the highest level of business assessment and definition to the individual activities in IT planning and portfolio management. This new release of Alfabet now allows multiple ARIS databases to connect to the Alfabet server. This supports organizations using both products and, for example, individual business units that are represented in Alfabet as mandates having their own ARIS database. Prerequisites for this capability are the Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management server package and the ARIS Alfabet Interoperability extension. 8

9 Business process versioning The roll out of a new business process can be an immense undertaking in a large enterprise. More often than not, differences in organizational setup, product lines, channels, customer segments, markets or brands mandate different versions for the same business process being used concurrently across the federated organization. Add to that various business units running on different timelines and planning can become a very complex undertaking. Alfabet 10 s business architecture capability has been enhanced to include business process versioning. This not only provides detailed as-is information on the process version, i.e., which version of the process is being used when and in which organization (if it is being used at all) but also helps estimate how quickly a new process regime can be implemented throughout the enterprise. Business process versions are planned along with their business supports, which describes the time perspective of the rollout and use of the business process versions. Alfabet s business support maps are the preferred vehicle for understanding the relationship between processes, organizations and their supporting systems (IT or non- IT). Business process versions can be associated with operational, tactical and solution business supports. With the interoperability to ARIS, this feature works well in tandem with ARIS. Different business process versions will typically refer to different business process models in ARIS (either expressed as EPC or BPMN diagrams). Prerequisite for this capability is the Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management server package. Figure 7: This Gantt Chart shows the roll out of different versions of the Payments process in different organizational entities. 9

10 Query-based report icons Object icons, introduced in previous Alfabet releases, are placed on diagram shapes to denote particular characteristics, for example a mainframe application versus a PC application. They replace the standard class icons and aid faster and lasting recognition. Alfabet 10 allows icon images to be determined by a query. Anything that can be found with a query can be displayed as an icon (instead of the necessity of a unique indicator as in previous versions of Alfabet). An icon can represent an object thereby also supporting drill-down navigation. Grid and matrix map reports support placement of multiple icons on an element thus enabling a more condensed representation of information. Prerequisites for this capability are the Custom Report Configuration and Solution Configuration expansion sets. Figure 8: This domain cluster map shows projects associated with the applications as colored icons with capital letters. 10

11 Take the next step Year after year, Alfabet is recognized by analysts for market leadership in EA, IT planning & portfolio management and strategy planning. With our latest release, you ll find this proven software offers even greater richness to help you compete in the IoT age and avoid the fines of non-compliance with data protection regulations. For more information, talk to your Software AG representative and visit 11

12 ABOUT SOFTWARE AG The digital transformation is changing enterprise IT landscapes from inflexible application silos to modern software platform-driven IT architectures which deliver the openness, speed and agility needed to enable the digital real-time enterprise. Software AG offers the first end-to-end Digital Business Platform, based on open standards, with integration, process management, in-memory data, adaptive application development, real-time analytics and enterprise architecture management as core building blocks. The modular platform allows users to develop the next generation of application systems to build their digital future, today. With over 45 years of customer-centric innovation, Software AG is ranked as a leader in many innovative and digital technology categories. Learn more at Software AG. All rights reserved. Software AG and all Software AG products are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Software AG. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. SAG_Alfabet_Release_10_12PG_WP_May17