Simplificare

Technology: System of Records and System of Engagement in Systemic Thinking

There are some words that bring about a profound effect by simplifying complexity in and around them. Such words often manifest directly or indirectly in many places. “System of Record” (SoR) and “System of Engagement” (SoE) are such terms.

Both of these terms originated from the technology space at different periods.

Origin

System of Record (SoR) was introduced as part of The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. § 552a). It pertained to the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

System of Engagement (SoE) gained prominence later, popularized by a well-known author and consultant in the field of technology and business strategy in his book “Systems of Engagement and The Future of Enterprise IT.”

in EssenCE

A System of Record is a finite, multi-dimensional record in the System that conveys the core value of an entity. It is with this record that the entity will be measured and valued

A System of Engagement encompasses the systems an entity uses to engage with other entities in the Eco System.

In this blog, we will discuss how these terms are manifested in various entities and examine the similarities in their systemic workings using examples

Bank

Hailing from Switzerland, let’s take example of UBS as of June 2024. the prime website shows the below Offerings, in a nutshell from my understanding

Wealth Management: providing high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals with a range of financial services, including investment management, financial planning, and banking services

Investment Banking: offers services such as securities trading, corporate finance, advisory services for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and capital raising. serving corporate, institutional, and government clients around the world.

Asset Management: provide services to institutional clients, such as pension funds, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds, as well as to private investors. This includes managing investments across various asset classes, including equities, fixed income, real estate, and alternative investments.

Private and Corporate Banking: for the home market of Switzerland, bank offers banking services for individual and corporate clients. This includes retail banking services like savings and checking accounts, loans, and mortgages, as well as specialized services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large corporations.

List of System of Record in Bank

** Examples mentioned are demonstration purpose of this blog

List of System of Enagagement Bank

** Examples mentioned are demonstration purpose of this blog

Characteristics of System of Records and System of Engagement

System of Records are long-serving system of an organization

System of Engagement serves a specific engagement with the customers, partners, and employees. As and when the basic engagement changes, the existing SoE adopt the change or progresses to obsolete.

Some SaaS offering combines both SoR and SoE, which enables quick entry to the market.

Changes in SoR systems are usually small but have larger impact on the whole organization

Changes in SoE system are frequent and influences the specific engagement and part of SoR

Consideration for SoR and SoE

The SoRs strongly influence the future of the organization and the selection and creation of SoRs are once-in-a-generation activity for organizations.

Rollout of a new SoE, is not a huge undertaking, as long as the integration with SoR is seamless. and keeping the two logically separate and loose coupled is the key.

Since SoE needs to be customizable, if customization is built into the SoR to serve the engagement, the * SoR maturity index of Portability, Maintainability, Flexibility, and Localization will reduce thus risking Fit for Future of SoRs

https://dev.to/paihari/things-to-expect-from-a-system-590c

Takeaway for Initiatives

SoR Creation Initiatives: This is once in a lifetime activity for the organization. Typically green field initiatives. The organization can leverage the maturity in the SoR market to buy SoR system or services instead of re-inventing the wheel and adapting all the customization outside the SoR during the creation and in the future. Or completely create an own system if and only that record is totally new to the EcoSystem.

SoR Migration Initiatives: This scenario arrives when the previous SoR system, is not able to adapt to the new organizational requirements and not able to scale and interoperable with the surge of SoE. This is an obvious occurrence, though a hindrance for such Migration will be the amount of customization that is being introduced into SoR during the lifetime by not loosely coupling it with SoE.

These initiatives are High Cash Intensive and High Risk Initiatives, if the elementary compositions are not handled appropriately

Some of the examples:

SoE Creation Activities: Initiatives that creates a new engagement or channel on existing business towards the customers, partners and employees to attain a specific objective. The Ease of Integration with SoR will dictate the initiative

Some of the examples:

SoE Migration Activities: Initaitives that is mandated to move and engagement from one platform to another. These initiatives are usually internal in nature to have a more efficient and adaptable system.

Some of the examples:

Pause

Let’s pause at this stage, before dwelling on the Country and People and pen down the findings

Findings

Country

Like an IT System, SoR and SoE gets manifested in countries.

System of Records: Geographical Border, Language, Culture, Citizens

System of Engagement: Skills, Resources, Internation Partnerships

People

Like an IT System, SoR and SoE gets manifested in People.

System of Records: Brain, Heart, Character

System of Engagement: Legs, Hands, Speaking