Concept: Organization Templates
This concept presents the main Asset-Based Development organizational templates.
Relationships
Main Description

The enterprise needs to determine the organizational structure for supporting asset governance and development. The enterprise may use a less rigorous style or may pursue a heavily governed approach.

There are several asset governance and development organization templates to choose from. These are intended to represent major characteristics, and to be adjusted to meet the needs of the enterprise.

There are several characteristics describing each organization template, including:

  • Reuse scope: the intended reuse visibility, either the reuse is targeted within the community or across multiple communities at the enterprise level
  • Governance board: the number and kind of governance boards, where they sit in the organization, and who funds them
  • Domain experts: from where do the subject matter experts come to support asset manufacturing
  • Produce: the location and resources creating, updating, supporting assets, and who funds them
  • Manage: the location of the resources managing the repository and who funds them
  • Use: the techniques and formality for reuse; the use of assets may be planned and/or opportunistic; planned use of assets implies the governance boards and those producing assets prepare the assets and policies with the knowledge of targeted consumers' needs, and those consumers have direction to use assets as part of their work

The organization templates are presented in increasing order of formality. There are pros and cons to each of the templates. The templates should be considered as starting points that you can refine to meet the needs of your enterprise.

There is a loose relationship between the maturity of an organization and the specific template to use. Maturity includes several key principles such as:

  • process maturity, the organization's processes are formalized and executed
  • cultural acceptance of assets and reuse has been attained
  • reuse opportunities exist within the named reuse scope
  • funding and sponsorship has been determined

A mature organization has improved operational success with asset governance and asset-based development in the more formal organization templates presented here. However, a mature organization may determine to start with less formal organization templates and migrate to more formal organization templates when ready, whereas a less mature organization should stay with the less formal organization templates.

The less formal organization templates presented below include:

  • Ad-Hoc Community
  • Self-Governed Community

The more formal organization templates presented below include:

  • Governed Community
  • Enterprise Partial
  • Enterprise Full

Organization Template: Ad-Hoc Community

In this organization template, the style of reuse is very informal and ad-hoc. The reuse scope is targeted for the specific community, with no governance boards or policies. There are resources committed to managing the repository, but the asset production and reuse is ad-hoc at best. The use of assets is opportunistic.

In this organization template the style of reuse is very informal and ad-hoc

Organization Template: Self-Governed Community

In this organization template, the community supports asset governance, dictating the policies and structure by which the assets in the community comply. One or more governance boards are established and funded by the community. The reuse scope is at the community level, which may be a team, or a project. The community funds resources to administer the asset repository. There is no formal asset production team, but it is expected that those who produce assets will comply with the policies from asset governance. The use of assets is planned and opportunistic.

The community supports ABD governance, dictating the policies and structure by which the assets in the community comply.

Organization Template: Governed Community

In this organization template, asset governance is centrally funded with one or more asset governance boards whose policies cross many communities for the enterprise. The reuse scope is at the community level still, and each community funds and manages their own repository. The asset production is formalized with committed resources, which adhere to the governance policies. The community subject matter experts are close to the asset production activities, and often are the ones who produce the assets, or work closely with the asset production team. The use of assets is planned and opportunistic. Those who produce the assets follow key assets into the context of the asset consumers to help insure their success, as noted by the "support" line.

ABD governance is centrally funded with one or more asset governance boards and its policies cross many communities for the enterprise.

Organization Template: Enterprise Partial

In this organization template the asset governance is centrally funded and controlled. The asset repository and management is also centrally funded and managed, implementing governance policies. But the asset production is formalized in the respective communities, where the domain expertise resides. The reuse scope is at the community, cross-community, and enterprise level. The domain experts from the communities produce the assets or work with asset production teams in the communities. Those who produce the assets follow key assets into the context of the asset consumers to help insure their success, as noted by the "support" line. The asset use is planned and opportunistic.

In this organization template the asset-based governance is centrally funded and controlled.

Organization Template: Enterprise Full

In this organization template the asset governance is centrally funded and controlled. The asset repository and management is also centrally funded and managed. The asset production is also centrally managed, and domain experts from the communities participate in the central production team. The reuse scope is at the community, cross-community and enterprise level. In this organization template the experts from the centralized asset production team follow key assets into the communities to help ensure success using the assets (as noted by the "support" line in the image). The asset use is planned and opportunistic.

The asset manufacturing is also centrally managed, and community experts participate in the central manufacturing team.