Q: How long have you been involved with The Open Group?  

Back in 2010 I was living and working in England, but also knew I was going to be repatriating to the US within a few years, and I was looking for training and certification in Enterprise Architecture that would be valuable in both countries. That’s when I came across The Open Group and its TOGAF® certification. I achieved TOGAF certification in late 2010.

I’ve followed The Open Group ever since.  And, this last fall I ran into a friend at a conference who told me about one the IT4IT™ Forum’s subgroups, the Digital Practitioners Working Group, and about that group’s progress on the soon-to-be-released Digital Practitioners Body of Knowledge (aka “the DPBoK”). I expressed my excitement in the project and asked if there was any way I could get involved. He introduced me to the group, and in November 2018, I signed my company up, and became a member of The Open Group IT4IT Forum, and the Digital Practitioners Working Group.

Q. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?  

Generally speaking, I’m a Management Consultant, but I have worked mostly in enterprise IT.  I am an SME in several areas including service management (and ITSM training), digital strategy/management/governance, program design and management, delivery and operating model design, strategic and organizational change management. SIAM/MSI and Technology Business Management. I’ve been in the business since 1997...22 years.

Q: Why did your organization become a member of The Open Group IT4IT™ Forum and what does your involvement look like?  

I was growing increasingly frustrated over the last few years by what I saw as a gap in the enterprise IT marketplace for a standard or framework which tied together all of the emerging digital management and governance practices, and as I’ve said, I heard that The Open Group was working on such a standard, and I wanted to become involved as an SME reviewer and content contributor. I have been doing this since November of last year.  I’m now also involved in the development of the training and certification ecosystem for the DPBoK.

Q: How has membership in The Open Group benefited you, your organization and the industry at large?

I’ll answer these separately...

For me personally: I was an SME reviewer for both ITIL V3 (2007) and ITIL 2011, and for COBIT5 and COBIT 2019, and part of me didn’t want to get involved with another working group from a time commitment perspective.  But once you get involved you realize that the time is easily found; in part because a project like this one re-energizes you once you roll your sleeves up and get involved in the work, and begin collaborating and conversing with all of these great minds that are involved with The Open Group—it’s been quite invigorating.  

I have become quite passionate about the DPBoK and the positive impact I know it will have on the industry; I find myself evangelizing the DPBoK...it comes up quite naturally and frequently in many discussions I am having with colleagues and clients.

For my company: I would like my company to be one the first training providers for the DPBoK once training is released this Fall. Not only for the potential business it will generate, but because I believe it meets a large need in the current marketplace. I’ve done a lot of ITIL training and senior staff mentoring in the past, and I’m really, really excited to teach and train on the DPBoK! 

For the industry at large: The industry is in for a real treat when the final (v1) of the DPBoK is released in July, and even more when the training is made available soon after. [Editor’s note: The DPBoK snapshot draft is already available as a free download.].  I am currently writing a blog for The Open Group, which will serve as an introduction (of sorts) for the DPBOK...so stay tuned.

Q: What contributions do you hope to bring to The Open Group?

Before getting into the enterprise IT space over 20 years ago, I started life with a BA in English and an MA in Writing/Rhetoric, and was a writer and editor in my previous career.  With this background and training, I have always been pretty good at analyzing and synthesizing different areas of related knowledge and articulating the “so what?” for such synthesis as it pertains to different audiences and different desired outcomes. Much of this was done for the DPBoK draft even before I got involved, but I think I’m adding more of this. 

I am also trying to bring the same to the DPBoK training and certification ecosystem development.

Q: Why is it important for other organizations to join The Open Group? 

Today’s “disrupt or be disrupted” realities mean that an organization’s business and technology landscape has never been a more complicated place in which to operate as it is today, and any organization in business today stands to benefit from the proper development of international standards like IT4IT and the DPBoK. Getting involved is the best way to ensure the best outcomes.

Q: What are your hobbies?  

I’m a bit of a chess fanatic. I’ve played tens of thousands of games online over the years. I’m not a chess Master or anything like that, but I’m decent.  I play chess like some people play solitaire...it gets my mind going in the morning and sometimes I use it to help me wind down at night. 

I have also bought/collected a number of oil paintings over the years, and in the last two years I have taken up oil painting and have produced two large paintings so far. I paint very slowly, and spend way too much time on a single painting...I’ll never be able to paint fast enough to make any money as an artist, so I paint for myself only.  My family enjoys my paintings—at least that’s what they tell me—which are hanging in our home. 

I don’t normally like or listen to much classical music, but I have found I love listening to cello music when I paint.

I have lots of interests and when I have time, I enjoy browsing the internet, watching videos, and reading and researching on various topics. Except for tracking the evolution of certain trends and topics in my industry, I don’t spend much time on social media...I think I’m a bit of an “old soul” that way. 

Q: What book are you currently reading?

Ha!  I’m currently reading the DPBoK working draft!  I’m not kidding...we have a lot of work to do to get this BoK finished by this summer, but it is coming along quite well as you may have heard. I am also reading related sources to make certain that the BoK in sync with all of the current/best thinking. 

I can’t wait to tuck into a novel this Fall when I can come up for air. Any suggestions?

Q.  What social networks do you belong to?

The only social networks I’m on are LinkedIn and Twitter, and I’ve only recently joined twitter. About 10 or so years ago, I joined Facebook for about two months, but when I noticed that my security/privacy settings kept being changed by them, I deleted my profile. 

Q: Any last thoughts?

"I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity"   --Oliver Wendell Holmes

James Doss is a multi-discipline Digital Product Management & Governance transformation consultant.

He brings multiple leading-edge models, approaches and techniques to bear in the design, repair, and implementation of digital delivery/operating models, architectures, processes, IT products, digital product/service catalogs, technical solutions, IT professional services.  He is an SME in program design for specific delivery/operating models, contract types, and other business contexts.

James has developed multiple IT value / benefits / cost / risk management models & approaches, transformation architectures, roadmaps, decision support frameworks / scenario plans, risk management methods, and IT management and governance models for clients across multiple industry verticals in both the public and private sectors.

Mr. Doss earned his BA from the University of Michigan and his MA from DePaul University. He lives with his wife and two daughters in the Washington, DC area.

He can be reached at james.doss@itvaluequickstart.com.

May 2019