The Digital Practitioner Pocket Guide

Andrew Josey

• Publisher: Van Haren Publishing
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9789401807128
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Architecture General

The Digital Practitioner Pocket Guide is designed to be a handy reference guide to selected parts of the Digital Practitioner Body of Knowledge™ Standard. It is designed to help: • Those who require a first introduction and basic understanding of the Digital Practitioner Body of Knowledge Standard • Individuals who wish to create and manage product offerings with an increasing digital component, or lead their organization through Digital Transformation • IT professionals working within any size organization, from a startup through to a large enterprise, that has adopted digital approaches It covers the following topics: • A brief introduction to the Digital Practitioner Body of Knowledge Standard • An introduction to key terminology, key concepts, and the structure of the Body of Knowledge • Basic concepts employed by the Digital Practitioner • The capabilities of digital infrastructure and initial concerns for its effective, efficient, and secure operation • The objectives and activities of application development • Why product management is formalized as a company or team grows, and the differences between product and project management • The key concerns and practices of work management as a team increases in size • The basic concepts and practices of operations management in a digital/IT context • How to coordinate as the organization grows into multiple teams and multiple products • IT investment and portfolio management • Organizational structure, human resources, and cultural factors • Governance, risk, security, and compliance • Information and data management on a large scale • Practices and methods for managing complexity using Enterprise Architecture

Chapter 1. Introduction

The Digital Practitioner in today’s work environment encounters a confusing and diverse array of opinions and diverging viewpoints. This document aims to introduce the practitioner to a foundational set of concepts to make sense of the landscape they find in any organization attempting to deliver digital products. It is based on the Digital Practitioner Body of Knowledge Standard. It is not intended as a replacement for the standard, but a first introduction.

Topics addressed in this chapter include:

• An introduction to the Digital Practitioner Body of Knowledge Standard

• An overview of the content of the standard

1.1. Introduction to the Standard

The Digital Practitioner Body of Knowledge Standard is intended broadly for the development of the Digital Practitioner or professional. It seeks to provide guidance for both new entrants into the digital workforce as well as experienced practitioners seeking to update their understanding on how all the various themes and components of digital and IT management fit together in the new world.

The standard is intended to assist individuals and organizations who wish to create and manage product offerings with an increasing digital component, or lead their organization through Digital Transformation. It is a synthesis of practices and guidance from a wide variety of practitioners and professional communities active in digital technology. It integrates concepts from diverse sources such as business model innovation, product research and monetization, behavioral economics, Agile, DevOps, Enterprise Architecture, organizational development, service management, product management, data management, operations management, and corporate governance.

Naming of the Standard

The Digital Practitioner Body of Knowledge Standard is also known as the DPBoK™ Standard [42]. In this document we refer to the standard using the shorter of the two names, or simply as the Body of Knowledge.

1.2. The Content of the Standard

The high-level content of the standard is summarized as follows:

• Chapter 1, Introduction includes the objectives and overview, conformance requirements, and terminology definitions

• Chapter 2, Definitions includes the terms and definitions for this document

• Chapter 3, Digital Transformation describes the key concept of Digital Transformation

• Chapter 4, Principles of the DPBoK Standard describes the principles by which the document will evolve and be maintained, and how Digital Practitioner competencies will be defined

• Chapter 5, Structure of the Body of Knowledge describes how the Body of Knowledge is structured

• Chapter 6, The Body of Knowledge contains the Body of Knowledge, divided into four stages, called Contexts, which correspond to the stages of evolution of a digital practice.

• Appendices contains the list of abbreviations used in the standard

Chapter 2. An Introduction to the Body of Knowledge

This chapter will help you to understand key terminology, key concepts such as digital-first, Digital Transformation, and also the structure of the Body of Knowledge.

Topics addressed in this chapter include:

• Key terminology

• A digital-first culture

• Digital Transformation

• The structure of the Body of Knowledge

2.1. Key Terminology

The following are key terms used in the Body of Knowledge:

Digital Enterprise

An enterprise characterized by: 1. the creation of digitalized products or services that are either delivered fully digitally (e.g., digital media or online banking), or 2. where physical products and services are obtained by the customer by digital means (e.g., online car-sharing services).

Digital Technology

IT in the form of a product or service that is digitally consumable to create or enable business value.

Digital Transformation

The radical, fundamental change towards becoming a digital enterprise.

Digitalization

The application of digital technology to create additional business value within the primary value chain of enterprises.

Digitization

The conversion of analog information into digital form.

2.2. Digital-First

A “digital-first” culture is where the business models, plans, architectures, and implementation strategies are based on a digital organization architecture that inspires and rewards a number of desired behaviors, such as servant leadership, strategic value chain thinking, consumer focus, fault tolerance, agility, and more. It requires a workforce with a sense of psychological safety, digitally savvy enough to execute a “digital-first approach”.

As part of this paradigm shift, it is important to have a clear understanding of the existing capabilities; those which can be retired, and new ones that will be needed. In some cases, organizations may need to deal with all these changes while keeping their current legacy platform and supporting applications.

Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking [15]. It can be defined as “being able to show and employ one’s self without fear of negative consequences of self-image, status or career” [21].

In psychologically safe teams, team members feel accepted and respected.

2.3. Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation is fundamentally a strategy and an operating model change, in which technological advancements are leveraged to improve human experiences and operating efficiencies, and to evolve the products and services to which customers will remain loyal. It is the consequence of:

• The ability to handle information in the digital form

• Using digital technologies to manage the process of creating, capturing, and analyzing information to deliver a perceptive human-machine interaction experience

The digital enterprise faces multiple challenges, including:

• New technologies, such as cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), and machine learning

• New techniques, s...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Colophon
• Contents
• Preface
• About the Author
• Trademarks
• Acknowledgments
• Referenced Documents
• 1. Introduction
• 2. An Introduction to the Body of Knowledge
• 3. Digital Fundamentals
• 4. Digital Infrastructure
• 5. Application Delivery
• 6. Product Management
• 7. Work Management
• 8. Operations Management
• 9. Coordination and Process
• 10. Investment and Portfolio
• 11. Organization and Culture
• 12. Governance, Risk, Security, and Compliance
• 13. Information Management
• 14. Architecture
• Index