Everyone does a blueprint! Its just a matter of time...

[alexanderwhite]

How many people build a house without a blueprint? How many people start building walls to a home while the foundation is being poured?

The answer to these questions are obvious, but too often companies want to skip building a foundation before they start configuring their digital platform. Blueprint builds a foundation to ensure the digital platform can be built efficiently so companies can do Extreme Sprints and deliver more in less time.

Blueprint has 5 key areas of focus;

• Planning
• Scoping
• Architecture & Design
• Operations & Support
• Delivery Infrastructure

Companies often mistake Blueprint with the notion that it is about agile methodology. This is only a portion of the Blueprint (Delivery Infrastructure) so if you are already an agile shop then this portion of the Blueprint is minimized or removed all together. The remaining topics still need discussions and coordination for efficient delivery.

So when do we get to the "real work"? Blueprint is the "real work" and allows companies to move faster by ensuring all the components, processes and people are in place to build great solutions.

If you are asked, "Is your company doing a Blueprint?", the answer isn't "yes or no" but "now or later". Every company does a blueprint eventually. Some take the easy path and some build it over time. Companies that defer Blueprint will eventually create all the blueprint items, but it's painful and it impacts your company's ability to keep up with digital demands.

Where are the impacts of not doing a Blueprint upfront?

• Amount of functionality deployed per sprint decreases over time
• Support teams increase headcount due to built-in complexity
• Pieces of functionality are recreated in multiple places
• Different internal teams implement differently (i.e. caching)
• Standard functions needed in all proxies are missing
• Functionality that worked is now missing
• Time to implement seemingly simple requests take weeks to design

Don't put up the walls and pour the foundation at the same time. Give Blueprint the appropriate priority and attention and you'll be setting up your team up for success.

Blueprint Video, Activities and Template Deliverables are available; http://community.apigee.com/accelerator-methodology/blueprint