A Work Package Portfolio Map consists of an overview of all work packages derived from the strategy. Work packages are similar to initiatives. What’s more, a work package generally does not describe an ongoing activity such as a business process. The subject of the work package is performed once and produces a well-defined end result. Consequently, this is usually a goal or an objective. A work package can be used to model tasks within a project, entire projects, programs, or entire portfolios. In an agile context, a work package can be used to model the work done in an agile iteration (e.g., a sprint) or in a higher-level increment. Initiatives work in similar fashion.
Definition
The TOGAF Standard defines a work package as a set of actions aimed at achieving one or more objectives.
A set of actions identified to achieve one or more objectives for the business. A work package can be a part of a project, a complete project, or a program [1].
ArchiMate, on the other hand, is more general in its definition and indicates that a work package achieves a result within certain time and resource constraints.
A work package represents a series of actions identified and designed to achieve specific results within specified time and resource constraints [2].
Applying the method
Work packages translate the previously defined initiatives into concrete, actionable steps. The figure below uses the implementation of an Enterprise Architecture as an example to illustrate the operation and use of work packages.
As can be seen, the figure shows an overview of (from left to right) the baseline architecture, the set of work packages required to perform the activity, and the end scenario, the target state.
The numbers in the colored circles have the following meanings.
- Baseline state. The premise of this book is to arrive at the implementation of a basic Enterprise Architecture. The baseline state here means as much as the absence of an architecture. It still assumes that an Enterprise Architect is starting with an existing organization where architecture work is in its infancy. Hence, there is no Enterprise Architecture.
- Target state. The desired target state: an implemented basic Enterprise Architecture.
- The parent work package. This work package consists of several (smaller) work packages, evidently the stages from the Enterprise Architecture Implementation Wheel.
- The Implementation Wheel stages. These are shown here as separate work packages.
- The deliverables by stage. These are the architecture deliverables for each stage from the Implementation Wheel. In the figure above, the various deliverables from the four stages are grouped into one deliverable element for each stage.
A fully developed model of an Enterprise Architecture implementation, including the required deliverables and the objectives to be achieved, is shown in Appendix C – Example Work Package View in my book, Getting Started with Enterprise Architecture.
Creating the map
An important architectural deliverable that serves as input to the Roadmap is the Work Package Portfolio Map. The goals and objectives contained in the Work Package Portfolio Map are elements that recur in the Roadmap.
- Gather all goals and objectives.
- Convert the initiatives defined when creating an Objective/Initiative Matrix to work packages (after all, initiatives and work packages are equivalent) and included as activities to be performed in the Roadmap. In this way, the initiatives/work packages are related to the previously defined goals and intended objectives.
- Link the initiatives to the corresponding goals and objectives.
The work packages in a Work Package Portfolio Map are usually shown clustered or grouped together. A Work Package Portfolio Map is similar in structure and visualization to an Application Portfolio Catalog.
A Work Package Portfolio Map forms the basis for the Architecture Roadmap.
More information
For additional information about creating a Work Package Portfolio Map, please refer to Chapter 8, Section 8.4.2, of my book Getting Started with Enterprise Architecture.
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[1] The Open Group, The TOGAF® Standard, 10th Edition, Introduction and Core Concepts. ’s-Hertogenbosch: Van Haren Publishing, 2022.
[2] The Open Group, ArchiMate® 3.2 Specification. ’s-Hertogenbosch: Van Haren Publishing, 2023.