MuleSoft Catalyst — Assess Integration Capabilities
In this article I look at the second element of the Define Integration and Automation Programmes section of the within the Centre for Enablement Playbook. Here is the outline diagram to show where we are.
In the last article I published we addressed the Establish Digital Strategy but now we have to talk about aligning Organisation and Culture and this is a big one and probably one of the most challenging aspects of this playbook. Get this one wrong and, as they say, you might as well go home!
Let’s look at the key aspects of this as broken down in the playbook and give some key thoughts on how this may work in the real world.
Align Organization and Culture
The key element here, in my view, is changing the culture of the organisation and in some circumstances looking at changing the structure or responsibilities within the organisation.
In order to even start doing this you need to have buy in from senior management that this is the way you want to go with data integration across the enterprise. So, let’s looks at the individual sections highlighted by the playbook.
Socialize API vision and executive mandate across organization
By now you should have a clear vision of the Centre 4 Enablement and its responsibilities. That vision needs to be written down, understood and in a format that can be shared across the organisation. At this stage you need to engage your world in terms of the organisation it sits within but also with partners and businesses that may be affected by the changes that will take place. This will be Central IT, Regional IT, Citizen developers and, possibly, even external supplier and consumer companies.
You need to use all forms of communication that are available and I would suggest drafting in specialist communications experts to ensure that can ensure that ‘tech speak’ if present is converted into a message that the whole audience can understand.
Establish trust, security, and privacy as organization-wide values
Establishing trust is a key element to any organisational change or the introduction of new ways of working but this requirement does go over and above establishing trust in the capability. Trust here is required on so many levels some examples may be:
o Trust that the change will provide the business benefits promised. This is one of the questions I get asked all the time and you need to have a solid answer.
o Trust from other teams in the organisation that their interests will be taken into account. Some people inherently don’t like change and feel threatened when ways of working change. The introduction of a CI/CD pipeline can seem threatening to Change and Release management staff for instance.
o Trust that data will be extracted, processed and delivered securely is a concern to both security and Data Protection officers as well as Data Owners, Data Custodians and Data Stewards.
Drive services-oriented culture
A Service Oriented Culture is a mindset where the work that individuals do within the organisation is carried out in a conscious way and with the aim of providing or enhancing a service which provides value either internally within the team or organisation or possibly even outside of the organisation. Driving the culture means instilling a consciousness within individuals in order that they understand what value they are providing and avoids doing work that provides no value.
Organizationally align teams by service boundaries
Aligning teams by service boundaries will often be a long-term goal but you can start slowly and evolve as trust and organisational change occurs following the success of the API developments. Some organisations may align by the teams that were already using API development with other tools such as SOA. The key is to make the best use of the resources you have and build on them by using the long-term enterprise strategy. Aligning with service boundaries will emerge as the organisation matures on its MuleSoft journey.
Institutionalize product-centric approach to APIs and services
Personally, I don’t like the word ‘Institutionalize’ but the intention here is to produce a product centric approach across the organisation such that API’s and Services provided to the business through API’s become the normal day to day operation within the organisation. People no longer have the point-to-point integration mindset but look to see what API’s are available for the work they are undertaking and then request either amendments to existing API’s or the development of new API’s to support a service.
Hire domain experts
The hiring of domain experts may require bringing in external staff, on either a permanent or contract basis, but it may also involve retraining internal staff who have API expertise just with another provider. Do not underestimate the how difficult this task maybe as you will need people with the correct mindset, technical skills can be taught but mindset changes can be very difficult to bring into the organisation. In addition, you would want experience in the data domains and lines of business so seek out people who are enthusiastic about the change and the possibilities ahead. Look for MuleSoft Certified professionals or train internal staff to obtain the MuleSoft certifications appropriate to the role they will be undertaking.
Democratize innovation
Accurate and timely data is one of the founding pillars of innovation. Typically, in the past, innovation has been restricted to the people who have the data to support the innovation at hand. The use of API’s can provide that data to consumers across the business, not just in the IT departments but to the citizen developers and Line of Business within the company. API’s can and should be the fountain of innovation.
