The July 2023 edition of the Enterprise Architecture Professional Journal.
This issue of the Enterprise Architecture Professional Journal brings complementary views from opposite sides of the world, speaking to the evolution and future of the Enterprise and Business Architecture disciplines.
The first article comes to us from Paul Taylor and Inji Wijegunaratne, participants in an industry engagement forum run by the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Entitled “Enterprise Architecture in the Digital Age”, it highlights some historical perspectives on the evolution of the EA discipline, and speaks to how EA must continue to change to provide value in four very different contemporary business models.
The second feature article comes to us from the highly experienced Whynde Kuehn, co-founder of the Business Architecture Guild, expert in Digital Transformation, and author of the recent book Strategy to Reality. In this article, entitled “The Evolution of Business Architecture and the Opportunity for Enterprise Architecture”, Whynde writes about the enormous benefits available to organizations from the appropriate application of both Business and Enterprise Architecture.
Bringing Architecture Thinking to the People - An introduction into the PEOPL...Craig Martin
The successful implementation of an architecture plan or blueprint is often challenged not in the efficacy of the design elements of the architecture, but in its implementation by people in business operations. Transformation programs will often struggle as a consequence of the failure to consider the issues impacting and the role of people in supporting the target operating state of the architecture once implemented, it is therefore imperative that when architects innovate, model and design to solve business problems, that they equally consider the people dimension. Capability based planning is incomplete unless we address the optimum mix of people, process and tools to drive out the target outcome of that capability. This presentation will look at a case study from within the Australian market in which Business Capability Based Planning was applied to assess people capabilities and organisation preparedness to support a target business model. It will also discuss some of the more effective people levers that can be applied to deliver more impactful and long lasting architectural change.
Design of Business in an Age of DisruptionCraig Martin
We are all acutely aware of the changes occurring in business. Market and socio political drivers are causing interesting business models to emerge and technological changes are resulting in new digital and disruptive business models that are reshaping our traditional industries. There is significant pressure to respond with solutions, products and services that are not only desirable from a human centred perspective but business viable and technologically feasible.
In order to cater for these pressures, new strategic planning disciplines and tools must be leveraged, or in some cases invented. These disciplines need to both help business solve wicked problems, as well as help solution providers inside and outside an organization provide more value based offerings.
This presentation will look at the emergence of design led strategic planning approaches that merge disciplines to help business decision makers test the viability of ideas and strategies, and play these out within an organisation to determine the high value positions necessary to succeed in the market. In this paper we explore on the fusion of design thinking, business design and enterprise architecture to help organizations address these challenges.
http://enterprisearchitectureconference.com.au/keynote-speakers/
Using Business Architecture to enable customer experience and digital strategyCraig Martin
Digital disruption is shifting business model design from a focus on product profitability to a stronger focus on customer experience and lifetime value.
The presentation looks at environmental pressures caused by digital disruption and identifies how to use business architecture and business design to address these changes.
It covers business architecture for digital strategy, customer-driven value chains, re-writing of the 4Ps of the marketing mix, and the nine laws of disruption and how they affect business model design.Craig also investigates the changes afoot with strategic business planning and Enterprise Architecture, which are experiencing their own form of disruption. Will Enterprise Architecture as we know it become a commodity too?
This presentation was delivered as an OpenGroup webinar and is available for viewing from the www.enterprisearchitects.com web site.
The need for Business design to underpin strategic and operational agility Craig Martin
Talk given at the business architecture Master Series in Sydney October 2019.
Agility is here to stay. But dig a little deeper and you will see that fundamental strategic, structural and cultural issues exist that often prevent success within large organizations. Some organizations have learnt the hard way when it comes to the missing pieces of the puzzle around organizational agility.
I was recently asked by a new-ways-of-working team to help them apply business design to create the target operating model needed to enable structural, operational and strategic agility. Is this the secret sauce that’s been missing in the agility conversations?
In this talk I’ll discuss the broader issues around agility when creating the adaptive and fast learning organization. And discuss the "secret sauce" that is missing when it comes to business heuristics and patterns.
I will also look at the areas where agility is succeeding and failing and discuss the need for multi-disciplinary architects that can help with the transition across strategic, business and delivery lenses.
PS - this is a presentation pack. I dont put everything I talk to into a slide. Some of these slides will therefore lack some context for you. Next time I'll record the talk and you can hopefully catch the story around the slides.
Effective Strategy Execution with Capability-Based Planning, Enterprise Arch...Iver Band
The difficulty of strategy execution should not be underestimated
Capability-based planning helps make strategy concrete
Enterprise architecture closes the remainder of this gap, and ensures alignment and coherence
Enterprise portfolio management allows managing large enterprise landscapes based on business value
ArchiMate models tie it all together, providing a clear line of sight from strategy definition to realization
Powerful tool support makes this a strong combination!
This Toolkit was created by ex-McKinsey, Deloitte and BCG Management Consultants after more than 3,000 hours of work. It shares our combined 100+ years of experience advising executive teams around the world. It includes all the Frameworks, Best Practices & Templates required to successfully implement an operating model and organization design initiative, and make your strategy happen.
EA Intensive Course "Building Enterprise Architecture" by mr.danairatSoftware Park Thailand
This document outlines the agenda for a two-day course on building enterprise architecture. Day one covers introductions, current architecture challenges, the need for enterprise architecture, definitions of enterprise architecture, reference architecture frameworks, and group workshops. Day two covers maturity models, technology platforms, the TOGAF standard, cloud computing roadmaps, governance, and building a target architecture.
Bringing Architecture Thinking to the People - An introduction into the PEOPL...Craig Martin
The successful implementation of an architecture plan or blueprint is often challenged not in the efficacy of the design elements of the architecture, but in its implementation by people in business operations. Transformation programs will often struggle as a consequence of the failure to consider the issues impacting and the role of people in supporting the target operating state of the architecture once implemented, it is therefore imperative that when architects innovate, model and design to solve business problems, that they equally consider the people dimension. Capability based planning is incomplete unless we address the optimum mix of people, process and tools to drive out the target outcome of that capability. This presentation will look at a case study from within the Australian market in which Business Capability Based Planning was applied to assess people capabilities and organisation preparedness to support a target business model. It will also discuss some of the more effective people levers that can be applied to deliver more impactful and long lasting architectural change.
Design of Business in an Age of DisruptionCraig Martin
We are all acutely aware of the changes occurring in business. Market and socio political drivers are causing interesting business models to emerge and technological changes are resulting in new digital and disruptive business models that are reshaping our traditional industries. There is significant pressure to respond with solutions, products and services that are not only desirable from a human centred perspective but business viable and technologically feasible.
In order to cater for these pressures, new strategic planning disciplines and tools must be leveraged, or in some cases invented. These disciplines need to both help business solve wicked problems, as well as help solution providers inside and outside an organization provide more value based offerings.
This presentation will look at the emergence of design led strategic planning approaches that merge disciplines to help business decision makers test the viability of ideas and strategies, and play these out within an organisation to determine the high value positions necessary to succeed in the market. In this paper we explore on the fusion of design thinking, business design and enterprise architecture to help organizations address these challenges.
http://enterprisearchitectureconference.com.au/keynote-speakers/
Using Business Architecture to enable customer experience and digital strategyCraig Martin
Digital disruption is shifting business model design from a focus on product profitability to a stronger focus on customer experience and lifetime value.
The presentation looks at environmental pressures caused by digital disruption and identifies how to use business architecture and business design to address these changes.
It covers business architecture for digital strategy, customer-driven value chains, re-writing of the 4Ps of the marketing mix, and the nine laws of disruption and how they affect business model design.Craig also investigates the changes afoot with strategic business planning and Enterprise Architecture, which are experiencing their own form of disruption. Will Enterprise Architecture as we know it become a commodity too?
This presentation was delivered as an OpenGroup webinar and is available for viewing from the www.enterprisearchitects.com web site.
The need for Business design to underpin strategic and operational agility Craig Martin
Talk given at the business architecture Master Series in Sydney October 2019.
Agility is here to stay. But dig a little deeper and you will see that fundamental strategic, structural and cultural issues exist that often prevent success within large organizations. Some organizations have learnt the hard way when it comes to the missing pieces of the puzzle around organizational agility.
I was recently asked by a new-ways-of-working team to help them apply business design to create the target operating model needed to enable structural, operational and strategic agility. Is this the secret sauce that’s been missing in the agility conversations?
In this talk I’ll discuss the broader issues around agility when creating the adaptive and fast learning organization. And discuss the "secret sauce" that is missing when it comes to business heuristics and patterns.
I will also look at the areas where agility is succeeding and failing and discuss the need for multi-disciplinary architects that can help with the transition across strategic, business and delivery lenses.
PS - this is a presentation pack. I dont put everything I talk to into a slide. Some of these slides will therefore lack some context for you. Next time I'll record the talk and you can hopefully catch the story around the slides.
Effective Strategy Execution with Capability-Based Planning, Enterprise Arch...Iver Band
The difficulty of strategy execution should not be underestimated
Capability-based planning helps make strategy concrete
Enterprise architecture closes the remainder of this gap, and ensures alignment and coherence
Enterprise portfolio management allows managing large enterprise landscapes based on business value
ArchiMate models tie it all together, providing a clear line of sight from strategy definition to realization
Powerful tool support makes this a strong combination!
This Toolkit was created by ex-McKinsey, Deloitte and BCG Management Consultants after more than 3,000 hours of work. It shares our combined 100+ years of experience advising executive teams around the world. It includes all the Frameworks, Best Practices & Templates required to successfully implement an operating model and organization design initiative, and make your strategy happen.
EA Intensive Course "Building Enterprise Architecture" by mr.danairatSoftware Park Thailand
This document outlines the agenda for a two-day course on building enterprise architecture. Day one covers introductions, current architecture challenges, the need for enterprise architecture, definitions of enterprise architecture, reference architecture frameworks, and group workshops. Day two covers maturity models, technology platforms, the TOGAF standard, cloud computing roadmaps, governance, and building a target architecture.
Capability models have a long history. They came out of business schools in the 50ies. In recent years the enterprise- and business architecture communities seem to have taken over, making capabilities more an IT rather than a business modeling concept. Most capability models we've seen fail to achieve their original purpose: to enable business people to design better enterprises - ones that are fit for purpose, efficient, adaptive to change and satisfy customers.
In this webinar, Wolfgang Goebl explains the typical flaws of capability models and design patterns for next-generation capability modeling. You will learn:
practical patterns to create capability maps that foster a seamless business & IT co-design
why most capability modeling efforts fail and how to overcome the usual problems
how to connect other elements of the architecture with capabilities - how to run a broad elicitation process with all relevant stakeholders
how to use capability maps in corporate management
Building a more cohesive organisation using business architectureCraig Martin
In shifting the focus away from enterprise architecture being seen purely as an IT discipline, organizations are beginning to formalise the development of business architecture practices and business architecture outcomes.
The OpenGroup has made the differentiation between business, IT and enterprise architects through their various working groups and certification tracks.
However, industry at present is grappling to try and understand where the discipline of business architecture resides in the business and what value it can provide separate of the traditional project based business analysis focus.
This presentation will take the audience through an overview of some of the critical questions being asked by business and how these are addressed through the discipline of business architecture.
Using both method as well as case study examples, I will show the audience an approach to building more cohesion across the business landscape using business architecture techniques and artefacts.
The presentation will focus on using business motivation models, strategic scenario planning and capability based planning techniques to provide input into the strategic planning process.
It will also highlight some of the outputs through examples from engagements.
Don't be scared, level zero in a capability map is just a way to structure the map so that we have a consistent way of communicating. It's really not that important if all you wish todo is create an excellent set of capabilities for your business. However if you are intent on changing the foundation of your business then level zero is absolutely imperative to get right. Capabilities and capability maps are not organization structures, they do however serve as a powerful instrument when one need to create an organization architecture, in fact they are best thought of as organizing structures.
Leadership In The Digital Transformation EraGoKart Labs
The document discusses the challenges of digital transformation for businesses. It notes that we have entered an "Age of the Customer" where adaptability and speed are key. Mass extinctions of companies are occurring as 50% of Fortune 500 companies since 2000 have been acquired, merged or declared bankruptcy due to an inability to adapt to digital transformation. True adaptation is difficult for businesses and requires investment in technology, structure, culture, talent and metrics. However, the main problem is not willingness to invest, but rather overcoming human resistance to change through challenging limiting beliefs. The document recommends using the "Three Box Solution" approach of having separate teams focus on forgetting the past through innovation (Box 2), building the future (Box 3), and protecting the
How to make strategy work in a complex and unpredictable world. In its essence, strategy is simple. It is about answering two fundamental and interrelated questions: where to play and how to win.
Almost 200 Scandinavian top managers, managers and strategists participated in an intensive day at Implement Consulting Group focusing on how to develop a winning strategy in a world that is increasingly unpredictable.
Strategist and author of the bestseller Playing to Win, Roger Martin was challeging the typical strategy processes where we try to control the risk and uncertainty through elaborate and detailed planning. In his opinion these processes often seem to end up being long-winded, abstract and complex. Sometimes even without any clear choices being made.
Transform Your Application Portfolio - and Keep Your Focus!Software AG
The document discusses managing and transforming application portfolios to support business growth. It emphasizes that application portfolio management (APM) is an ongoing process, not just managing, and should lead to activities that transform the portfolio. APM requires creating transparency about the existing portfolio, defining appropriate metrics, and using insights to drive changes like deciding applications' fates and creating IT modernization roadmaps. Software AG's enterprise architecture solution can help with the entire APM process.
Digital Transformation Toolkit - Overview and ApproachPeterFranz6
The document provides an overview of a 6-phase approach to digital transformation along with frameworks, tools, templates, tutorials and best practices. The 6 phases include: (1) carrying out a business case for change and setting up the digital transformation, (2) defining the digital transformation strategy, (3) carrying out detailed business cases and financial models for projects, (4) implementing, tracking and managing progress, (5) defining and implementing a change management strategy and plan, and (6) defining and implementing a communication strategy and plan. The toolkit is intended to help organizations undertake a successful digital transformation with support from management consultants in a more affordable way than solely relying on tier 1 consulting firms.
Re-Positioning the value of the architecture practiceCraig Martin
This document discusses challenges facing enterprise architecture practices and opportunities to reposition their value. It notes a gap emerging between the utility and differentiation aspects of business as unique offerings become commonplace. Additionally, there is often unclear ownership around enterprise cohesion and an undefined business architecture mandate. The document argues that properly aligning strategic, business, and IT architecture disciplines can help address these issues and improve business performance.
This document provides an overview and summary of key ideas from Nassim Nicholas Taleb's book "Antifragile". Some of the main points discussed include:
- The book introduces the concept of antifragility, which is the opposite of fragility. Systems or things that are antifragile benefit from disorder, stressors, volatility and randomness.
- Examples of antifragile systems given include stress and weightlifting making muscles stronger, exposure to small errors and mistakes enhancing learning and progress.
- The author argues modern society has become too fragile by trying to eliminate all risks, stressors and randomness. This deprives antifragile systems of the factors that allow them to
Business Process Excellence: Building Out Business Process CapabilitiesCentric Consulting
In this presentation, we explore whether the business process improvement capability is best built from the bottom up (a “grassroots” effort) or built via a separate, dedicated function that is governed and managed centrally.
Introduction to Enterprise architecture and the steps to perform an Enterpris...Prashanth Panduranga
The document provides an overview of enterprise architecture presented by Prashanth B P Panduranga, Director of Technology. Some key points include:
- Line of business workers and IT staff increasingly use unauthorized SaaS apps
- IT suppliers are targeting business users directly and line of business heads demand higher project velocity
- An enterprise architecture framework provides structures for developing architectures using common standards and building blocks
- Enterprise architecture applies principles and practices to guide business, information, process, and technology changes to execute organizational strategy
On Wednesday 18th November 2015, Craig Martin presented a paper titled 'Looking for Disruptive Business Models in Higher Education' to the CAUDIT EA Symposium hosted at Monash University in Melbourne.
Craig discussed how to bring design thinking into enterprise architecture. The presentation covers the techniques of Business and Enterprise Design to develop innovative potential business models for Higher Education and various techniques to tap into the organisation, community and customers to build the Education businesses of the future.
For more information on Business Architecture and Design Thinking professional development, contact training@enterprisearchitects.com
ITIL SIAM - Service Integration and Management ModelPeteFeehan
This document provides an example model for effective Service Integration and Management (SIAM) based on a model that has been used in the UK public sector since 2003. The model breaks SIAM down into components such as SIAM design, service catalogue and portfolio management, toolset integration, and multi-supplier coordination. It describes each component and the processes involved. The goal of the model is to provide a single point of visibility and control for IT services delivered by multiple suppliers through coordination, integration, assurance of suppliers' performance, and ensuring services meet business needs. Adopting this model requires changes to how the business, suppliers, and SIAM provider work.
1) Change management provides a structured process and tools to lead people through change to achieve desired outcomes. It allows organizations to quickly implement changes to meet market needs.
2) There are various types of resistance to change, from those who are openly resistant to undercover resistors. Principles of change management include sponsorship, planning, measurement and engagement.
3) Implementing change involves defining the process, receiving requests, planning changes, implementing and monitoring, evaluating results, and modifying the plan if needed. Responsibility for change falls on all levels from envisioning it to celebrating results.
Business architecture is a business driven disciplined process that decomposes the enterprise business goals and strategies, the assets and processes required to execute them as well as identify their impact on business goals. Business architecture provides a blueprint of the enterprise that provides a common understanding of the organisation and is used to align strategic objectives and tactical demands.
It is well known that an effective PMO is key to successful and efficient program and project execution. In other words, doing things “right”. Enterprise Architecture is the discipline that plans and monitors enterprise transformation and aligns the business strategy with information technology capabilities. In other words, doing the “right things” to support the business.
Why is it organizations despite having both of these disciplines still struggle with effective enterprise transformation? What can we done to use these disciplines more effectively to effect better business outcomes? What are the roles of each discipline and how do they work together to create business value?
In this presentation, Riaz will address these questions and will provide real life examples that can help build a strong relationship between the PMO and Enterprise Architecture.
Learning Objectives:
• How to build a strong relationship between the PMO and Enterprise Architecture (EA) to deliver positive outcomes for your organization
• Identify the different roles and functions of the PMO and EA as well as their similarities
How to Articulate the Value of Enterprise Architecturecccamericas
Ever struggled with the question, What is the Value of Enterprise Architecture? In this facilitated conversation, Michael Fulton will share his perspective on Enterprise Architecture and the value it provides to the CIO, to IT, and to the business.
Come ready to engage, because in the conversation we will discuss:
•The EA 7-year itch
•Several External Perspectives on EA Value
•The CC&C perspective on a simplified approach to EA Value
•Ensuring your perspective on EA Value is relevant for your stakeholders
At the end of this conversation, you should walk away with:
•A new perspective on the value of EA
•Tips and tricks on how to articulate and quantify EA Value for your key stakeholders.
Are you a measured-manage organisation? Let's self-scan.
Do you have agreed-upon measures?
Do you have a financial and non-financial balance?
Do you link strategy and operations?
Do you update scorecards regularly?
Do you have effective communications?
The sixth edition (August 2020) of the Enterprise Architecture Professional Journal. This edition features a whitepaper by Keith Youens and Bard Papegaaij on the acceleration of change in businesses, and the impact that Covid-19 is having on that acceleration.
Other features include:
- Founders Note, focusing on EA Tools and how they can continue to provide value.
- Upcoming EA Events and Training.
This document summarizes an issue of the Enterprise Architecture Professional Journal from October 2016. It includes articles on design thinking and enterprise transformation, simplifying enterprise architecture, and adapting enterprise architecture practices to meet digital disruption challenges. The issue focuses on how design thinking concepts can be applied as part of an enterprise architecture function to help organizations innovate and transform. It also discusses the need for enterprise architecture to focus on core concepts and the essential architecture of an organization in order to effectively help with business transformation.
Capability models have a long history. They came out of business schools in the 50ies. In recent years the enterprise- and business architecture communities seem to have taken over, making capabilities more an IT rather than a business modeling concept. Most capability models we've seen fail to achieve their original purpose: to enable business people to design better enterprises - ones that are fit for purpose, efficient, adaptive to change and satisfy customers.
In this webinar, Wolfgang Goebl explains the typical flaws of capability models and design patterns for next-generation capability modeling. You will learn:
practical patterns to create capability maps that foster a seamless business & IT co-design
why most capability modeling efforts fail and how to overcome the usual problems
how to connect other elements of the architecture with capabilities - how to run a broad elicitation process with all relevant stakeholders
how to use capability maps in corporate management
Building a more cohesive organisation using business architectureCraig Martin
In shifting the focus away from enterprise architecture being seen purely as an IT discipline, organizations are beginning to formalise the development of business architecture practices and business architecture outcomes.
The OpenGroup has made the differentiation between business, IT and enterprise architects through their various working groups and certification tracks.
However, industry at present is grappling to try and understand where the discipline of business architecture resides in the business and what value it can provide separate of the traditional project based business analysis focus.
This presentation will take the audience through an overview of some of the critical questions being asked by business and how these are addressed through the discipline of business architecture.
Using both method as well as case study examples, I will show the audience an approach to building more cohesion across the business landscape using business architecture techniques and artefacts.
The presentation will focus on using business motivation models, strategic scenario planning and capability based planning techniques to provide input into the strategic planning process.
It will also highlight some of the outputs through examples from engagements.
Don't be scared, level zero in a capability map is just a way to structure the map so that we have a consistent way of communicating. It's really not that important if all you wish todo is create an excellent set of capabilities for your business. However if you are intent on changing the foundation of your business then level zero is absolutely imperative to get right. Capabilities and capability maps are not organization structures, they do however serve as a powerful instrument when one need to create an organization architecture, in fact they are best thought of as organizing structures.
Leadership In The Digital Transformation EraGoKart Labs
The document discusses the challenges of digital transformation for businesses. It notes that we have entered an "Age of the Customer" where adaptability and speed are key. Mass extinctions of companies are occurring as 50% of Fortune 500 companies since 2000 have been acquired, merged or declared bankruptcy due to an inability to adapt to digital transformation. True adaptation is difficult for businesses and requires investment in technology, structure, culture, talent and metrics. However, the main problem is not willingness to invest, but rather overcoming human resistance to change through challenging limiting beliefs. The document recommends using the "Three Box Solution" approach of having separate teams focus on forgetting the past through innovation (Box 2), building the future (Box 3), and protecting the
How to make strategy work in a complex and unpredictable world. In its essence, strategy is simple. It is about answering two fundamental and interrelated questions: where to play and how to win.
Almost 200 Scandinavian top managers, managers and strategists participated in an intensive day at Implement Consulting Group focusing on how to develop a winning strategy in a world that is increasingly unpredictable.
Strategist and author of the bestseller Playing to Win, Roger Martin was challeging the typical strategy processes where we try to control the risk and uncertainty through elaborate and detailed planning. In his opinion these processes often seem to end up being long-winded, abstract and complex. Sometimes even without any clear choices being made.
Transform Your Application Portfolio - and Keep Your Focus!Software AG
The document discusses managing and transforming application portfolios to support business growth. It emphasizes that application portfolio management (APM) is an ongoing process, not just managing, and should lead to activities that transform the portfolio. APM requires creating transparency about the existing portfolio, defining appropriate metrics, and using insights to drive changes like deciding applications' fates and creating IT modernization roadmaps. Software AG's enterprise architecture solution can help with the entire APM process.
Digital Transformation Toolkit - Overview and ApproachPeterFranz6
The document provides an overview of a 6-phase approach to digital transformation along with frameworks, tools, templates, tutorials and best practices. The 6 phases include: (1) carrying out a business case for change and setting up the digital transformation, (2) defining the digital transformation strategy, (3) carrying out detailed business cases and financial models for projects, (4) implementing, tracking and managing progress, (5) defining and implementing a change management strategy and plan, and (6) defining and implementing a communication strategy and plan. The toolkit is intended to help organizations undertake a successful digital transformation with support from management consultants in a more affordable way than solely relying on tier 1 consulting firms.
Re-Positioning the value of the architecture practiceCraig Martin
This document discusses challenges facing enterprise architecture practices and opportunities to reposition their value. It notes a gap emerging between the utility and differentiation aspects of business as unique offerings become commonplace. Additionally, there is often unclear ownership around enterprise cohesion and an undefined business architecture mandate. The document argues that properly aligning strategic, business, and IT architecture disciplines can help address these issues and improve business performance.
This document provides an overview and summary of key ideas from Nassim Nicholas Taleb's book "Antifragile". Some of the main points discussed include:
- The book introduces the concept of antifragility, which is the opposite of fragility. Systems or things that are antifragile benefit from disorder, stressors, volatility and randomness.
- Examples of antifragile systems given include stress and weightlifting making muscles stronger, exposure to small errors and mistakes enhancing learning and progress.
- The author argues modern society has become too fragile by trying to eliminate all risks, stressors and randomness. This deprives antifragile systems of the factors that allow them to
Business Process Excellence: Building Out Business Process CapabilitiesCentric Consulting
In this presentation, we explore whether the business process improvement capability is best built from the bottom up (a “grassroots” effort) or built via a separate, dedicated function that is governed and managed centrally.
Introduction to Enterprise architecture and the steps to perform an Enterpris...Prashanth Panduranga
The document provides an overview of enterprise architecture presented by Prashanth B P Panduranga, Director of Technology. Some key points include:
- Line of business workers and IT staff increasingly use unauthorized SaaS apps
- IT suppliers are targeting business users directly and line of business heads demand higher project velocity
- An enterprise architecture framework provides structures for developing architectures using common standards and building blocks
- Enterprise architecture applies principles and practices to guide business, information, process, and technology changes to execute organizational strategy
On Wednesday 18th November 2015, Craig Martin presented a paper titled 'Looking for Disruptive Business Models in Higher Education' to the CAUDIT EA Symposium hosted at Monash University in Melbourne.
Craig discussed how to bring design thinking into enterprise architecture. The presentation covers the techniques of Business and Enterprise Design to develop innovative potential business models for Higher Education and various techniques to tap into the organisation, community and customers to build the Education businesses of the future.
For more information on Business Architecture and Design Thinking professional development, contact training@enterprisearchitects.com
ITIL SIAM - Service Integration and Management ModelPeteFeehan
This document provides an example model for effective Service Integration and Management (SIAM) based on a model that has been used in the UK public sector since 2003. The model breaks SIAM down into components such as SIAM design, service catalogue and portfolio management, toolset integration, and multi-supplier coordination. It describes each component and the processes involved. The goal of the model is to provide a single point of visibility and control for IT services delivered by multiple suppliers through coordination, integration, assurance of suppliers' performance, and ensuring services meet business needs. Adopting this model requires changes to how the business, suppliers, and SIAM provider work.
1) Change management provides a structured process and tools to lead people through change to achieve desired outcomes. It allows organizations to quickly implement changes to meet market needs.
2) There are various types of resistance to change, from those who are openly resistant to undercover resistors. Principles of change management include sponsorship, planning, measurement and engagement.
3) Implementing change involves defining the process, receiving requests, planning changes, implementing and monitoring, evaluating results, and modifying the plan if needed. Responsibility for change falls on all levels from envisioning it to celebrating results.
Business architecture is a business driven disciplined process that decomposes the enterprise business goals and strategies, the assets and processes required to execute them as well as identify their impact on business goals. Business architecture provides a blueprint of the enterprise that provides a common understanding of the organisation and is used to align strategic objectives and tactical demands.
It is well known that an effective PMO is key to successful and efficient program and project execution. In other words, doing things “right”. Enterprise Architecture is the discipline that plans and monitors enterprise transformation and aligns the business strategy with information technology capabilities. In other words, doing the “right things” to support the business.
Why is it organizations despite having both of these disciplines still struggle with effective enterprise transformation? What can we done to use these disciplines more effectively to effect better business outcomes? What are the roles of each discipline and how do they work together to create business value?
In this presentation, Riaz will address these questions and will provide real life examples that can help build a strong relationship between the PMO and Enterprise Architecture.
Learning Objectives:
• How to build a strong relationship between the PMO and Enterprise Architecture (EA) to deliver positive outcomes for your organization
• Identify the different roles and functions of the PMO and EA as well as their similarities
How to Articulate the Value of Enterprise Architecturecccamericas
Ever struggled with the question, What is the Value of Enterprise Architecture? In this facilitated conversation, Michael Fulton will share his perspective on Enterprise Architecture and the value it provides to the CIO, to IT, and to the business.
Come ready to engage, because in the conversation we will discuss:
•The EA 7-year itch
•Several External Perspectives on EA Value
•The CC&C perspective on a simplified approach to EA Value
•Ensuring your perspective on EA Value is relevant for your stakeholders
At the end of this conversation, you should walk away with:
•A new perspective on the value of EA
•Tips and tricks on how to articulate and quantify EA Value for your key stakeholders.
Are you a measured-manage organisation? Let's self-scan.
Do you have agreed-upon measures?
Do you have a financial and non-financial balance?
Do you link strategy and operations?
Do you update scorecards regularly?
Do you have effective communications?
The sixth edition (August 2020) of the Enterprise Architecture Professional Journal. This edition features a whitepaper by Keith Youens and Bard Papegaaij on the acceleration of change in businesses, and the impact that Covid-19 is having on that acceleration.
Other features include:
- Founders Note, focusing on EA Tools and how they can continue to provide value.
- Upcoming EA Events and Training.
This document summarizes an issue of the Enterprise Architecture Professional Journal from October 2016. It includes articles on design thinking and enterprise transformation, simplifying enterprise architecture, and adapting enterprise architecture practices to meet digital disruption challenges. The issue focuses on how design thinking concepts can be applied as part of an enterprise architecture function to help organizations innovate and transform. It also discusses the need for enterprise architecture to focus on core concepts and the essential architecture of an organization in order to effectively help with business transformation.
Enterprise architecture provides four main values: 1) It secures alignment between IT and business strategies by using a common language of business processes. 2) It supports long-term transformation by providing a map to ensure steps go in the right direction towards shared goals. 3) It identifies optimization opportunities by providing indicators on process costs and complexity. 4) It supports business continuity by documenting key IT assets so the business does not lose them if experts leave.
This article discusses how enterprise architecture can better support business outcomes by taking a data-driven approach. It emphasizes understanding stakeholder needs, focusing on future state and desired outcomes over exhaustive current state modeling, and ensuring architecture data is easily accessible and tailored to different audiences. The rise of digital business, IoT, and APIs means data may no longer be fully controlled internally, so enterprise architects and data managers must work closely together to coordinate data modeling efforts and address issues like data quality, security, and packaging data into new digital products. Socializing architecture efforts across IT groups can increase adoption of architecture as a decision-making tool.
Building An Information Technology And Information SystemsNicole Savoie
Enterprise Systems Architecture Of An Organization
Enterprise Systems Architecture (ESA) is the overall IT architecture of an organization that manages and evolves business operations. It consists of individual system architectures and their relationships. ESA provides guidelines for implementation and makes people
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Enterprise architecture has a critical role in driving business success. But enterprise architects often find that they must create a better understanding for IT and business leaders of the function’s place in strategic planning, application rationalization, and business/IT alignment.
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The document discusses the importance of enterprise architects acting as innovators and integrators by learning to combine business practices, business services, and information technology. It provides perspectives on the business, application, information, and technology aspects of enterprise architecture. While enterprise architecture implementations can be costly, analysts argue that a steady approach remains important, and that an enterprise architecture is necessary rather than a luxury to help businesses streamline processes and stay competitive during tough economic times.
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In the current data-driven economy, in which analytics and software have become the main factors in business, executives must reconsider the hierarchies and silos that fueled the business in the past. There is no longer a need for "technology people" who work independently of "data people" who work in isolation from "sales" people or from "finance." Instead, they need to manage organizations where every employee is embraced by technology and data as integral to their work.
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Here's how:
from Software and the Business to Software is the Business
When Cargill began to put IoT sensors in shrimp ponds, Chief Information Officer Justin Kershaw realised that the $130 billion agriculture business was evolving into a digital enterprise. To determine the point at which IT should stop and where IoT technology engineering needs to begin, Kershaw did not call CIOs from other food and agricultural companies to discuss their experiences. He contacted the CIOs of SAP and Microsoft as well as various other companies that use software. He was thinking about reimagining the world's biggest agricultural business as a software business.
Modern Delivery
Moving software from a supporting role to leading position is the why is the issue, then modern delivery is the way to do it. Modern delivery involves an approach to product (rather as project) management rapid development and small teams of cross-functional experts which co-create, as well as continuous integration and delivery, all with a brand new financial model that supports "value" not "projects."
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The Democratisation of IT
If you gift someone an uncooked fish, they can take a bite for a few hours.
Gartner's top 10 strategic technology trends for 2013 could have major impacts over the next three years. The trends reflect increasing impacts of mobile, social, cloud and information technologies. The trends include 1) mobile devices and apps, 2) personal cloud, 3) the internet of things, 4) hybrid IT and cloud computing, 5) strategic big data, 6) actionable analytics, 7) mainstream in-memory computing, 8) integrated ecosystems, 9) enterprise app stores, and 10) cloud computing and hybrid IT driving future IT models. Adopting these trends presents both opportunities and challenges for organizations.
Managing digital transformation of smart cities through enterprise architecture is a process that involves planning, implementing, and maintaining a new IT infrastructure. It includes designing and building a new system as well as migrating existing systems to the new platform. Using an enterprise architecture framework helps architects focus on architecture rather than developing their own processes. Frameworks like OEAF can increase returns through improved strategy deployment, efficient resource reuse, and using technology for new strategies. Enterprise architecture promotes adapting to changing needs and technologies to maximize IT's potential to create smarter cities.
10 Best Leaders of the AI Age, shaping a New Technological Era - 2024.pdfCIO Look Magazine
Yuki Saito is emerging as an excellent leader in his role as a Technical Evangelist at NTT DATA, navigating the complex realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with his steadfast expertise. NTT DATA is a globally present organization with 195,000 employees in over 50 countries and regions.
This document provides an overview of the Deloitte report "Tech Trends 2018: The symphonic enterprise". It discusses how leading organizations are reengineering their technology delivery models with a two-pronged approach - modernizing infrastructure from the bottom up and transforming how technology is delivered from the top down. When technologies like blockchain, cognitive, and digital reality work together harmoniously across boundaries, it allows companies to drive greater value through new business opportunities and problem solving approaches.
This document provides 6 tips for enterprise architects:
1. Create a common requirements vision to define business priorities and IT requirements.
2. Thoroughly evaluate current business and IT environments, including application portfolios and software licensing.
3. Conduct a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to improve IT.
4. Select the best enterprise architecture tools that meet minimum requirements and support a variety of needs.
5. Avoid data element bloat and redundancy by modeling data holistically and defining a data repository.
6. Architect for cloud computing as it will fundamentally change IT infrastructure and enable new business models.
Are you exploring the best way for your business to save expenses, enhance margin, or reinvest in the coming years? Check out the top technological advancements in business that are beneficial for business expansion and that result in a technology roadmap that has an impact on a number of the organization's strategic goals.
For more information, see: https://www.albiorixtech.com/blog/technology-trends-in-business/
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This document discusses the evolution of enterprise architecture (EA) towards an "actionable architecture" that provides essential information to stakeholders to improve decision making. It describes how EA can capture and disseminate IT and business process information throughout an organization to give decision makers the right information at the right time. An actionable architecture takes EA and transforms it into a communication platform that bridges IT and business, enabling organizations to move from analysis to action based on facts stored in a central repository.
Sap hana-enterprise-cloud--bringing-the-revolution-to-your-organizationPravin Sonawane
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1. ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE
PROFESSIONAL JOURNAL
JULY 2023
IN THIS ISSUE
Editor’s Welcome
by Darryl Carr, EAPJ Editor
Page 2
Founder’s Note
by Dr. Steve Else, EAPJ Founder
Page 3
Feature Article
Enterprise Architecture in the Digital Age
by Paul Taylor, PhD & Inji Wijegunaratne, PhD
Page 5
Feature Article
The Evolution of Business Architecture and the Opportunity for
Enterprise Architecture
by Whynde Kuehn
Page 18
Call for Submissions
Page 29
3. EAP Journal July 2023
3
FOUNDER’S NOTE
by Dr. Steve Else, EAPJ Founder
Recent Gartner Events from an Enterprise Architecture Perspective
EAPJ had the great opportunity to cover 5 cutting-edge, post-Pandemic, live conferences so
far this year. The purpose of this article is to briefly highlight the individual ones and to put
the whole series into perspective in terms of the overall state of affairs with such events for
professionals in the respective lines of business and IT.
The five events, in order of occurrence, were:
• Supply Chain Symposium
• CSO & Sales Leader Conference
• Application Innovation and Business Solutions Summit
• Security & Risk Management Summit
• Tech Growth and Innovation Summit
Gartner produces highly polished events in all aspects, from initial registration to the final
hurrah, with delegates having the event proceedings and some continued access, post
event, to the videos of most of the Gartner sessions (as distinguished from vendor sessions).
The venues, ambiance, and overall event management has always been impressive (having
covered such events for over 20 years), but the ones last year and this one have unveiled a
major new enhancement of the conference experience for all involved: this is the plethora
of support personnel taking positions all over the huge conference footprint to provide
instant and cheerful directions – it is as if the information desk cloned itself a hundred times
over to provide guidance even on the edge of the event venue. The environment and
vibrancy of these events has led me to coin the phrase “Gartnerland” in an attempt to
capture the overall experience, although it is a lot more than just entertainment.
It is easy to extrapolate from the titles of the above events who the target audiences are for
each. From an Enterprise Architecture (EAs) perspective, no EAs have been targeted for any
of these, nor for even the largest Gartner event yearly, The Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo. In
addition, there is no longer an EA Summit, the last one being held in 2019 after several years
in a row. Here is the list of targeted audiences for the IT Symposium/Xpo:
• CIOs
• CISOs
• Chief data officers and chief analytics officers
• Senior application leaders
• VPs of IT infrastructure and operations
4. EAP Journal July 2023
4
From about 2005 until 2018, there were always EA vendors in the exhibit hall for the
Gartner ITxpo, but you would be hard pressed to find one in 2023.
So what does the above signify vis-à-vis Gartner events and EA? Despite the central role
mature EA could and should play in all the topic areas of the Gartner events, it is almost
assumed that it remains a nebulous topic and one with too small of a target audience for
Gartner to invest event resources in. As important of a role that EA could play in Digital
Transformation, it is almost assumed that there are too few viable EA practices for Gartner
to even cater too.
Nonetheless, EAPJ believes that there is an increasing role for AI-enabled EA to play across
all the topic areas that Gartner highlights in its global events. But more success stories
linked to EA’s role and value will be needed to turn the tide.
With that in mind, we have some great material in this edition of the Journal. We hope you
enjoy it.
Dr. Steve Else
Founder, Enterprise Architecture Professional Journal.
5. EAP Journal July 2023
5
FEATURE ARTICLE
Enterprise Architecture in the Digital Age
Paul Raymond Taylor, PhD. paul.taylor@alumni.unimelb.edu.au
Inji Wijegunaratne, PhD. injiwije@gmail.com
Introduction
The discipline of Enterprise Architecture (EA) emerged in the mid nineteen eighties as a
means of controlling runaway technology complexity. In subsequent decades the industries
and ‘enterprises’ that EA benefitted evolved under the relentless forces of change. Over
this period, EA has consistently risen to new challenges. When the e-commerce movement
of the 1990s drove an insatiable demand for online services and self-service, EA provided
the framework to ensure legacy system re-architecting did not sacrifice security, reliability,
and data integrity as a result of opening up previously vaulted core systems. As global
public cloud services stabilised and progressively subsumed the enterprise’s most business-
critical IT services, including Financials, Enterprise Resource Planning, Supply Chain and
Human Capital Management, EA contributed the technology risk management and
transition approaches to structure this substantial change. When the mass-production of
wireless-capable microcontrollers allowed the embedding of these smart devices as signal
processors and data loggers into supply chains and every consumer device imaginable, EA
offered proven enterprise-level patterns of connectivity and secure data movement to scale
to unprecedented volumes and speeds. In these and many other cases EA has held firm as
the preferred paradigm for the safe management of business technology complexity,
adoption and change.
EA, however, has not kept pace to the same degree with the shifts brought about over the
past two decades by the hugely significant amalgam of technological, business, societal and
cultural changes broadly called ‘the digital revolution’. Today, it is difficult to think of an
aspect of business, social or community life that has not been at least touched by, if not
radically transformed by ‘digital’ reinvention.
EA was conceived in an earlier historical period in which technology was one of many assets
acquired and operated to improve administration, service delivery and operations.
Moreover, the pace of change was relatively slow. By stark contrast, digital age technology
provides the foundations for entirely new business models, redefines the foundations of
established ones, and as will be argued, goes further to define entirely new services that can
only make sense in the digital realm (examples from crowdsourcing to cryptocurrencies are
plentiful and will be discussed later). New and revolutionary technologies enable rapid
6. EAP Journal July 2023
6
delivery of new abilities and services, facilitating the speed and agility required of many
enterprises to compete in an increasingly competitive economic milieu. In this time, no EA
‘digital age’ successor du jour has emerged, and it is still possible that traditional EA
approaches, unchanged or unable to be incorporated into new digital models, will be
rendered irrelevant. By way of illustration, it would be revealing to ask whether Google,
Facebook and Amazon use and value established EA frameworks – Zachman, DoDAF (US
Department of Defence Architecture Framework), or The Open Group Architectural
Framework (TOGAF). Or whether they prefer to employ TOGAF-certified EAs. If there are
any incongruities in these questions, any hints of cultures clashing, then we should
understand what is going on, why traditional EA might not offer much to these ecosystem
cloud giants, and what EA must do to adapt. EA may well be on the ‘digital age’ outer,
looking in.
The challenge for EA hinges on relevance, to demonstrate adaptation once again – an ability
to morph into new forms that serve enterprises to manage the multitude of forces arising
from digitisation, as well as minding the economic health of pre-digital enterprises
architected during and operating in the preceding pre-digital period. To further explore this
challenge, a few definitions are required.
‘Digital enterprise’
The task of assessing EA’s role in today’s ‘digital enterprise’ will be made easier with a
working definition. Terms including digital, digitized, digitalisation and digital
transformation are used frequently without definition, and in combination with the breadth
of human endeavours covered by the term ‘enterprise’, the discourse can be left confused
and ambiguous, risking a descent into opinions and argument.
7. EAP Journal July 2023
7
Let’s start with ‘digital enterprise’
which refers to a type of
enterprise. The term is not
meant to signify only that an
enterprise uses digital
technology. Today, digital
technologies are assumed to be
everywhere and to be
underpinning everything, the
equivalent fabric and
infrastructure to organisations as
water, power and networks are
to houses, cities and regions. It is
therefore the nature of the
enterprise’s products and
services, value streams and operating models that are of relevance in this context.
A more useful approach is to consider the elements of the enterprise to which the term
‘digital’ applies. A business that makes, moves and/or sells a physical product (let’s say
books) that adopts online ordering may be described as moving to digital delivery. If the
product is in electronic form (an e-book), the organisation could be seen as being ‘more
digital’ than the traditional bookseller. If the owner closes the high street shop to
concentrate on their online sales, it becomes a ‘virtual’ business regardless of the product’s
form. This is just a single case in point. In broad terms, most established businesses, from
product and service companies to governments are in this category, which may be called
‘transitioning’ to digital. They carry in many cases huge legacy assets and business process
inertia which staunchly resist transformation, and so they digitize at the extremities, often
with clumsy hand-offs to old-school practices and ‘human APIs’. Their digital journey may
never be fully realised, but benefit nonetheless from features such as online transactions,
straight through processing, and self-service. Like a wrinkly caterpillar, they have begun
their irresistible digital transformation journey that promises to re-birth them as a digital
age butterfly. Not all end up looking beautiful.
The bookseller who closes their shop and adopts ‘drop-shipping’ fulfilment (a third party
holds the stock and ships directly to the customer on their behalf) transitions to a more fully
digital operating model, in which the only human presence needed is to ensure smooth
operation and take the profits. And if the products being sold are digital, such as images,
movies or audio, additional benefits arise (fulfilment is a button click rather than a
shipment, for example). These kinds of enterprises typically digitize a long-standing physical
asset provisioning and management service. Examples include printing, and the
Figure 1'Digital enterprise' types.
8. EAP Journal July 2023
8
virtualisation of physical servers in data centre racks. The business model and service
remain unchanged, but the fulfilment replaces physical things and human effort with digital
end-to-end processes. These enterprises may be thought of as ‘natively digital’ because
they are fully digital end-to-end but continue to operate in a market of tangible goods and
services — transport, supply chain, retail, bookings, and service mediation.
A fascinating subset of digital products are those that have emerged directly because of
digital technologies. Examples include Non-Fungible Token marketplaces and
cryptocurrency exchanges. These products have no close predecessors in the tangible world
and the associated marketplaces have no history to moderate expectations. They are cases
of technologies literally creating new business opportunities arising from technology
breakthroughs, or combinations thereof, and the new global digital cloud platforms. Such
enterprises may be termed ‘pure digital’.
Figure 2 Three types of 'digital enterprise’ on a continuum from ‘digital at the edges’ to ‘digital throughout’.
Commonly used economic classifications of the inputs and outputs of production is a useful
way of summarising the distinction between these types of digital enterprise (Figure 2).
Fuller description of the economic implications of these digital models is beyond the scope
of this piece, but the comparison serves to illustrate another dimension of the digital impact
on organisations and markets.
Digital business and operating model distinctions
The discussion to this point has prioritised digital’s impact on business operations as
opposed to technology platforms and services. There are two trends to consider as a
prelude to discussing business and operating models. First, as the enterprise moves from
‘transitioning’ to digital, more and more of its core functions are provisioned via digital
technologies, and hence business operations rely more and more on the underpinning
digital platform or platforms. Over time, the enterprise’s value proposition and its business
9. EAP Journal July 2023
9
and operating models increasingly become reliant on technology, moving these concerns
into the province of the enterprise architect.
Second, organisations are progressively taking up cloud-based technology platforms for
core-business hosting and application services, along with added value business services. In
sum, the move to cloud is taking away a portion of traditional EA’s scope. What’s left are
the business layer elements, typically EA models and views focussed on depicting business
capabilities, business models and operating models. Representation of business models is
popularly done using the Business Model Canvas1 amongst some other options, supported
by the Value Proposition Canvas2. Business motivation models, capabilities, value streams,
services and other business layer concept are served by most existing EA frameworks and
methods.
Business models and operating models are not the same. An enterprise’s business model
defines the ‘what’ — those things the enterprise does to deliver value to customers,
delivered as products or services. An operating model on the other hand defines the ‘how’
— the ways in which the enterprise functions to implement its business model. The two
come together in value chains, the sequences of activities that transform assets, products,
data, or intellectual property into an offering to a customer base for which value is agreed
and will be paid for.
For a given business model there may be many possible operating models, as demonstrated
by organisational transformation, in which the old operating model is wholly or partially
replaced with a more digitally transformed one while preserving or enhancing the
enterprise’s value through its products and services to its customers. The operating model
is concerned with how the supply chain operates, how customer relations are maintained,
new products and services are designed and priced, how fulfillment is done, revenue is
collected, and how costs are contained, amongst other things — the key activities that allow
the business to operate. Representing an enterprise’s operating model has not always been
considered a core EA responsibility, but ‘digital’ changes this because of the enterprise’s
increased reliance on digital technology for many aspects of operations.
1
Osterwalder, Alexander, and Yves Pigneur. Business Model Generation. John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
2
Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Papadakos, P., Bernarda, G., Papadakos, T., & Smith, A. (2014). Value proposition
design. John Wiley & Sons.
10. EAP Journal July 2023
10
Figure 3 Operating model representations (Operating Model Canvas, Open Group’s IT4IT Reference Architecture).
The Operating Model Canvas3 is a table-top graphical aide for representing and simplifying
an enterprise’s operations, in terms of the organisation, information, suppliers, locations,
and value delivery chains (value streams). It can be readily used to draw up any of an
enterprise’s potentially multiple business model implementations. A more engineering-
oriented example of an operating model is the IT4IT Reference Architecture from The Open
Group4, which provides a ‘best practice’ digital design, development and operating
framework, structured around four foundational value streams (Strategy to Portfolio,
Requirement to Deploy, Request to Fulfill, Detect to Correct), and complete with master
process and data entities. These two models provide a useful step-up for EA when faced
with digital enterprise questions, although there is still limited evidence of the application of
such approaches in EA’s mainstream, and the nuts and bolts of how these tools work in EA
practice is far from settled. Given this characterisation of digital enterprises, we can now
examine the value of enterprise architecture practice.
EA and a traditional service enterprise (Health Insurer, ‘transitioning’)
Established service enterprises such as a health insurer are long-time beneficiaries of EA’s
ICT planning and technology management capabilities. Perhaps surprisingly, some of these
businesses continue to operate on a foundation of century-old insurance brands, legacy
process and data processing. Business changes are relatively infrequent and are mostly
dictated by government regulation and public health market shifts, as well as rare public
health shocks (such as a pandemic) or economic crises. Operating model redesign at a
whole-of-enterprise level is uncommon.
Transitioning enterprises adopt ‘digital’ incrementally by using a continual process of IT
project delivery under some form of ICT portfolio management, with a focus on upgrading
and replacing aged IT assets and on improving or refining operations. Many essential
3
Andrew Campbell, Mikel Gutierrez and Mark Lancelott. Operating Model Canvas. Van Haren Publishing,
2017.
4
Open Group IT4IT™ Reference Architecture, Version 2.1. https://pubs.opengroup.org/it4it/refarch21/
11. EAP Journal July 2023
11
business relationship functions such as the recruitment of partner Hospitals, Medical
Specialists (doctors) and Allied Health Professionals are done by partner agencies with a
significant residual manual component, as these arrangements do not change often. The
supply chain of Specialist Appointments, Hospital Surgical Lists, and Allied Health
appointments are handled by health services with payment integration to national insurers
(Medicare in Australia) and private insurer gateways. Fulfilment consists of claims and
settlements following surgical or allied health procedures performed by participating
clinicians.
Most health insurers are early in their ‘transitioning’ to digital journey, starting at key
customer touchpoints such as online marketing, applications and intake, forms and
workflows for quotes, premium payments and claims, and customer portals to offload
telephone and face to face customer service. Incremental digital adoption delivers
correspondingly incremental benefits commensurate with the minimal disruption or
disturbance to the operating model. In the worst cases, inefficient manual processes are
digitized without any thought to reconsidering the value stream or redesigning the business
process. In the old world of ‘transitioning’ businesses, EA continues to play the role it has
done for decades — and while it stays put, its impact will erode under the inevitable
imperialization of ‘digital’.
EA and a global mediator platform (Uber, ‘Native’)
Uber is an oft-quoted and case-studied enterprise that re-shaped people and food transport
across the world in a matter of a few short years. The operating model breakthrough
hinged on running a taxi service without owning a single vehicle or license plate, and the
design of a closed platform to control all aspects of the operation. What is not seen is the
numerous lawsuits and extensive political lobbying (claimed interference by some) amongst
national governments to create legislative space for an alternative crowdsourced transport
service alongside existing taxi services — the fuller Uber story is told in numerous places5.
Uber is a ‘natively digital’ enterprise, one that was conceived and operationalised with an
operating model that fundamentally relied upon mature and digital technologies, including
cloud, apps, and pervasive mobile devices. Despite that fact that Uber’s core business has
existed for centuries — the physical transport of people and goods using standard vehicles
and ‘loosely engaged’ labour — Uber’s operating model is so deeply dependent on a bundle
of now ubiquitous technology capabilities that it could not have existed even ten years ago.
The efficiency of the digital operating model, and the formerly unachievable levels of
control and compliance of the entire operation within a national jurisdiction was
5
Australia a test case in Uber’s bold global push, Jane Wardell, 5 Oct 2015, Reuters,
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-global-australia-idUSKCN0RZ0A920151005
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unprecedented. Uber’s software app and platform services allows the company to change
and optimise any and every business rule, schedule, incentive and the terms and conditions
for employees and riders more or less instantaneously, allowing for in-the-moment system
tuning based on customer demand, supply of drivers, traffic and business density, events
and competition. As such, it is an exemplar of the digital operating model. Its adaptability
was further demonstrated during the early days and weeks of COVID-19 lockdowns around
the Western world which saw a dramatic fall in people movement during numerous ‘snap
lockdowns’. As people traffic plummeted, Uber flexed to food deliveries from restaurants
operating under COVID restrictions to households, supported by the company’s lobbying of
governments to allow the rideshare services to continue to operate.
The enterprise architecture of Uber, and other similarly ‘digital native’ businesses, may be
described as a crowdsourced platform operating model. The breakthrough in Uber’s
conception was the realisation that citizen drivers could be incentivised into driving their
own cars, thereby side-stepping asset ownership, asset depreciation, running costs,
insurance, and wear and tear, a step that previously would have been considered
unthinkable in a conventional transport operating model. The ultra-convenience provided
to consumers by the Uber app, which served up vision of the nearby cars including the
ability to see your driver as they approached, delivered a huge leap over existing taxi call
apps and services at the time, and further gave the whole enterprise a cool factor with
consumers that caught the old guard unaware and unable to respond.
Uber is just one of recent history’s pre-eminent crowdsourcers. Uber is the world's largest
taxi company that owns no vehicles. Facebook is the world's largest media company which
creates no content. Alibaba, one of the world’s largest retailers, holds no inventory. And
AirBnB, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Each of these
companies has had an irreversible and often destructive impact on the established industry
or sector it disrupted. Each is an equally valid case study of a ‘digitally native’ enterprise, for
which the value of enterprise architecture sits largely in the initial conceptualisation of the
business model and the design of the digital operating model to match. These businesses
have extended the reach of crowd sourcing from funding to novel areas of business
operation. In the world of ‘natively digital’ businesses, traditional EA is on new territory.
EA and a new economy platform (NFT exchange, ‘pure’)
The discussion of enterprise types is not complete without reference to a subset of the
‘digital natives’ — those enterprises that employ fully digital operating models end-to-end,
and in addition, operate with a product or service that is in and of itself digital. These ‘pure
digital’ enterprises trade in commodities of the digital age, such as cryptocurrencies and
Non-Fungible Tokens. In all cases, the product is a comparatively recent digital invention
and depends fundamentally on digital advances for its existence. In a ‘pure digital’
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enterprise the operating model is fully digital and can operate without human intervention
other than to monitor, tune, correct from exceptional situations, and take profits.
Decentralised crypto exchanges (‘DEX’) on the Blockchain exemplify the ‘pure’ digital
enterprise. Fully decentralised, they remove control and regulation from a central authority
and instead are set to run under predetermined parameters that are generally agreed by
participants. Operations are predictable to a large degree but cannot be controlled in any
conventional fashion. The value proposition is fixed by the platform and may be immediate
and irrefutable, such as transactions on a distributed leger, subject to collective validation.
The enterprise architecture of a ‘pure’ digital business entity is in another class to the other
organisation types which continue to depend upon physical assets and/or human
timeframes for service and value realisation. As with the ‘natively digital’ enterprises, the
architecture is determined ahead of launch, is irrevocably tied to the value proposition and
the digital means of operation and may turn out to be difficult to change under the
application of conventional EA practice, not even in the a priori design phase.
Another familiar example, one of a more sinister intent, is ransomware, in which a software
trojan is used to infect a host’s systems to extort a ransom. The entire ransomware
operation is purely digital end to end and turns the advantages of pure digital enterprises to
criminal purposes. As with other pure digital operations, the only known defence is entirely
within the digital realm — that is, to strengthen digital security measures. Once the trojan
has penetrated the digital system boundary it can be almost impossible to control it or limit
its potential for damage.
Deconstruction of value chains
From Porter6 forward, much has been written about how organisations structure around
value chains to deliver products efficiently and at scale. It is this end-to-end value chain
integration that traditional organisations have relied upon for decades, that digital
ecosystems effectively disrupt. In addition to the earlier examples, enterprise use-cases
such as Blockchain provide a striking example of how loosely coupled ecosystems of
cooperating partners are woven together by a common platform. Blockchain supplies a
platform to which ecosystem stakeholders agree to delegate trust. This underpins a variety
of innovative solutions — supply chains, chains of custody, provenance, power generation
and sharing grids, along with others yet to be operationalised. In characterising digital
ecosystems, Omar Valdez-De-Leon’s summary articulates the key differences as follows:
‘An ecosystem is more than a set of partnerships. Since it is a network of loose
contributors who interact closely to create mutual value, there is necessarily an
atmosphere of interdependency among partners in the ecosystem. This means that all
6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_chain
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partners share the same interest and that individual partners will only be successful if
the ecosystem succeeds. As such, business and operating models need to be adapted
to the new paradigm7.’
The deconstruction of value streams from tightly integrated internal end-to-end processes
to loose-coupled platform-based distributed collaborations brings us back to the earlier
discussion of business and operating models. The opportunity for EAs is to work with value
propositions, service design, supplier-consumer negotiation and contracting, using
operating model representations to architect distributed value realisation out of partner
cooperation in ecosystem environments. While this may be possible using some existing EA
frameworks and methods, this kind of EA capability and practice is in its infancy.
EA tools for working in ‘Digital enterprises’
In this paper, we argue that the discipline of EA must gravitate upwards, re-focussing on the
enterprise’s business model and operating models as enterprises transition to digital. Figure
4 attempts to represent the digital era modelling techniques across the spread of digital
enterprises. Underpinning all the techniques is the platform architecture, which represents
the shared platforms upon which the loose-coupled enterprise hosts its capabilities as
digital services. The historical EA frameworks (on the left) address ‘the enterprise
technology stack’ from technology to applications and data, then business, in a co-
dependent layer cake. Digital era EA models (some hints appear towards the right) address
the business-shaping effects of successively more disruptive technology-driven forces on
business and operating models, through to public cloud architectures.
EA for the ‘pure’ digital enterprise will be most effective when it is able to generate new
business model variants, simulate, test, prove and disprove assumptions, iron out value
propositions, drive out a working consensus amongst stakeholder parties, and achieve a
balance between all these competing and cooperating forces to an equilibrium of sorts. The
process is essentially one of business model innovation with a fair dollop of Design Thinking8
and agile strategy thrown in.
7
'How to Develop a Digital Ecosystem' by Omar Valdez-De-Leon. Technology Innovation Management Review,
August 2019 (Vol 9 Issue 8).
8
‘Design Thinking’ by Tim Brown. Harvard Business Review, June 2008.
https://readings.design/PDF/Tim%20Brown,%20Design%20Thinking.pdf
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Figure 4 Enterprise Architecture tools and techniques for working with digital enterprises.
EA’s digital opportunity
The opportunity for EA to lead business design is not exactly new. In fact, it found
expression in some of the leading EA frameworks and methods dating back to the earliest
period of enterprise architecture. Zachman, for example, talked of enterprise architecture
‘representing the functioning enterprise’ and ‘engineering and manufacturing the
enterprise’, both phrases addressing enterprise structural concerns at the highest level
rather than information systems or technologies. The history of enterprise architecture,
however, reveals that information technologists adopted the frameworks as an information
technology structuring tool, and for reasons perhaps lost to history, the reach and promise
of enterprise design was never fully adopted, or realised.
In the years that followed, enterprise architecture frameworks and methods became
irrevocably embedded in IT/IS methodology, and as a result, were constrained by the
accepted role of IT and IS at the time, that of an internal service to the organisation. As
such, enterprise architecture got locked away in the IT department and its potential for
organisational impact was severely constrained. Confined to the realm of IT, enterprise
architecture was to follow rather than lead the business. Now, in the digital age, EA’s
shackles to internal IT service provision have fallen off. To conclude, we argue that:
• The commoditisation of infrastructure and components of business functionality in
the cloud (in the form of IaaS, Paas, and SaaS services) have supplanted a significant
portion of EA’s traditional value — as a consequence, it is now imperative for EA
practitioners to move from technology to business concerns, becoming
indispensable business and enterprise designers in the process;
• It is useful to think of today’s enterprises as being one of three types — traditional
enterprises are ‘transitioning’ to digital, ‘natively digital’ enterprises are wholly
dependent on digital platforms to run their operations in ways that far exceed
traditional computerised operations, and ‘pure’ digital enterprises depend on digital
technologies for every aspect of their business, operating model, and offering;
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• The maturing of distributed, loosely coupled collaborative ecosystems, underpinned
by public cloud platforms, is replacing end to end process-based value streams —
this in turn shifts EA’s focus towards the upper reaches of the traditional enterprise
stack, to business and operating model concerns;
• ‘Native’ and ‘pure’ digital enterprises demonstrate that digital technology is no
longer only a means of realising the chosen operating model, but is fundamental to
the business and operating model, or is the business and operating model.
After four decades, digitisation has re-charged the original vision of the founders of
enterprise architecture. For natively and pure digital enterprises, the reach of EA
encompasses the entire enterprise, starting with business strategy, through modelling the
business and its operation, to platforms and code (in fact the operating model is increasingly
reified in code). Admittedly this may be a high ambition for EA practitioners, particularly
those who have made a career out of IS/IT EA practice. But the field of digital enterprises is
still young, and with some insight and an ounce of courage, our EA ancestor’s original vision
and intentions for the discipline may yet be realised.
Acknowledgment
During the ‘pandemic period’ from early 2020 to late 2022, The University of Melbourne
hosted a University-Industry Forum on Enterprise Architecture for academics, students and
industry participants to explore contemporary and pressing themes of EA research and
practice. The sessions were public (both in-person and online) and covered EA operating
models and maturity, EA soft skills, and EA frameworks and methods. Each of the three
topic groups addressed current concerns and a recurring theme was the impact of
digitisation and digital transformation. This paper builds on themes that emerged from
these sessions. The authors would like to acknowledge the founding members of the
University-Industry EA Forum: Dr Rod Dilnut, Dr Sherah Kurnia, Stuart Webb, Johan Hall, and
Frank Ozzimo. Additional input was appreciated from Darryl Carr and Andreas Drechsler.
We would also like to thank the many participants who attended and contributed ideas and
experiences.
About the Authors
Paul Taylor, PhD
Paul is a practicing enterprise architect and writer with an enduring curiosity about
sociotechnical systems in society, and how successful enterprises create value for people
and humankind in an environment of unprecedented complexity and dynamism. Using
Enterprise Architecture as a means of understanding people-centred technology-enabled
systems, Paul reflects on paradigms, methodology, and pragmatic action to operationalise
achievable plans and design viable interventions. 'EA in the Digital Age' is a current theme
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that articulates the challenges and opportunities the discipline of Enterprise Architecture
faces as a result of the digitalization of nearly every aspect of our existence.
Inji Wijegunaratne, PhD
After a long career in IT and enterprise architecture practice, Inji walked away from the 9:00
to 5:00 treadmill in 2019, and currently advises two fledgeling outfits, one in Blockchain and
the other in transport and logistics. How enterprises and indeed ecosystems work is a
particular interest of Inji's, especially with the increasing prevalence of all things digital in
corporate, social, and personal life - blurring any hard distinctions connoted by terms such
as "information systems", and his current work using the principles and 'big picture' skills
garnered in traditional enterprise architecture practice in areas such as business
organisation, modelling and strategy illustrates the potential that the discipline holds for the
future.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
The Evolution of Business Architecture and the
Opportunity for Enterprise Architecture
By Whynde Kuehn
Business Architecture Has Evolved and Come Into Its Own
The discipline of business architecture has truly come into its own. It has expanded, evolved,
formalized, and gained new business relevance, especially as a key enabler for effective,
end-to-end strategy to execution. With business architecture as the tip of the spear, this
gives all of enterprise architecture new clarity, strength, and strategic purpose.
Formalization has allowed for a shift in focus to leveraging business architecture for value
versus defining and redefining what it is and how to model it again and again. A steadily
increasing number of organizations are investing in business architecture across six
continents, in every sector and every major industry. The upward trend of business
architecture adoption is likely due to the growing pace of change and increasing awareness
of the discipline’s unique ability to help solve key business challenges that require a holistic
view. This includes topics such as business and digital transformation, strategy execution,
customer experience, business structural changes (e.g., M&A), business ecosystem design,
business and technology simplification and efficiency, and more.
Business Architecture Advancements
The Business Architecture Guild® (the not-for-profit business architecture industry
association) and its members have driven significant formalization efforts worldwide. A few
key advancements are highlighted here.
First, the Guild has concretely defined the domains included within business architecture
and how those domains connect to other disciplines (in many cases working together with
experts from related disciplines). The corresponding metamodel is going through the
process of becoming a formal, adopted standard within the Object Management Group
(OMG). This is already expanding the market of available tools and service providers who
are aligned to a common understanding. Various efforts are also underway to align these
business architecture perspectives with other frameworks, notably TOGAF® (which began
aligning to the Guild metamodel with version 9.2).
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In addition, an extensive business architecture body of knowledge (the BIZBOK® Guide) has
been created with a Certified Business Architect® (CBA®) certification and accredited training
provider program (Guild Accredited Training Partner® (GATP®)) based upon it. Furthermore,
a set of business architecture reference models have been created for various industries and
government, which are greatly reducing the time it takes organizations to establish their
business architecture baseline (including capability maps and value streams) and begin using
it to deliver value.
There is still much work ahead. However, the challenges are clear and with continued
adoption, expansion, and maturation, business architecture (and all of enterprise
architecture) can provide the critical foundation necessary for organizations to grow,
transform, and succeed.
Business Architecture as a Strategic Business Discipline
The contemporary practice of business architecture crosses, and bridges, two worlds: on
one side strategic management and on the other side the enterprise architecture discipline.
As shown in Figure 1, business architecture plays a role in the middle as a part of both. This
evolution of business architecture helps to explain why people sometimes understand
business architecture in different ways. We simply look at the world through slightly
different lenses depending on our experiences and education.
The role of business architecture and business architects in strategic management is to
provide the missing framework and role needed to translate strategy cohesively and align it
to execution. They provide an integrative framework and role to transcend silos, and offer
additional insights for holistic decision-making. On the other hand, the role of business
architecture and business architects within the enterprise architecture discipline is as the tip
of the spear for usage scenarios relevant within an enterprise architecture context, often
more closely related to technology. For example, business architecture provides the
business direction, language, context, and lens that can be leveraged for business and
technology alignment, application portfolio management, cloud decision making, and other
scenarios.
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Figure 1: Business Architecture Bridges Worlds
Six Things You Need to Know About Business Architecture
Here are six key takeaways that summarize the most recent thinking and practice around
the discipline of business architecture.
(1) Business Architecture is Comprised of Ten Domains, With Value Streams and
Capabilities at the Center
Business architecture is comprised of ten domains which represent different business
perspectives within an organization. As shown in Figure 2, these include capabilities, value
streams, information, organization (business units), strategies, metrics, stakeholders,
products, policies, and initiatives. Business architecture domains can and should also be
cross-mapped to domains within other disciplines as well. For example, capabilities and
value streams may be cross-mapped to customer journeys, processes, software applications
and services, and requirements.
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Figure 2: Business Architecture Domains and Key Relationships
The scope of what business architecture is (and is not) is now clearly defined, and it goes far
beyond just capabilities to include nine other domains. This concept is perhaps one of the
most misunderstood and misaligned because the definition of domains included within
business architecture can differ across individuals, organizations, and methodologies. For
example, some consider business architecture to be primarily comprised of capabilities and
processes (and sometimes business functions). However, leveraging the full ten domains of
business architecture provides a much more comprehensive view of an organization, with
the flexibility and breadth to support much broader usage across the business.
Additionally, while capabilities are the hub of a business architecture and connect to
everything else, they work together with value streams. Capabilities cross-mapped to value
stream stages forms the foundation of an organization’s business architecture that can be
leveraged for countless business usage scenarios. Both capabilities and value streams serve
as reusable business building blocks for framing change and designing modular
organizations and business ecosystems that are both streamlined and agile.
(2) The Scope of a Business Architecture is an Organization and Its Ecosystem.
Business architecture makes the greatest difference when it is practiced as an enterprise
discipline, not as a toolbox of available techniques. Organizations have plenty of fragmented
views and techniques today – business architecture is an opportunity to do things
differently. It unites people around one shared mental model, unified across business units,
products, and geographies.
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As a result, the scope of a business architecture should represent the entire scope of what
an organization does and the ecosystem in which it operates (unless it is a conglomerate or
other situation warranting separate business architectures). Additionally, a business
architecture is:
• Entirely business-focused, business-driven, and business-owned
• High-level in detail
• A reusable knowledgebase from which blueprints and views can be generated (not a
set of standalone, one-time artifacts)
(3) The Why of Business Architecture is What Matters
While the process of creating a business architecture reveals new insights and ah-ha
moments for those involved, ultimately an organization’s business architecture is a means
to an end. The first step for any business architecture team is to define the value
proposition and intended usage of business architecture for their organization. This will
guide all decision-making from the most relevant business architecture domains to capture,
to the right business architects to hire, to the highest priority engagements to take on.
Like a Swiss army knife, business architecture offers a variety of value propositions.
However, those value propositions can be categorized within a few common themes:
• Facilitating effective strategy to execution (described further in (4) below)
• Improving and evolving (or initially creating) the design of organizations and business
ecosystems
• Informing decision-making with a holistic view
Delivering business value is the reason that architecture exists – and it is also the number
one critical success factor for business architecture teams.
(4) Business Architecture is a Key Enabler of End-to-End Strategy to Execution
Business architecture is a bridge between strategy and execution, critical for business
transformation and organizational agility. This is being increasingly recognized by
organizations, industry associations, academic institutions, and even mainstream business
literature.
As shown in Figure 3, business architecture plays a role throughout the entire path from
strategy to execution, though it is most focused upfront (along with enterprise architecture)
to inform and translate strategies and other business direction into an aligned, cohesive set
of actions execution across people, processes, and technology. Business architecture also
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provides the end-to-end traceability that aligns strategies, architecture, investments,
initiatives, and outcomes on an ongoing basis.
Figure 3: The Role of Business Architecture from Strategy to Execution
This positioning is helping business architecture to increasingly resonate with an executive
and business audience – and draws the rest of the enterprise architecture team further
upstream into a more strategic context and into the right conversations.
(5) Business Architecture Works in an Ecosystem of Partners
Business architecture is not a silver bullet. It takes an entire ecosystem of teams working
together for an organization to deliver on its promise to customers or constituents, support
its operations, execute strategy, and transform when necessary.
An organization’s business architecture can and should be used by anyone to inform
decision-making, not just the architects. In fact, one of the key indicators of business
architecture maturity within an organization is how integrated it is with other functions,
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disciplines, and organizational processes for strategy, planning, transformation, innovation,
solution development, risk management, procurement, compliance, mergers and
acquisitions, and many others. To truly succeed, any approach must be interdisciplinary.
Figure 4 shows an example of the importance of close interdisciplinary collaboration. It
approximates the involvement of different teams working together from strategy to
execution.
Figure 4: Team Involvement from Strategy to Execution
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(6) We Know How to Build Strategic Business Architecture Practices That Succeed
Based on the experiences and approaches that have been proven out for decades now
across an extensive array of organizations worldwide, a set of tried-and-true critical success
factors have emerged. Most importantly, successful business architecture teams are
business-oriented and value-focused in everything they do. Other factors include:
• Repeatable Value Delivery – Define a clear value proposition for business
architecture in the organization, deliver it through repeatable services, communicate
success and build advocates – and build the business architecture knowledgebase
and practice just enough, just in time.
• Strong Partnerships – Build strong partnerships with other roles and teams and
position as an internal service provider to the organization.
• Executive Sponsorship – Obtain visible, committed executive level sponsorship as
high in the organization as possible, as soon as possible. Sponsorship is the rocket
fuel for a business architecture practice, especially if the first two critical success
factors have been met.
• Strategic Positioning – Position business architects for success. This includes
ensuring they can work on strategic scenarios, across silos, and at the right level of
authority. Business architecture teams are increasingly reporting to business leaders
to help enable this positioning.
• Ubiquitous Business Architecture – Make business architecture for everybody to
instill a holistic mindset and accelerate adoption and usage.
What It Means for Enterprise Architecture
As we collectively navigate some of the most massive shifts in history, the role of enterprise
architecture and enterprise architects has never been more important. Architects help
leaders to make holistic, informed decisions, and architects ensure that our organizations
and societies are designed to deliver value and operate with agility, sustainability, and
transparency – especially in a globally connected and increasingly digital world.
Still, it is important that enterprise architecture as a discipline continues to adapt in order to
best serve organizations, stay relevant, and deliver the most important business outcomes.
Business Architecture is a Gateway to Leveraging Enterprise Architecture Strategically
When business architecture is treated as a strategic business discipline, and positioned
upfront in the strategy execution life cycle, this also brings the entire discipline of enterprise
architecture into a new strategic context and relevance. Enterprise architecture can help to
address a recognized business gap that integrates well with business technology strategy.
This strategic positioning also ensures that the enterprise architecture perspective can
inform business decision-making early on, when it is most impactful.
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A value-oriented, strategically positioned business architecture practice undoubtedly leads
the way for business outcome-driven enterprise architecture, helping to renew architecture’s
focus on value and business relevance versus models and governance. A business
architecture practice can also increase organizational readiness and appreciation for
enterprise architecture by introducing new mindsets and creating a basic understanding of
architectural thinking across the business.
Moving Into Action
Here are a few steps that enterprise architecture practitioners and teams can take to fully
leverage business architecture as it has evolved today for the greatest benefit of their
organizations and careers.
Rediscover Business Architecture
Explore the six takeaways described earlier to discover the additional depth and nuance
behind each, both from a theory perspective as well as how it works for organizations in
practice. Additionally, all architects need a working knowledge of their own organization’s
business architecture. Consider refreshing on the business architecture for your
organization if it has been a while, with an eye to how it aligns with the most current
evolutions described in takeaways (1) and (2).
Build a Strategic Business Architecture Practice
Assess the business architecture practice within your organization, whatever form it may
currently be in (e.g., part of the enterprise architecture team, operating as a separate team
or function, etc.). Ask some key questions in the context of takeaways (3), (4), (5), and (6).
For example:
• Does the business architecture practice have a clearly defined, strategic value
proposition?
• Does the team deliver relevant and valuable business outcomes regularly?
• Is business architecture leveraged early in the cycle of formulating strategies and
business direction?
• Is there a specialized business architect role and are practitioners sufficiently
prepared to work in a strategic role?
• Does the practice have business sponsorship?
• Is the practice tightly integrated with enterprise architecture and other key partners
such as the strategy, transformation, strategic planning, and design teams?
Create a Cohesive Enterprise Architecture Practice
Close partnership between all architects is critical (e.g., enterprise architects, business
architects, application architects, data architects, technical architects, solution architects).
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Regardless of organizational structure and dynamics, the most successful enterprise
architecture teams are united around value proposition and architecture services,
engagement model and playbook, practice direction, metamodel, and competency model.
Assess the integration between the architecture disciplines within your organization as well
as how the architect roles work together. Take steps to create one cohesive enterprise
architecture team, coalesced around the architecture vision and value proposition, the
architecture knowledgebase, a common foundation of competencies across all architect
roles, and most importantly how architects work together to deliver value.
Level Up Your Relevance
Business at high speed with increasing uncertainty, along with the new forces and
opportunities that digital brings, urges reflection on how enterprise architecture can
continue to be most relevant to our organizations and societies into the future. This applies
for the discipline overall, but also for individual enterprise architecture practitioners as they
are planning for their careers and desired impact.
While the enterprise architecture knowledgebase is of course foundational and essential to
practicing the discipline, consider that the model building is primarily a means to an end.
With reference models increasingly accelerating the process (at least for business
architecture) – coupled with technological advances – architecture and architects can and
should focus on delivering business value and insights with architecture.
With this shift, architects can concentrate on their roles as valuable advisors, business and
technology designers, change agents, and leaders. This requires increased strategic and
relational competencies as well as communication and emotional intelligence
competencies. It also requires foundational knowledge of related teams and disciplines and
how they work together cohesively to translate business direction and ideas into action.
Conclusion
In closing, these are exciting times. The role of enterprise architecture and the talents of
enterprise architects have never been more relevant or necessary, not just to enable and
influence, but to lead our organizations and societies through transformation and
continually create a world that we all want to live in. The evolution and formalization of
business architecture can help bring new value and strategic leverage to the entire discipline
of enterprise architecture. This will not only help us to best serve our organizations, but to
reimagine an enterprise architect role that is even more rewarding, at the forefront of
change and business impact.
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About the Author
Whynde Kuehn is recognized globally as a highly sought-after pioneer and thought leader in
business architecture, with a distinguished track record of creating successful strategic
business architecture teams worldwide. She has worked with an extensive array of
organizations to build their capacity for end-to-end strategy execution, including Fortune
500 and global enterprises, governmental and non-profit organizations, social enterprises,
startups, and cross-sector initiatives.
Whynde is the creator of Biz Arch Mastery, a dedicated online platform and community that
helps professionals master the art and science of business architecture. She is a Fellow with
the Institute for Digital Transformation and a member of the Fast Company Executive Board.
She is also co-founder, vice president, and academic chair of the Business Architecture
Guild, a not-for-profit business architecture association that has helped advance and
formalize the discipline across the globe.
Whynde is an adjunct professor within the Penn State Smeal College of Business in the
Executive Education program. She is author of the book Strategy to Reality and chair of the
Women In Architecture (WIA) global initiative.
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