This exercise uses Wardley Mapping and Purpose Alignment Modelling, to map your products and services and your portfolio of work. We introduce the techniques from scratch if they are unfamiliar and we apply them directly to live issues and situations.
A Wardley Map lays out the various components, products, services, and other dependencies that combine to create value for a customer, identifying which are bespoke or customized and which are vendor or commodity products. This map shows where you are investing your time, money and effort. It provides the basis for strategy discussions about trade-offs of cost, control, functionality and optionality.
A Purpose Alignment Model looks at your portfolio of work along the dual axes of business criticality—how much it would affect your business if it were to fail, and market differentiation—how much of a competitive advantage it is.
This informs discussions about bringing work in-house versus outsourcing, across development, maintenance, support and service management, and helps with cost, risk and value conversations.
Both Wardley Mapping and Purpose Alignment Modelling work at scales from individual programmes to enterprise-wide product and system portfolios.