Design an Enterprise Architecture Strategy
Demystify enterprise architecture value with key metrics.
- The enterprise architecture (EA) team is constantly challenged to articulate the value of its function.
- The CIO has asked the Enterprise Architecture team to help him understand the value the team brings to his department.
- While there may be an IT strategy documented, no EA strategy exists, or at best, some loose collection of ideas form the basis of the EA strategy.
- The business focuses on a projects, ignoring holistic value of an overarching architecture.
- This “project-only” view results in poor technology investments, resulting in massive technical debt, and most enterprises are not ready to adjust to the Agile practices, further increasing technical debt.
- In addition, enterprises struggle with rapidly changing technologies.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- EA can deliver many benefits to an organization. However, in order to increase the likelihood of success, the EA group needs to deliver value to their organization based on the operating environment and the direction of the enterprise.
- 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.
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 in order to deliver on the promised value proposition.
Design an Enterprise Architecture Strategy
Start here – read the Executive Brief
Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should create an EA strategy to establish a successful EA practice, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.
1. Value proposition
Identify EA stakeholders and their needs, identify the pains preventing those needs from being addressed, and articulate a set of promises of value based on stakeholder needs to show EA’s value proposition.
2. EA fundamentals
Create the EA fundamentals based on the previously identified promises of value to guide the future decision of the EA function.
3. EA service design
Identify the EA services your EA function needs to provide the organization to fulfill its promises of value.
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
$27,467
Average $ Saved
24
Average Days Saved
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
Delta Dental Plan of New Jersey
Guided Implementation
10/10
$2,479
10
Surgical Care Affiliates
Guided Implementation
9/10
$3,718
3
Grocery Outlet Inc
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
N/A
Vifor (International) AG
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
20
Delta Dental Plan of New Jersey
Guided Implementation
9/10
$30,989
50
Cascades, Centre des Technologies
Guided Implementation
10/10
$50,000
50
Ledcor Industries Inc.
Guided Implementation
8/10
N/A
20
Afreximbank
Guided Implementation
10/10
$23,500
10
Surgical Care Affiliates
Guided Implementation
10/10
$2,355
2
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Guided Implementation
8/10
$10,000
18
Alcoa Corporation
Workshop
10/10
$92,968
20
Alberta Blue Cross
Guided Implementation
10/10
$2,000
20
State of Wyoming
Workshop
9/10
$10,000
50
Omya (Schweiz) AG
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
N/A
Dar Al Handasah Consultants Shair & Partners Holdings Ltd.
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
50
Spark Therapeutics, Inc.
Guided Implementation
10/10
$61,979
20
Social Security Administration
Guided Implementation
10/10
$2,479
1
Baylor College of Medicine
Guided Implementation
8/10
$14,255
7
Cascades, Centre des Technologies
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
N/A
State of North Dakota
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
41
Agriculture Financial Services Corporation
Guided Implementation
8/10
$55,000
20
Mueller, Inc.
Guided Implementation
8/10
N/A
N/A
Baylor College of Medicine
Guided Implementation
8/10
$61,979
10
The Master's University
Guided Implementation
10/10
$100K
50
State of North Dakota
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
60
MCS Healthcare Holdings LLC
Workshop
10/10
$19,833
60
Multnomah County
Workshop
10/10
N/A
20
The Government of the Northwest Territories
Guided Implementation
8/10
$20,500
4
National Christian Foundation
Guided Implementation
8/10
$10,000
10
Socan
Workshop
9/10
$25,000
41
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
Onsite Workshop: Design an Enterprise Architecture Strategy
Onsite 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 onsite 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: Identify Stakeholders and Their Needs
The Purpose
- Identify the EA stakeholders and their needs.
Key Benefits Achieved
- An understanding of the stakeholders and their needs, which will be used to frame the EA value proposition.
Activities
Outputs
Identify and prioritize EA stakeholders.
- Stakeholder Power Map
Review strategic documents to understand organizational plans.
Conduct PESTLE analysis to identify business and technology trends.
- PESTLE Analysis
Interview stakeholders to identify business and technology needs.
- List of business and technology needs
Module 2: Create the EA Value Proposition
The Purpose
- Create a value proposition to communicate the value of EA by linking together EA’s contributions, stakeholder needs, and generated value.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Create a direct link between
stakeholder needs and ways EA can help stakeholders address those needs.
Activities
Outputs
Create business and technology drivers.
- List of business and technology drivers
Identify pains that obstruct stakeholders from addressing drivers.
- List of pains associated with business and technology drivers
Brainstorm EA contributions to alleviate pains.
- Set of EA contributions to alleviate the pains
Define promises of value to articulate the EA value proposition.
- Promises of value to articulate the EA value proposition
Module 3: Define the EA Fundamentals
The Purpose
- Create the EA fundamentals to guide the strategic direction of the EA function.
Key Benefits Achieved
- EA fundamentals are created to assist the EA function in making future decisions.
Activities
Outputs
Create the EA vision and mission statement.
- EA vision statement
- EA mission statement
Define the EA goals and objectives.
- EA goals and objectives
Determine EA scope.
- EA scope
Create a set of EA principles.
- List of EA principles
Module 4: Identify EA Services and Communicate the EA Strategy
The Purpose
- Define the EA services relevant to your organization.
- Present the EA strategy outputs to stakeholders to secure EA strategy approval.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Define the services EA will provide to the organization and how they will be delivered.
- Secure EA strategy approval.
Activities
Outputs
Define the services the EA function will provide.
- Defined list of EA services that the EA function is committed to providing
Plan next steps for the EA function.
Present workshop recommendations to EA stakeholders.
- Executive presentation to EA stakeholders