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Enterprise Architecture icon

Design an Enterprise Architecture Strategy

Develop a strategy that fits the organization’s maturity and remains adaptable to unforeseen future changes.

  • The enterprise architecture (EA) team is constantly challenged to articulate the value of its function.
  • The CIO has asked the EA team to help articulate the business value the team brings.
  • Traceability from the business goals and vision to the EA contributions often does not exist.
  • Also, clients often struggle with complexity, priorities, and agile execution.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • EA can deliver many benefits to an organization. However, to increase the likelihood of success, the EA group needs to deliver value to the business and cannot be seen solely as IT.
  • Support from the organization is needed.
  • An EA strategy anchored in a value proposition will ensure that EA focuses on driving the most critical outcomes in support of the organization’s enterprise strategy.
  • As agility is not just for project execution, architects need to understand ways to deliver their guidance to influence project execution in real time, to enable the enterprise agility, and to enhance their responsiveness to changing conditions.

Impact and Result

  • Create an EA value proposition based on enterprise needs that clearly articulates the expected contributions of the EA function.
  • Establish the EA fundamentals (vision and mission statement, goals and objectives, and principles) needed to position the EA function to deliver the promised value proposition.
  • Identify the services that EA has to provide to the organization to deliver on the promised value proposition.

Design an Enterprise Architecture Strategy Research & Tools

1. Design an Enterprise Architecture Strategy Deck – A guide to help you define services that your EA function will provide to the organization.

Establish an effective EA function that will realize value for the organization with an EA strategy.

An EA strategy is the first step to creating an effective EA function; only by first demonstrating the value of EA to organizational stakeholders can the EA function operate to generate value.

2. EA Function Strategy Template – A communication tool to secure the approval of the EA strategy from organizational stakeholders.

Use this template to document the outputs of the EA strategy and to communicate the EA strategy for approval by stakeholders.

3. Stakeholder Power Map Template – A template to help visualize the importance of various stakeholders and their concerns.

Identify and prioritize the stakeholders that are important to your IT strategy development effort.

4. PESTLE Analysis Template – A template to help you complete and document a PESTLE analysis.

Use this template to analyze the effect of external factors on IT.

5. EA Value Proposition Template – A template to communicate the value EA can provide to the organization.

Use this template to create an EA value proposition that explicitly communicates to stakeholders how an EA function can contribute to addressing their needs.

6. EA Goals and Objectives Template – A template to identify the EA goals that support the identified promises of value from the EA value proposition.

Use this template to help set goals for your EA function based on the EA value proposition and identify objectives to measure the progression towards those EA goals.

7. EA Principles Template – A template to identify the universal EA principles relevant to your organization.

Use this template to define relevant universal EA principles and create new EA principles to guide and inform IT investment decisions.

8. EA Service Planning Tool – A template to identify the EA services your organization will provide to deliver on the EA value proposition.

Use this template to identify the EA services relevant to your organization and then define how those services will be accessed.

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Member Testimonials

After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.

9.3/10


Overall Impact

$69,359


Average $ Saved

30


Average Days Saved

Client

Experience

Impact

$ Saved

Days Saved

Amedisys Holding, LLC

Guided Implementation

7/10

$1,096

1

I think given our capacity and investment in EA at Amedisys, the tools and practice recommended by InfoTech is not going to be a fit. We need a mor... Read More

The Boyd Group Inc.

Workshop

9/10

N/A

20

Best parts - Helped raise my teams awareness and level of strategic thinking as pertains to EA. Helped us form a shared consensus of what it means... Read More

City of Scottsdale, Arizona

Guided Implementation

10/10

$13,700

50

An excellent way to leverage the concept of "standing on the shoulders" of the people that came before you-learn the good and not make the mistakes... Read More

Firstmac Limited

Guided Implementation

7/10

$1,820

2

positive alignment session on the arcitectural approach linking to business capability

Alcoa Corporation

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

N/A

As we continue to navigate our Enterprise Architecture (EA) journey, his invaluable advice and guidance was great input. His insights have always b... Read More

Oregon Department of Employment

Workshop

10/10

N/A

N/A

Howard Feng did a great job facilitating this workshop. Howard is very knowledgeable and gave the Oregon Employment Department a great start to dev... Read More

DKV Euro Service GmbH + Co. KG

Guided Implementation

9/10

N/A

5

Wayne went above and beyond in his answers, he is a truly experienced EA

Oregon Secretary of State

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

120

It's an art to distill such volume and complexity of subject matter into a distilled, digestible form.

Auckland Transport

Guided Implementation

9/10

$136K

23

Discussing the Intake Funnel / business advisory squad Info-Tech's Operational model blueprint

Kardex Germany GmbH

Guided Implementation

9/10

$25,000

20

Very good artifacts and materials, properly explained

Toronto Community Housing Corporation

Guided Implementation

10/10

$23,500

10

raise great perspectives to ensure holistic realistic thinking has been applied

Blue Cross of Idaho Health Service, Inc.

Workshop

8/10

N/A

10

Difficult to estimate financial impact. Thank you for running us through a well-organized workshop with valuable conversation. We look forward to... Read More

Loto-Québec

Guided Implementation

10/10

$10,000

5

Hearst Technology, Inc.

Guided Implementation

9/10

N/A

10

Kuvare US Holdings

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

N/A

Worst: I was late and missed out on some time with Altaz. Best: The collaboration, understanding, and ideas/output from Altaz is fantastic. He is ... Read More

Shared Services Canada - Chief Information Office

Guided Implementation

9/10

N/A

1

MASC

Guided Implementation

9/10

N/A

10

Good experience as a whole. Knowledgeable consultant in the topic. The service could improve by making best practice and methodologies more concr... Read More

Sydney Water

Guided Implementation

9/10

$4,550

2

Very Knowledgeable and has lost of examples and reference documents.

DPHI – Department of Planning, Housing & Infrastructure

Guided Implementation

9/10

$14,560

10

Ministry of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology

Workshop

10/10

$68,500

120

The best part was having a new understanding of what my Ministry should be trying to accomplish and replicate to other Ministries and Departments a... Read More

Halifax Port Authority

Guided Implementation

8/10

$50,000

20

Nitin provided an excellent overview of Info-Tech's Enterprise Architecture strategy blueprint, including the advisory service, workshops, and cons... Read More

General Dynamics Mission Systems, Inc

Workshop

9/10

$13,700

5

Overall the experience was excellent. The best part was working on the EA Services RACI and Roadmap. The worst part was we could have used more t... Read More

California Department of Toxic Substances Control

Guided Implementation

10/10

$2,740

50

Nitin is an excellent consultant and advisor, he definitely has added value and insight in DTSC's creation of an EA strategy.

Kentucky Fried Chicken UK

Guided Implementation

10/10

$3,420

5

Community Health Choice, Inc.

Workshop

10/10

$137K

100

The workshop was very enlighten to the entire team as we had a misconception of what the responsibilities of an EA. We all enjoyed everything abou... Read More

Amey

Guided Implementation

10/10

$5,130

3

US Department of the Interior - Fish and Wildlife Service

Workshop

9/10

$1.1M

100

The first workshop was not what FWS expected, however once they received feedback they delivered what we had hoped on the first go around.

NSW Police

Workshop

10/10

$22,750

10

Excellent engagement during workshop, and Gerald provided myself and the EA team with a clear direction on how to move forward with some of our key... Read More

BRP Group

Workshop

10/10

$137K

50

Best part was lots of engagement from the team members.

Langara College

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

90

Infotech has a clear structured approach and experience with the work we needed help with. Having them to validate our issues and advise on the ne... Read More


Enterprise Architecture

EA teams need to understand the dynamic relationship between organizational complexity, operational maturity, and stakeholder value. This relationship forms the foundation for building value-driven roadmaps anchored in stakeholder needs..
This course makes up part of the Service Planning & Architecture Certificate.

  • Course Modules: 4
  • Estimated Completion Time: 1 hour
  • Featured Analysts:
  • Gord Harrison, SVP Research & Advisory
  • Arif Mustafa, Research Director, Enterprise Architecture

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Executive Brief

An active membership is required to access Info-Tech Academy

Workshop: Design an Enterprise Architecture Strategy

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

Module 1: Map the EA Contributions to Business Goals

The Purpose

Show an example of traceability.

Key Benefits Achieved

Members have a real-world example of traceability between business goals and EA contributions.

Activities

Outputs

1.1

Start from the business goals of the organization.

  • Business goals documented.
1.2

Document business and IT drivers.

  • Business and IT drivers documented.
1.3

Identify EA contributions that help achieve the business goals.

  • Identified EA contributions and traced them to business goals.

Module 2: Determine the Role of the Architect in the Agile Ceremonies of the Organization

The Purpose

Create an understanding about role of architect in Agile ceremonies.

Key Benefits Achieved

Understanding of the role of the EA architect in Agile ceremonies.

Activities

Outputs

2.1

Document the Agile ceremony used in the organization (based on SAFe or other Agile approaches).

  • Documented the Agile ceremonial used in the organization (based on SAFe or other Agile approaches).
2.2

Determine which ceremonies the system architect will participate in.

  • Determined which ceremonies the system architect will participate in.
2.3

Determine which ceremonies the solution architect will participate in.

  • Determined which ceremonies the solution architect will participate in.
2.4

Determine which ceremonies the enterprise architect will participate in.

  • Determined which ceremonies the enterprise architect will participate in.
2.5

Determine architect syncs, etc.

  • Determined architect syncs, etc.

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About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

MEMBER RATING

9.3/10
Overall Impact

$69,359
Average $ Saved

30
Average Days Saved

After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve.

Read what our members are saying

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst

Get the help you need in this 4-phase advisory process. You'll receive 11 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.

Guided Implementation 1: Explore the role of enterprise architecture
  • Call 1: Explore the role of EA in your organization.

Guided Implementation 2: Create the value proposition
  • Call 1: Identify and prioritize stakeholders.
  • Call 2: Use a PESTLE analysis to identify business and technology needs.
  • Call 3: Prepare for stakeholder interviews.
  • Call 4: Discuss your EA value proposition.

Guided Implementation 3: Build the EA fundamentals
  • Call 1: Understand the importance of EA fundamentals.
  • Call 2: Define the relevant EA services and their contributions to the organization.
  • Call 3: Measure EA effectiveness.

Guided Implementation 4: Design the EA services
  • Call 1: Build your EA roadmap and communication plan.
  • Call 2: Discuss the EA role relative to agility.
  • Call 3: Summarize results and plan next steps.

Author

Milena Litoiu

Contributors

  • Lan Nguyen, IT Executive, Mentor, Managing Partner at CIOs Beyond Borders Group
  • Wayne Filin-Matthews, Chief Enterprise Architect, ICMG Winner of Global Chief Enterprise Architect of the Year 2019
  • Graham Smith, Experienced lead Enterprise Architect and Independent Consultant
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