Architected Futures™

Tools and strategies ... for boiling the ocean

Architected Futures v1.0.1

[from my original Architected Futures business plan v1.0.1 March 3, 2005, dates estimates were just slightly off]
 

Objectives

The current objectives of Architected Futures are:
1. Profitability: To establish and grow an independent company that promises to become a long-term viable financial entity supporting its founders and related investors, and its employees at market-rate competitive levels within two years from start-up. Long-term viability will initially be measured 18 months after start-up and will be expected to forecast continued reasonable growth and market penetration over a five year planning horizon. The company will compete on quality and value produced rather than on price. The company will target itself to operate at or above the third quartile of profitability for its industry peer group. By 18 months after start, a reasonable expectation of sustained future earnings at this level should be able to be demonstrated.
2. Market Viability: To detail define a core product suite, to manage its initial development, and to develop and grow a customer base that supports our financial objectives but does not overextend our ability to deliver a high-quality, high value-add service. The entry strategy calls for:
Development of a proof-of-concept (POC) product set for use by a limited number of small businesses in the first year of development. The objective of the POC is not to achieve profitability, but to refine and prove the viability of the core product concepts.
Development of an initial suite of core products targeted at small to mid-sized businesses in the second year of development. Sales are expected to limited and primarily focused on early adopters. Product robustness will be limited, and focus will be on delivery of unique, high-value elements not otherwise available supporting core backbone capabilities sought as foundational features.
• The third year of operations will commence the first repeat cycle of iterative product generational development. As such it will be the model for subsequent financial and operational forecasting. An orderly scale up of product features and generations is expected. Additional customer industry types would begin to be supported. Up and down-scaled versions of product sets will be planned and offered.
3. Operational Viability: To grow an operational delivery and support capability commensurate with the maintenance of a high quality product delivery and support levels balanced with and supporting our financial objectives.
• We will strive to achieve a minimal Six Sigma quality level on our product line.
• We will target a 90% satisfaction level with 90% of our customer base.
• We will target 80% of customers purchasing upgraded products on a 3 year cycle.
• We will target recognition as a preferred partner with 80% of our suppliers and business partners by the end of our third year of operations.
4. Citizenship: To ensure that we operate in a competent and professional manner as a compliant and supportive member of the social, professional and business communities in which we operate.

Mission

The mission of Architected Futures is to deliver highly valued information engineering products and services to our customers, and to contribute to our profession, our industry and the societies in which we operate as valued citizens.
• We offer innovative leadership in the application of architectural and engineering principles and disciplines to the field of management with a core focus in federated enterprise architectures. We value integrity and honesty in relationships and activities and strive to operate with those as core values.
• We are firm believers in collaboration and owe a significant amount of our knowledge-base to the work of others who have gone before us. In turn, we are driven by a desire to share our knowledge and skills in a manner that both provides just reward for our contributions and that provides the most significant social benefit for our customers, our employees and our industry.
• Our primary contribution to our customers and our industry come from our ingenuity and unique engineering discipline. Our approach to problem solving is strategic, holistic and systemic; but we are also pragmatic, and understand and practice an approach of incremental, evolutionary refinement.
• Our products and our disciplines are future focused, based in the present, and grounded in the wisdom of what has gone before. They address the complex engineering of managing dynamic systems, in a risk controlled and effective manner, while navigating toward a constantly evolving future, target state.
• Our products include methodologies, models and software products to enable state-of-the-art optimized design of balanced, synergistic processes and systems; and the holistic management of their operational behavior. We also provide consulting and educational materials to assist with the application of our practices.
• Our initial intent is to refine and market our capabilities in the small to mid-size business market. However, the product suite is expected to scale well in both directions and we intend to market to organizations of all sizes as it matures.

Keys to Success

Keys to success include:
1. Commitment to core principles and values. Maintaining an accurate understanding of who we are, what we offer, how that adds value to our customers. Maximize delivery and mutual benefit from what we have to offer. Don't over-market. Be realistic.
2. Connection with customer needs. Being able to demonstrate meaningful, bottom line value to our customers - knowing our customers and being able to deliver satisfaction to their critical needs through our product suite.
3. Balance in our approach. Providing an orderly transition and growth plan to accommodate continual change. This is true for both ourselves and the solutions we develop and advocate to our customers. Appreciation for the value in what is while advocating movement toward new solutions. Driving for constant innovation and renewal while remembering that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Developing an understanding and appreciation in what is and finding new ways to harvest new value from existing resources.
4. Quality and value focus. High standards and maintaining a commitment and orientation toward delivery of high quality and enduring value in our products and services. A continual focus on long-term retained value and operational effectiveness within our own products and operations and for our customers and partners. We are all about sustained, long-term, quality growth that compounds upon itself.
5. Citizenship and teamwork. True partnership with our customers and business partners. Understanding the roles we all play and how we relate in a larger context. We deal with highly complex issues and problems for which there are no perfect solutions. We will learn as much from our customers and partners as they learn from us. By teaching everything we know to those with whom we work we will discover and learn even more in return that can be applied to future engagements. We will grow and advance by sharing our knowledge as widely as possible with others.
 
Architected Futures v1.0.1

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