Tool-selection
Each organization is unique by its environment and the way the organization is organized on its environment. De size, age, division of labor, culture, coordination of tasks, the use and way of standardization, etc. are only a view aspects that make an organization specific. The complexity and dynamics, in which overview and insight is to be provided, can differ tremendously per organization.

To choose the right tool(s) to obtain the required overview and insight is not simple. Through it's many years of experience, HIT has build up a lot of knowledge about available tools in the market and for what kind of organizations these are appropriate. With that knowledge your information requirements can be analysed, prioritized and compared with the features and lacks of the various tools quickly and thoroughly. The result is a short-list with possible tools or combinations of tools in the form of a business case for your investment-decision with among other things:

• Specification of added value in terms of benefits and drawbacks, by scores on your information requirements and priorities in that.
• Specification of possible revenues in terms of reduction of information and coordination-costs between stakeholders, such as managers, strategists, architects and analysts.
• Investment-, maintenance-, management- en support-costs.

Tool-setup
The next step is to setup the tool in your organization. The point here is to provide each stakeholder with the right access to those aspects of the business and IT, that influence their concerns. Therefore the authorities in your organization are translated to the tool-authorizations. For each aspect or aspect-area is determined who:

• Informs (collects, records and communicates information).
• Advises (considers and proposes options and scenario's).
• Chooses (makes choice between the various options and scenario's).
• Authorizes (this choice).

Each stakeholder has his/her unique view on the aspects: a strategist looks at the hypotheses with objectives, measures, targets and actions, while an architect looks at the principles and structures. With that different stakeholders look at different, though mutual dependent, aspect: a financial manager looks at financial indicators, a human resource manager looks at the competences and an information manager looks at information and communication. Because of that it's important that each stakeholder (only) gets to view the right views on the aspects. For that the right views are setup for each concern of each stakeholder. For these views only recognized standard methods, techniques, models and best practices are used. This way the right userinterface is configured for each tooluser and customer (of reports, weboutput, etc.).

On the basis of the tool-authorizations and userinterfaces the best deployment on your IT-infrastructure is considered and chosen together with your technical people. Finally a release is prepared, tested, implemented and evaluated.

Tool-organization
The tool-organization includes the population of the tooldatabase (repository) and complementing views where required.

During the population texts, lists, inventories and models are transfered from existing information sources to the tooldatabase. HIT can get you on the way quickly in the collection, classification, consolidation and import of existing data. By doing so investments done in business and IT analysis and design are preserved.

Each tool offers a number of predefined viewpoints, by which views can be made. These are often not sufficient to view each concern of each stakeholder. For the aspects and their relations, at which is looked through the views, modelobjects and relations can be lacking too. Where required HIT can produce and implement extra diagramtypes (viewpoints), objecttypes and relationtypes (viewtypes and architectural styles). For the tools listed below HIT has already done this for many standard methods en techniques, so these can be delivered from stock.

Tool-use and support
After the tool(s) has (have) been setup and organized, the real work begins for your organization. The familiar existing data make up the first point of recognition. But of course a lot is still missing. All tool-users get going enthusiastically to complete 'their' views and aspects. The point is though to provide direction to their enthusiasm. Otherwise everyone goes about drawing their 'whole world', with the risc of morbid growth and inconsistency between the various views. You may think that the tool guards the consistency, but unfortunately that's not always the case. Moreover, not everything needs to be charted yet.

The reason for deploying the tool was to address and solve the issues at hand. So the point is to first focus the tool-users on these issues and only elaborate the relevant aspects and views for that. In that the higher objectives have to serve as guidance. Here too work should be done starting from the strategy of the business and the IT-organization. Just by tackling the burning issues first, the tool is deployed optimally, the usefulness and ROI of the tool are established and, even more important, all good ideas about handling the issues are put in the spotlights the best way. That will meet it's response in the organization with all positive feedback for the tool-users and stakeholders. With that basis the charting of the business and IT by other objectives and issues can be further elaborated in a structured manner.

HIT can guide you in achieving this basis. Together with you a startplan can be setup at the onset of the tool-use. This startplan specifies:

• The business and IT objectives to be concretized.
• The issues to be addressed.
• The aspects, that are relevant for that.
• The views, through which these aspects have to be elaborated.
• Who elaborates what and when.
• In case you require so, further completed and elaborated in a projectplan (f.e. in conformity with Prince2).

In the inception-phase HIT can guide and support your people in the elaboration and the use of tool with that. The advantage of this approach is that you handle the issues with your own people in a short period of time and that you quickly stand on your own legs for the further use of the tool. After this foundation is layed, your requirement for external support is minimized. Where necessary and required HIT can of course keep supporting you. Such as with upgrades, conversions and userproblems, and with complementary tools, new templates, viewpoints and viewtypes. For that you can enter into a support-contract with HIT in the form of for instance a stripcard and a subscription to new templates, viewpoints and viewtypes.

Tool-implementation of HIT solutions and products
HIT developes it's solutions and products with these tools. They can therefore be delivered implemented in these tools. This offers you many advantages to for example a 'flat' document. Aspects and views that are already developed by you can be adopted, which saves HIT work and you money. Each solution and product can be integrated completely into your enterprise model, by which you can manage and maintain them on each aspect and view.

Rational Rose (UML), Requisite Pro (requirement management) and Unified Process
Rational Software Corporation was the first vendor to introduce a whole range of tools for object oriented business and software engineering, using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and the Unified Process (UP). Not so strange though, given the fact that the founders of the UML, the 'three amigo's', Ivar Jacobson, Grady Booch en James Rumbaugh, are Thought Leaders with Rational. Meanwhile IBM took over Rational, what will further strengthen it's marketposition and integration with IBM-products. However Rational products are mainly used in software development, the tools are as well very useful for the development of the business. HIT works with the Rational Suite Development Studio since 1999, including the following tools:

Rose

Requisite Pro

Unified Process

CaseWise Corporate Modeler
With the introduction of user defined relations in release 9 of Corporate Modeler, this tool can be deployed well for enterprise modeling. With the use of user defined templates, diagrams, objects and relations, Corporate Modeler enables the description of viewpoints (diagramtypes), viewtypes and architectural styles (objecttypes and relationtypes). By that the tool not only complies with the IEEE-1471 standard for architecture description (viewpoints to make views), but as well with the SEI-supplement of viewtypes and architectural styles. This means that each aspect and view can be defined by the toolusers and be standardized within the business, information and technology architecture.

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SparxSystems Enterprise Architect
Enterprise Architect offers the basic functionality of Rational Rose and Requisite Pro in one tool, and for an exceptional low price. A good tool to get started with object oriented business and software engineering.

Ptech Framework
The Ptech Framework is one of the most innovative set of tools in the market. The meta-modelling, that products such as Corporate Modeler offer only recently, make up the core of the Ptech-tools. Both the standard as self defined aspects and views are described in the Ptech Framework using the same meta-models. Around this core various user extentions are available, in which the best of 'traditional' and object oriented paradigms, methods and techniques can be combined.