VPEC-T
VPEC-T analysis (value, policies, events, content and trust) is a thinking framework comprising a collection of mental filters or guides.
It provides a "simplified 'language' for preventing loss in translation from business needs to IT solutions" [1] and is used when analyzing the expectations of multiple parties having different views of a system in which they all have an interest in common, but have different priorities and different responsibilities.
This form of analysis is particularly applicable where it is likely that the interaction and communication context is unordered, complex or chaotic, and liable to result in misunderstanding.
[4] VPEC-T was first conceived as a framework to aid those studying information systems, where the conflicting viewpoints of the parties involved could be a barrier to proper understanding.
[6] VPEC-T is named after the initial letters of the five elements on which it focuses: value, policies, events, content and trust.
Each of the parties involved in describing, discussing or seeking to understand a system, actual or planned, will view it in the conceptual framework with which they are familiar.
The terms values, policy, events, content and trust are the principal means through which communication concerning a topic is viewed.
Ensuring that these dimensions are all considered, while avoiding technological issues at an early stage helps to create a balanced and complete view of the system.
Examples of values include faster turnaround of orders, more reliable handling of complaints, reduced costs, and the full range of benefits normally claimed for information systems.
VPEC-T goes beyond this by pushing on into policies that may be unwritten, and are implied in departmental customs ("we defer processing of orders for perishable items received after 14:00 on Friday until Monday morning, and then they have priority") and other informal agreements or instructions.
According to Claudio Ciborra[10] among others, Information Systems failures are mostly caused by the inability of our current methods to identify and analyse the complex Social-Technical issues that have to be addressed in order to be successful.
In a session at Enterprise Architecture Conference Europe 2009, David Hunt, Senior Lecturer, & Liz Bacon, Head of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, University of Greenwich looked at how VPEC-T has been successfully used on a number of substantial real life projects to overcome some of the issues identified above.
[11] In particular they addressed: VPEC-T was created by Nigel Green and Carl Bate, who developed it and used it in its first major projects while working at Capgemini.
Originally developed for use in enterprise and solution architecture engagements concerning information systems VPEC-T is now also used in other domains and contexts not associated with computing.
Some examples of use are: In late 2019, an improvement to the acronym was introduced by Nigel Green and Matt Pearce after many sessions with business clients.
