IT Architecture in a VUCA World

“The only constant is change” (Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 500 BCE)) Even though this phrase is 2500 years old it still very much applies to “our life”. Change is a constant and today in an IT context, change is faster, more frequent and with less certainty as before - VUCA is trying to provide some principles and approaches to deal with the pace.

The term VUCA was introduced by The U.S. Army War College to describe the more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous multilateral world perceived as resulting from the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s (see wiki). In detail VUCA was defined as follows:

• Volatile - changes can be rapid and unpredictable
• Uncertain - today is unclear and tomorrow is uncertain
• Complex - different and interconnected factors can cause chaos and confusion
• Ambiguous – lack of clarity

What applied to post 1990 cold war now seems to also apply to the IT industry – speed is ever increasing, change is certain and almost immediate and (without good controls) complexity seems to increase, causing confusion and lack of clarity; and this all seems to be the start - the speed of innovation is accelerating at an exponential pace. In the book “The Second Machine Age” by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, tried to “pitch” where we are on the innovation pace spectrum; are we at the start, in the middle or at the end? Will the rate of innovation stay stable, decline or increase? Both noted that we are only at the start of it all. Using the Chess game analogy it explains that there is still far more to come, noting that the speed of innovation is accelerating faster than we expected, driving yet more change and potentially more uncertainty that could lead to an increase of complexity and ambiguity.

As IT Architects (see here The New Role of an Architect) this means that we need to

1. accept that what we understand today might not be applicable tomorrow
2. be adaptive & agile to accommodate changes when they appear vs if they appear
3. anticipate change and embrace, it rather than “keeping the current status quo” and
4. apply agile & MVP (minimal viable product) based architecture tools and methods

For me “(IT) Architecture is an Art form; it is the art of designing the “right” solution”. It provides

1. structure; where otherwise there would be chaos
2. alignment; where would be none without architecture and
3. certainly; where without architecture there would be none

When we started to apply an architecture approach to designing solution (end 1990 onwards) we typically followed a waterfall and sequential approach; first a contextual phase, then the conceptual, then logical following by the physical covering business, information, application, infrastructure, governance and security. Depending on the size and complexity, we would spend anywhere between weeks to month and sometimes years to produce an Enterprise Architecture or a Domain Architecture. Todays “Architecture engagement” landscape has changed; large, slow and top down Enterprise Architecture engagements that produce kg of paperware are rare these days. Instead short, fast and focused engagement are the norm.

Short, fast and focused does not mean quick, dirty and unplanned; quite the contrary. Architecture in a VUCA World requires focusing on

• adopt good planning, constant scanning and ensure you / your team can response fast to new or changing aspects
• clear team ethics with clear terms of reference per role and clear decision making
• have a plan B and always plan for the unexpected
• deploy, support and demonstrate a “glass half full”, “can do attitude”
• reward people, deploy agile ways of working, collaborate and integrate

Ensure your team has the right mix of people who

• innovate : displays self-awareness and reflection; seeks active feedback and applies new behaviors;
• learn : actively seeks new knowledge; finds new ways of addressing today's challenges
• solve : displays curiosity and likes to experiment; open to change and challenge the status quo;
• taking risk : can tolerate ambiguity and complexity; and remain resilient through adversity; positive thinker;
• collaborate : actively seeks engagements, happy to share views & material, sees opportunities
• have sector focus : understands the sector he/she is working in, can identify & shape business value propositions
• can present : happy to present and communicate to different stakeholder groups

The response to VUCA is not to ignore architecture capabilities and approaches we developed over the past 2 decades; it means that we need to apply the tools, methods and frameworks (like TOGAF and IAF) cognisant of all VUCA factors.

An Architect has the responsibility to provide the structure, alignment and certainly. Cost, quality and speed is driving most of not all of our engagements, and an Architect “understands” what is “right” for the business and focuses on managing complexity to reduce risk and cost paving the way for a speedy delivery.

Architecture in a VUCA world means that an Architect has to accept that what he/she understands today might not be applicable tomorrow, that change is certain and that speed has to be balanced with risk – sometimes faster is better than 100% accuracy.

Thanks for Reading. 

About the Author: Gunnar Menzel has been an IT professional for over 30 years and is VP and Master Certified Architect for Capgemini’s Cloud Infrastructure Business. His main focus is business—enabling technology transformation and innovation.