REAL Talk With Sam Holcman

Most organizations have had a mix of purchased, leased, or rented technologies, software, and human services. Yet we have seen little practiced or written about how to determine what this balance is, what it should be, and how to monitor the changing dynamics in today’s digital transformational world. Traditionally, cost reduction is a primary measure for sourcing decisions. A secondary focus is a...

In this age of digital transformation, big data, cloud computing, & numerous other actions you may be undertaking or thinking about in your organization, one fundamental fact remains. What we in organizations do is processing data. We outline our approach to Process Visualization. We review the benefits & challenges surrounding process understanding, & outline field-proven approaches t...

Application Portfolio Rationalization & Optimization is an approach to maximizing the value of current application assets, & laying a firm foundation for future growth. Organizations are moving to the cloud, or other off-premises environments, wouldn’t it make sense to rationalize & optimize your portfolio before the move? Let’s clean out the basement first, so to speak! We outline the...

Model mania develops model after model, based on some identified general body of knowledge, rather than doing REAL Business Architecture – the identification, & development of Business Capabilities that enable business strategies and missions. We define the methodology for developing a REAL Business Architecture (BA) – one that is “human consumable”. Identify the Business Capabilities you need...

Business Architecture is explicitly representing an organizations desired state and as is state, through a set of independent non redundant artifacts, defining how these artifacts relate with each other, developing a set of prioritized and aligned Capabilities needed to meet the organizational Mission or Goals. REAL Business Architecture is the enabler of Business Capabilities. Business Capabiliti...

IoT Platform, Deep Neutral Networks, Digital Twin, Biochips, Brain-Computer Interface, Quantum Computing, & 5G. Global, downsize, marketplace, 110 per cent committed. We have enough to digest in the near-term, and there’s nothing candidly in our sightline suggesting we’re involved in engaging anything we’re going to acquire. We bring understanding to the more common ill defined, or not defined...

Public reports states 84% of Digital Transformation projects are failing to deliver their expected benefits. Organizations realize that looking for the “silver bullet”, technological magic, or magic pill, that will magically and mystically transform the organization to a 2020’s enterprise by “Monday morning” is not going to happen. From this horrifying failure statistic, are there some lessons tha...

Most information technology personnel look at & “do” information technology modeling & implementation rather than REAL Enterprise Architecture – the enabler of enterprise and business strategy and missions. We define a four-phase methodology of developing a REAL Enterprise Architecture – one that is “human consumable.” This methodology has been practiced, taught, & implemented in organ...

A great thing about the internet, is anyone can write anything about anything. One of the problems with the internet IS, anyone can write anything about anything! For Enterprise Architecture (EA), the Google popularity list tool also thought of by some as a search engine, shows 811,000,000 search entries for EA. Not very useful. We bring method to this madness. REAL EA is the enabler of Business S...

Public reports state that 84% of Digital Transformation projects fail to deliver their expected benefits, organizations look for “silver bullets”, that transform organizations to a 2020’s enterprise by “Monday morning”. We review what Strategy is – we focus on this word, & what it actually means. It's more than implementing a new technology! We look at this approach enabling an organization’s...

Many organizations embarked on digital transformations are underwhelmed at the return on investment they see. Our observations suggest a high percentage of digital transformation projects and programs are “paving existing cow paths” – useful but far from game-changing. The 2020’s & beyond businesses & enterprises require a full capacity to take on new & novel actions in response to new...

We discuss cybersecurity, & what you as a business person, technology professional, or just an innocent citizen needs to know. Do you need or know about cyber insurance? What are your rights if your personal information (bank accounts, passwords, social security numbers, credit cards, etc.) are “released” by a 3rd party? Do we need an agency that investigates, independently, cyber attacks? Wha...

Less than 50% of Digital Transformation is about technology. Why? This is the "easy" part. The difficult area of Digital Transformation is the human side of change driving Business activities. The probable change is due to enhanced or revised digital actions. We describe the A.C.T.I.O.n. model for Human/Organization Change. Benefit from experience with organization changes leading to true advantag...

Finger-pointing is great, but that doesn’t mean anything is going to be addressed. The path is clear. The path is logical. It is really not complicated. Yes, it is probably a bit different than what you are doing now. Organizations are embarking on this approach and change. It will not be done “next Monday morning”. Fundamentally, what is the “change”? Stop writing computer software and start asse...

As consultant Tom Davenport said, “At American Airlines, they told me they had 11 different usages of the term ‘airport’. As a frequent traveler on their planes, I was initially a bit concerned about this but when they explained it, the proliferation of meanings made sense. How do you have the unique meanings when you essentially have a running database? Good Data comes before Big Data - we will e...

Any other hyped words I can throw into the title of this episode?! Much has been discussed in virtually every media outlet on the movement toward digitization, agility, and a host of other phrases being used to both generate excitement and trepidation. What does all of this really mean? We provide an understanding of what is actually required to move from strategic intent to measurable actions and...

If you heard the term "beltway bandits", this episode will be refreshing to you. We interview Brad King and Liam Speeden CEO & CTO of Robbins-Gioia, LLC respectively. Since 1980, they approached Federal Government contracting in a different way, and are not the stereotypical beltway bandits! RG combines leading-edge capabilities in management and technology with a seasoned understanding of cli...

We are entering the Information Age, & existing the Internet Age. Digital "everything" is no longer a nice-to-have, it is an imperative. Yet, most organizations are being inhibited in addressing these new realities due to the Organizations Technology backbone, & IT approaches that are hold-overs from previous ages. Have you asked technology execs how they plan to address increases in compe...

Eric Sweden, Program Director at NASCIO – the National Association of State Chief Information Officers is our guest today. NASCIO’s mission is to foster government excellence through quality business practices, information management, and technology policy.   NASCIO provides state CIOs and state members with products and services designed to support the challenging role of the state CIO, stimulate...

We explore the other side of the brain – soft skills. Being a technical wizard, or expert in a field, is no longer enough in today’s digital communication intensive world. We provide a case for the need for enhancing soft skills as part of an individual’s professional development, provide some examples of soft skills, and provide a path for further exploration of the concepts of soft skills, on yo...

As Digital Transformation efforts sweep across Government & Corporate America, enterprises find results of Digital Transformation efforts are much less than expected. The difficulty is analyzing the organization & how it needs to function. This is more than looking at an org chart & "looking" for inefficiencies. The "traditional" organization chart tells very little about how the organ...

We complete our discussion on understanding 12 attributes of the Industrial Age, the Internet Age, and the movement to the next age – the Information Age. Each of these attributes will have a profound impact on all aspects of businesses and technologies. Beginning the planning of your organization’s opportunities in the Information Age next Monday morning is in order!

We continue our discussion on understanding 12 attributes of the Industrial Age, the Internet Age, and the movement to the next age – the Information Age. Each of these attributes will have a profound impact on all aspects of businesses and technologies. Beginning the planning of your organization’s opportunities in the Information Age next Monday morning is in order!

We provide an understanding of 12 attributes of the Industrial Age, the Internet Age, and the movement to the next age – the Information Age. Each of these attributes will have a profound impact on all aspects of businesses and technologies. Beginning the planning of your organization’s opportunities in the Information Age next Monday morning is in order!

This show is about sorting through the internet-driven advice madness that exists in business today. We provide practice-based insights in business transformation, organizational transformation, and technology transformation, based on real world practices. Our philosophy is to provide the audience with insights that can provide true value to organizations and individuals that face today’s and tomo...