ALM Intelligence: Q&A with North Highland's Mike Hill and Tom Matthews

1) The role of the Enterprise Architect is rapidly changing; the job is no longer primarily about establishing and enforcing compliance to enterprise wide standards;

2) Enterprises are decomposing monolithic applications into individual services that are easier to deploy and can be adapted more quickly to changes in the business environment, but require new tools, processes and disciplines to manage a more complex technology environment;

3) The shift from monolithic applications to services has driven the adoption of agile, continuous delivery to the tipping point, making DevOps a critical IT operations competency; 

4) With services as the "unit of deployment," traditional ITIL-based processes are no longer working, and clients are opting for an end-to-end approach.

ALM Intelligence: Can you describe North Highland's human-centric approach to IT operations consulting?

Hill and Matthews: The traditional IT operating model must be replaced by an ecosystem view that starts with a strategic perspective of capabilities you want to have in-house or outsourced, an enabling technology strategy (IaaS, SaaS, PaaS), sustainable career paths and a holistic sourcing model that binds IT and the business together. In our view, none of the above can happen without a people-first approach. At North Highland, we believe that success begins and ends with people—the future of IT is a war for talent.

ALM Intelligence: How do you think North Highland's approach differentiates the firm?

Hill and Matthews: Various studies place the failure rate of organizational design changes anywhere between 70 and 85 percent. In a digital world 'command and control' counter cultural.  Traditional 'design and instruct' based change is being replaced by a focus on incent, learn and feedback. North Highland's behavioral change practice focuses on this 'iterative' approach to human change by making 'the right thing to do the easiest thing to do.' To establish new ways of working, culture and mindset, we must change the way we approach organizational design.  The future of IT will require organizations designed to change the way we work.  Our approach is different because North Highland approaches organizational design by acknowledging the common causes of failure, and applies principles that when activated, truly shift mindsets and change behaviors.

ALM Intelligence: How does North Highland's human-centric organization design model transform a client's IT operating model?

Hill and Matthews: Our goal is to create new business capabilities and an improved customer experience while eliminating complexity and improving operating efficiency across business and IT. To achieve these goals, North Highland focuses on seven organizational design principles that target the human sources of success or failure in organizational transformation: 

1. Compelling organizational vision and strategy

2. Aligned organizational strategy and metrics

3. Simplified operating model 

4. Experience the future now 

5. New ways of working

6. Empowered team structure 

7. Competency-based career frameworks