enterprise architecture for dumies
DESCRIPTION
To understand Enterprise Architecture and make it understoodTRANSCRIPT
THE ULTIMATE TOOL TO MANAGE
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
.
“ Power is nothing without control” (Pirelli)
When we are talking about
Enterprise Architecture…
People are usually puzzled.
Or with moderate enthusiasm.
… because additional efforts will be requested
And habits changes are
rarely welcome.
Enterprise Architecture’s definition gives some clues.
«Enterprise architecture (EA) is the process of translating business vision and strategy into effective enterprise change by creating, communicating, and improving the key principles and models that describe the enterprise’s future state and enable its evolution.» (GARTNER GROUP)
But what is really Enterprise Architecture ?
Information Technology (IT) is no more considered as a set of tools…
If Enterprise is compared to a house, …
IT is rather the house frame and…
Basements, Electricity network, Water network, …
So that Business team can fully enjoy their business life.
When you are perform big changes in your house,
It is better to have a plan of your house.
Enterprise Architecture is the plan of your Enterprise and the IS/IT
supporting it.
Enterprise identity can be summed up with :
Its strategic goals
Its business Processes
Its organization structure
People Skills and know how
IS/IT can be modeled by :
Data
Business Processes and roles
Applications and IS functions
Servers and datacenters
Enterprise Architecture is a repository where all attributes of Enterprise and IS/IT are stored.
“This is consuming a
lot of resources to set up and to run, only for a
plan !”
What is the Value of Enterprise Architecture ?
Secure alignment between IS/IT and
Enterprise Strategies.
First value of Enterprise Architecture
Imagine two teams playing the bush telegraph.
And one team is using a
support to explain the message to
spread.
It is easy to guess who will win the game.
In business world, we unfortunately always play bush telegraph, specially when we are dealing with IS/IT
projects.
It is a difficult game because most of the actors are speaking different languages.
IT language
Business language
Biz Analyst Architect Offer Mgr Customer
And the number of actors involved in the game is big.
Developer
So deliveries are producing
sometimesunexpected outcomes.
Enterprise Architecture is the support of the bush
telegraph game for Enterprise.
Enterprise Architecture aligns IS/IT developments with Business
expectations by…
using a single language understood by all parties : The Business
Processes
Support Long term valuable transformation.
Second value of Enterprise Architecture
Business Teams are usually very ambitious with their requirements
Thus, transformations are
Costing a lot of money
Taking time
Complex And risky
It is safer to reach the targeted goal step by step.
There are two different options to be sure that steps are following the
right direction.
Fist option is to invoke divine power.
Second option is to use a
map.
It is easy to guess what is the best option.
Enterprise Architecture is providing the map to guarantee that steps are going to the right
direction.
Thanks to Enterprise Architecture, each IS/IT evolution (project) is a step towards a shared
target (program) and no more a single initiative.
A long term view is critical to allow IS/IT capability to adapt to further
evolutions.
And this is a question of life or death for IS/IT and the Enterprise.
Identify where optimization can occur.
Third value of Enterprise Architecture
Today, competition between companies is fierce
Every savings or optimizations will procure precious
trumps.
Companies having indicators on the value of their activities have a head
start.
Enterprise architecture is providing these indicators.
ROI of each activities and
Processes
Cost of duplicated Processes and
tools
Complexity
So managers will be able to take decisions thanks to figures and no more based on beliefs.
Support Business Continuity.
Fourth value of Enterprise Architecture
In today’s information age, IS/IT is definitively one of the key assets of the Enterprise.
Data
Business Processes and roles
Applications and IS functions
Servers and datacenters
It is not safe to not protect key assets
But it is too easy to let this asset in the head of some experts.
But when the experts are leaving the company, is it acceptable for the company to loose this asset?
Enterprise architecture describes the knowledge in some experts heads and shares it to the rest of the Enterprise.
CONCLUSION
Indeed Enterprise Architecture is requesting…
Methodology
Additional efforts Changing habits
But which company is able to compete without the trumps provided by Enterprise
Architecture?
Thank you !!!