Skip to main content
  • Project Manager & Senior IAM Consultant, Arismore

    Q: How long have you been involved with the Open Group?
    The president of my company, Eric Boulay, first introduced me to “the big arena” at the Seattle Conference in February 2010.

    Q: What does your involvement look like?
    Since enterprise architecture is an evolving discipline, it is important to compare best practices at an international level. Through the Open Group, I get to interact with other security practitioners and enterprise architects, which has helped me grow professionally. I am currently a member of the Security Forum Steering Committee and a co-chair of the workgroup responsible for integrating SABSA and TOGAF™.  Through my involvement with the Open Group, I hope to facilitate the communications between enterprise architects and security practitioners.

    Q: How has membership in the Open Group benefited you, your organization and the industry at large?
    Arismore and I look to the Open Group to create standards in enterprise architecture and to encourage collaboration among architects and IT practitioners on an international level. We believe that increased interaction will further develop and increase professionalism in the field of enterprise architecture, and lead to a greater understanding of the discipline among non-IT professionals. The Open Group has been a catalyst for promoting best practices, and this has helped the industry move forward tremendously.

    Q: What contributions to the Open Group are you most proud of?
    I am very new to The Open Group, so my contributions are not as significant as some of the other members who have been profiled. So far, I have helped develop and review the new ISM3 standard and I am also participating in the Jericho Forum’s Self Assessment Scheme, focusing on identity and access management. 

    Q: Why is it important for other organizations to join the Open Group?
    I have seen the benefits of The Open Group membership firsthand through collaboration with other enterprise architecture and information security management companies. Two minds are always better than one, and with the Open Group, there are 50,000 of them. The collaboration in the Open Group raises the bar for the industry as a whole.

    Q: What are your hobbies?
    I love diving and photography. Lately, I have moved to a place with limited access to open water, so my diving career has been put on hold. However, I was encouraged when I was able to go whale watching during the 2010 Boston Conference, and am trying to make it out to San Diego in February 2011! Hopefully I will be able to begin diving again soon in Egypt, the Maldives, or Indonesia.

    On the photography front, joining the Open Group and attending its conferences has allowed me to capture beautiful cities with other Security Forum aficionados! Photography is a great way for me to unwind at conferences and meet other attendees since so many members share this hobby. 

    Q: What book are you currently reading?
    In an effort to practice my English and inspired by the whale watching in Boston, I tried to read “Moby Dick.” After 100 pages, I decided to switch to “The Ghost Writer,” which has proved to be a more exciting read. Before that, I read “A People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn. I have also recently read the SABSA book in order to prepare myself for my involvement in the Architecture Forum.
     
    Q: Any last thoughts?
    TOGAF™ 9 is a great achievement but still hard to read for non-specialists. I’d like to see the next version written in a more understandable manner that would also be open to specific subjects like security. Being a part of the TOGAF™-SABSA working group, I think that this would help promote the certification program to more security professionals.

    About François Jan

    Based out of France, Francois Jan is a project manager and senior IAM consultant at Arismore, an IT consulting company that helps large companies and governments transform and secure their information systems. He has operated in the identity and access management field for more than 10 years, both in consulting and deploying solutions, and has worked with companies such Airbus, Air France and France Telecom. Francois is ISO 27001 Leader Implementer certified and also speaks French and English, a bit of German and even less of Chinese.  He has been an Open Group member since February 2010.

    Arismore represents the Open Group in France through the Architecture Forum France.

    More information on Arismore