Business Architects Leaders Practice Group

The second meeting of the new LMF Business Architects Practice Group took place at Lloyd's and proved to be a most interesting session. Each LMF Practice Group has a blend of educational content, delivered from a subject matter expert of some kind, as well as our popular roundtable discussion, where we address a topical matter impacting the professionals around the table or the Market as a whole.

The December BA Practice Group welcomed two architects from our friends at Mendix, Will Degener & Warren Gay, who shared their thoughts on the use of low code technologies in addressing the legacy challenges we all have across Market firms. Will and Warren explained the benefits of using low code for rapid application development and how this really could revolutionise the speed and cost of change within businesses. An interactive discussion with the whole group ensued, where the benefits and any possible downsides were explored. Members of the Group were left with some useful food for thought.

In the second part of the Group meeting, Neil Williams of MS Amlin talked with the Group about lessons learned from his role as a senior business architect. Neil felt that the optimal place for a Business Architect in any firm is to be situated between business strategy and change delivery. The Group then discussed their own experiences. Amongst the common themes discussed by the Practice Group was:

• There is probably not always an understanding or appreciation within firms of the role/responsibilities and/or value of a Business Architect
• Business Architects are not always given the support and direction their need by senior management
• The most common activities/projects amongst Practice Group Members related to digital and legacy transformation, data integration and data strategy, finance transformation and the Future@Lloyd's/BP2/Target Operating Model work
• Legacy is a challenge for most firms and even younger firms in the Market have some related issues

We debated the role of a business architect and how, as a Group, we can work to raise the profile of the profession/skill set in the community, thereby gaining more understanding and maybe even attracting new professionals into this arena. The mechanisms for such an outreach programme will be explored further at the next gathering in Q1. A big thank you to all those who took part from MSAmlin, CNA Hardy, Aon, TM HCC, Convex, Travelers, Sompo, Lloyd's, Tysers, Lancashire, QBE and AEGIS London. Thanks also to Mendix, a valued Member of LMF, who kindly supported this session.