Value-Driven IT: Achieving Agility and Assurance Without Compromising Either

by Clifford J. Berg

This book explains how to connect tangible business value with IT decisions, and how to build an organization around that practice. It describes how to create an agile IT organization that implements governance in a nimble yet effective manner that, and that turns that into a strategic advantage. It explains how to connect enterprise architecture with business strategy, and how to reconcile the many different perspectives of architecture, including business architecture, data architecture, and software architecture. These are addressed at all levels, from the project to the CIO, and in terms of how IT should interact with the other parts of the organization.

514 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2008

Reviews

[Paul Boos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to understand my work colleague's thoughts on Agile transformation; he said that was what his book was about...

It is indeed about changing an organization and trying to instill capability within it (so that you can be Agile). He does this by adding in new enterprise level roles within the IT area that spans into business understanding. He also emphasizes the effective use of solutions-oriented architecture. Both of these are certainly important aspects for enterprise agility.

The primary reason I didn't give this book a higher rating is it is a very difficult read. The writing style is overly verbose and occasionally jumps around only tangentially related topics within each chapter. I found I had to re-read several parts of it to understand the core of what was being said.

This book will provide an understanding of how to 'engineer' an enterprise's organizational structure for improved agility. It does not cover how you may need to respond to the people aspects; that's OK that it was left out, but just realize it isn't a complete picture.