Some of you may already know from my LinkedIn profile that I have joined Hewlett-Packard (HP) in the Software Division as an Strategy and Enterprise Architecture Advisor.
As I was evaluating HP I didn’t fully appreciate HP’s status in the world of IT. I suppose I just thought of some of the acquisitions and the printer on my desk. It was fascinating to research this historic company and see where they are today.
Below are a few eye opening stats that changed my view and perceptions:
- HP is the only high tech company as a fortune 10 company according to Forbes 2012 Fortune 500 list (with companies like Apple 17th, IBM 19th, Microsoft 37th, and Dell 44th)
- #1 server vendor in shipments for 10+ consecutive years
- #6th largest software company in the world with (#1 distributed systems management software, #1 automated software quality and #1 enterprise search and discovery)
- #1 PC market share, including workstations
Once I did my research and joined I decided to take a stop by the historic HP garage where it all started for Silicon Valley or commonly referred to as the "Birthplace of Silicon Valley".
Back to what I’m doing for HP
As most of you may know, I have served in an advisory capacity for some time so the advisor role is a very familiar role for me. When at Microsoft this was a key component to my role. Likewise at HP, I will be an advisor to HP’s top customers. What is interesting about this role is that it isn’t a consulting (billable) type of engagement and there are no quotas that are measured on sales of products or services. This was done very deliberately so that it drove incentives of the enterprise architects to have a business driven and product neutral conversation with customers. HP saw from some high technology vendors with similar offerings that the enterprise architects became more product / solution architects that used the EA vocabulary.
My role as an Enterprise Architecture and Strategy Advisor is broken up into thirds:
- Strategy and Enterprise Architecture Advisor – A wide range of activities happen here. From ad-hoc engagements that last a half day to workshops that last multiple days such as strategic discussions, strategy and architecture review, business capability analysis, architecture design session, enterprise blueprinting review or an EA health check.
- Enterprise Architecture Community Development – I will continue with blogging, whitepapers, speaking engagements and increased involvement into standards bodies. I will continue to provide thought leadership into the TOGAF standard along with getting plugged into other areas that are impactful to enterprise architects. You may even see a architect community spring up as well.
- Provide the Voice of the Customer Back to HP – A very smart move on HP’s part is this aspect to the role in which brings all the insights from the previous two areas back into the HP machine. This could range from simple process improvement to insights into market trends to product challenges.
Well that’s it on that front. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to comment or send me an email.