Module 3:

The Process of Enterprise

Architecting
(The Core Process of
Enterprise Architecting)
Aim of Topic

 The process of Enterprise Architecting

Preparing for
Enterprise
Architecting
Review
 strategic s
kill that can
regardless o be of real va
f size, its typ lue to every
e, its industr enterprise,
y or context.

EA The same principles apply as much to a theatre, an

engineering works, a retail floor, a chemical plant or a bank.

usiness
ov e r-vi e w th a t outlines the b
-picture”
provides a “big o th e r a rc h itecture disciplin
es.
context fo r
The Value of EA
+ EA has the unique capability to bring together views of
strategy, business and technology that allow an enterprise to
see itself in current and future operating states.

+ EA also supports the modelling of different future operating

scenarios, which may help the enterprise survive(or thrive) as it
responds to changes in the internal and external operating
environment, some of which can be unexpected.
The Value of EA
+ An EA program establishes an integrated set of IT resource
planning, decision-making, and implementation processes that
can better identify and resolve performance gaps across the
enterprise.

+ EA is unique in its ability to promote enterprise-wide

thinking about resource utilization. EA replaces the systems
level approaches to IT resource development that have
characterized the last several decades, and has left many
enterprises with stovepipe1 and/or duplicative IT resources.
 The Value of EA

+ EA promotes the development of more efficient enterprise-

wide common operating environment for business and
technology, within which more capable and flexible business
services and systems can be hosted.

This in turn makes an enterprise more agile and able to 
respond to internal and external drivers of change, which 
promotes greater levels of competitiveness in the 
marketplace. 

1
Stovepipe : an information conduit that traverses vertical levels efficiently but does not disperse widely
Recap [T1]: Absence of
Enterprise Architecture
Presented the following risks:
Inability to rapidly Lack of focus on Lack of common
respond to challenges enterprise direction and
driven by business requirements synergies
changes

Incomplete visibility of Inability to predict Increased gaps and

the current and future impacts of future architecture conflicts
target enterprise changes
architecture vision

Lack of commonality Dilution and Rigidity, redundancy

and consistency due dissipation of critical and lack of scalability
to the absence of information and and flexibility in the
standards knowledge of the deployed solutions
deployed solutions
 Lack of integration, Complex, fragile and
compatibility and costly interfaces
interoperability between incongruent
between applications applications

Decision-making Piece-meal and ad hoc

gridlock software development
driven by a tactical
and reactive approach

To avoid these organizational risks and benefit from

the advantages, EA can be used as a strategy to
achieve an organization's mission.
Recap [T4]: Criteria for Choices of
Results Quality
Enterprise architecture can produce a large variety
of tangible and intangible results. What criteria on
product quality are needed to make the choices of:
+Which results should be delivered?
+What levels of details are required?
+What are the form of the results?
…all depends on

The the decisions

01 02 that should be
stakeholders
and their taken based on
concerns these results.
 In such choices, we can
also profit from an
insight: how the possible
results interrelate,
as described in
architecture
frameworks .
Enterprise architecture
frameworks provide:

01 02 03
a means to guard insight into the
a means to
the completeness interrelationships
order
of the of architecture
architecture
architecture results, enabling
results
results, both in the traceability
terms of of decisions and
scoping and their impact.
level of detail;
The Risk of EA
+ Creating an EA for an entire enterprise can be :
1. time consuming,
2. costly, and
3. disruptive to business services.
4. the EA will not be used by stakeholders if they do
not buy-in to the concept of EA or its perceived
value.
The Risk of EA
Example:
+ developing detailed EA documentation that covers
strategy, business and technology within each area of
the enterprise can be time consuming and costly.
+ hiring and/or training architects and supporting
analysts is one element of the cost.
+ another cost element is the time it takes line of
business managers and support staff away from their
normal daily work.
+ the costs of EA documentation tools and on-line
repositories.
Setting the Stage
for Enterprise
Architecture
+ From software industry “architecture” tend to
emphasize the need for structure : a consistent
description and consistent set of relationships.
+ From business architecture, more of an emphasis on
business purpose, on devolving outward from
strategy.
+ Somewhere between the two, these needs to meld
into a mutual balance, about where structure
meets with purpose, and purpose is expressed
in structure.
+ At present EA is often described solely as an
aspect of IT, responsible for improving “business/IT
alignment”.

+ However in practice, it can, it should eventually

encompass the architecture of the entire
enterprise.
 RECAP [t1]
A number of questions
arise when you first
decide to employ
architecture in your
own organization:
What do you want to How do you divide What level of ambition
achieve by working your efforts between should you select?
with architecture in producing
your organization? architectural products
on the one hand and
implementing
architectural practices
on the other?

Which architectural Are you going to How will you define

artifacts should you formulate the role of the
consider? architectural architect?
principles and
guidelines or will you
devote your energy to
developing models?
.
Who will be involved Where in the How will you gain
in your efforts, when, organization will you support and
and in what ways? position the role of the acceptance for
architect? architectural
practices?

To answer these questions, a clear architectural vision is

needed, along with a realistic plan tailored to your situation. In
this plan, a balance must be found between the generation of
architectural products and the development of the architect’s
role.
 Architectural Vision
There are three architectural factors that need to be examined:

PRODUCT
In practice, architecture exists in many forms and involves many facets
of the organization. Viewing it as a product, you focus on the question:
when should you produce which type of architecture?

PROCESS
Employing architecture does not only involve issuing appropriate architectural
products; integrating architecture into the organization is at least as
important. What are the best steps that you can take in order to improve the
architecture function?

PERSON

How do you improve the performance of the person fulfilling the role of
architect, and how does this role fit into your organization?
 Architectural Vision

The vision provides an important guideline for

the many choices and decisions that you must
make in organizing the architecture function
What are you going to work on first,
and what can be done later?
This will be developed into a plan.
 Architectural Vision results to a
common vision of:
01 Organization 02 Orientation 03 Scope
the stakeholders, their roles, a consensus on the principles, The scope covered the most
their respective involvement goals, major requirements, and impacted parts
constraints

04 The roadmap 05 Vision 06 Risk

the cycle development plan, the A macroscopic vision of Major risks and associated risk
resources, and the budget baseline architecture and target reduction actions
allocated architecture
 Architectural Vision

We k n o w How
where we’re And
we are getting With whom
going there
The Core Process
of Enterprise
Architecting
Introduction
Core Processes of Enterprise
Architecting
01 02 03
C R E AT E A P P LY M A I N TA I N

First of all, an To be really useful as an To remain useful in a

enterprise instrument within an changing world, an
architecture has to be enterprise, the enterprise architecture
created. architecture has to be should be maintained
applied in line with its as well.
purpose.
Each part of the architecture process -create, apply, and maintain- will to a
large extent be influenced by the purpose of a specific architecture.
Creating
Enterprise
Architecture
To realize the intention of enterprise architecture -enabling the
steering of change a shared conceptualization should emerge
among stakeholders about:

any constraints
a to-be that should be
situation, met

the as-is purposes of the

situation enterprise
architecture that are
met and those that
are as yet unmet
The results :

Is determined by the purpose of enterprise architecture

Both tangible and intangible results; each requiring its

own process.

The process of creating an architecture of the enterprise

produces a large quantity of information about the
business and that information needs to be stored in a
logical way so that it can be efficiently used and
maintained over time.
Maintaining
EA
+ For an enterprise architecture to be of any value it
needs to be up-to-date. The whole enterprise
architecture effort will come to nothing if it is not
maintained once it’s created. Many documents in
organizations are outdated even before they are
finished and published. This is because companies
are constantly changing and adapting to its
environment.

+ Responsibility of maintaining the EA needs to be

assigned to a team that will keep it aligned to the
new goals, strategies or processes.
EA Alignment Cycle The cycle goes on
in an attempt to
These changes are then keep the EA up-to-
consolidated by the The changes are date with company
business architecture applied in the changes.
committee who in turn process and
delegates redesigning the evaluated by top
business processes and IT managers.
Environment
influences the
infrastructure to
strategy committee and
the
04
strategy of a
company.
information systems team
respectively.
03
02
01
Summary

+ The development of a good architecture is only the

beginning. Working with architecture affects the
entire organization. Therefore, the introduction of
architectural practices initiates a trajectory of
change. The changes, if well targeted, can have a
large impact on the effectiveness of the organization.
 Establishing EA Program

The benefits should outweigh the 
cost of doing an EA, or the 
program should not be 
established. 
(Bernard, S. 2012. An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture)
Recap [T4] : EA Program
+ The foundational elements of an EA program are the
analysis and documentation framework (EA
framework), and the implementation methodology
(EA methodology).
EA Framework EA Methodology
defines what the EA program defines how that
will document. documentation will be
developed and used.
References
+ Op’t Land et al. (2009). Enterprise Architecture :
creating value by informed governance. Springer-Verlag
Berlin Heidelberg
+ Bernard, S. 2012. An Introduction to Enterprise
Architecture. Third Editon. Author House.