The Book Depository A Seat at the Table by Mark Schwartz
252 ratings
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Price: £19.99
Brand: The Book Depository
Description: A Seat at the Table : Paperback : It Revolution Press : 9781942788119 : 1942788118 : 02 Oct 2017 : This book looks at the impact of Agile and Lean thinking, Dev Ops, Lean Startup, and other contemporary management ideas to define the new role of IT leadership and how it fits into the business organization. The Book Depository A Seat at the Table by Mark Schwartz - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: The Book Depository
Product ID: 9781942788119
MPN: 1942788118
GTIN: 9781942788119
Author: Dolphi100
Rating: 5
Review: This is a MUST read for anyone in IT leadership. Schwartz explains why the methods of waterfall, project based and IT treated as an internal service provider do not work in a Complex Adaptive System that IT has become. The relationship between IT and the rest of the business has become one of internal service provider; where IT are tied to constraints and deliverables - that drives behaviours that IT must be held at arm's length and serve the rest of the enterprise in a similar vein to a third party and not be an integral part to deliver. Schwartz goes on to explain the folly in trying to maintain control and governance against costs, time and performance with a plan that tries to determine the future in a very uncertain world. A point estimate of future resources is unlikely to be accurate and it accomplishes adherence to a plan rather than concentrate on delivering value. Large cumbersome requirement sets are adhered to because this is what was determined at the outset, despite the users not fully understanding what it is they wanted, what is possible and conflicting priorities. Projects deliver against milestones that are not tied to business outcomes, with the project disbanded at the end when it finally delivers and goes into maintenance. Whereas IT capabilities, on the contrary are long-lived, evolutionary and in a state of flux. To deliver, Schwartz states that IT must focus on being part of the business and delivering value and outcomes to the business - this is where Agile and lean comes to the fore. Empowering multi discipline teams with the business focus of the product owner. Leaning out wherever possible to eliminate waste and shorten delivery times. Delivering in increments, being able to continuously adapt to changing requirements, priorities and circumstances in the operating environment. "The essence of Agile approaches is simply this: we should inspect and adapt frequently rather than slavishly following a plan. We should learn constantly and incorporate what we learn into what we do through constant feedback - to deliver to value to the business throughout and not at the end of a project". Schwartz also provides valuable insights into the role of Enterprise Architecture (stewards of IT assets and the incremental change to them), build versus buy, governance, risk, quality and shadow IT. It is not a surprise to see why AWS employ Schwartz as their Enterprise Strategist.
Author: Stephen Cummins
Rating: 3
Review: I was convinced by the argument, but more time spent on how to evolve old businesses into now ones would have been better.
