Sharing Success Factors for Enterprise
Architecture
Sally Bean
sally@sallybean.com
© Sally Bean 2012
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Who am I?
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EAC Europe Program Director/Chair since 2006
10 years as an independent EA consultant
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Prior to that, 25 years at British Airways
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EA frameworks
EA team/skills development
Social architecture of EA
10 years as a Business Systems Architect
Championed cross-departmental collaborative projects
Worked on major change programmes
Organised Architects’ community
Special interest in EA and Systems Thinking/Cybernetics
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How do I know Martin?
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What am I going to talk about?
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Some of my thoughts and ideas for the future of EA
Taking the Key Success factors described in “Building an
EA Practice” as a framework for the talk
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Key Dimensions of Architecture
From Building an EA Practice (page 3)
Vision
Product
Process
People
Plan
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Key Success Factors for Architecture
(Summarised)
Be Clear on the Why and
What of Architecture
Vision
Integrate Architecture with
Business Strategy AND
Projects
Product
Process
Ensure Architecture
actually steers
behaviour towards
business goals
People
Think outside-in
Plan
Balance Thought and Action
Involve the right
stakeholders in the
right manner
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Since 2006….
What’s changed?
 Increasing fragmentation –
globalisation, outsourcing,
virtualisation,
consumerization, cloud,
shared services
 Role of IT department in
flux
 Increasing interest in
Business Architecture
 Getting easier to find EA
success stories
What hasn’t changed?
 Need for coherence and
agility in organizations
 We are still arguing about
what EA is, and what its
value is
 Basic success factors still
apply
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Key Success Factor: VISION
Be Clear on the Why and
What of Architecture
Vision
Product
Process
People
Plan
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Will we ever have a universal
definition of EA?
18th April 2011
An enterprise architecture (EA) is a rigorous description of the structure of
an enterprise, which comprises enterprise components (business entities), the
externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships (e.g.
the behaviour) between them.
7th January 2012
The Enterprise Architecture Research Forum defines the practice of enterprise
architecture as follows:
Enterprise Architecture is the continuous practice of describing the essential
elements of a sociotechnical organization, their relationships to each other and
to the environment, in order to understand complexity and manage change.[1]
2nd Feb 2012
……….Gartner, one of the leading business research firms, defines the practice
of enterprise architecture as follows:
Enterprise architecture (EA) is the process of translating business vision and
strategy into effective enterprise change by creating, communicating and
improving the key requirements, principles and models that describe the
enterprise's future state and enable its evolution.
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The Building Metaphor is often used to illustrate
the importance of Architecture
The ‘Gherkin’
The Winchester Mystery House
Source: http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/press.html
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All is not what it seems:
Winchester Mystery House?
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Built in San Jose, California by Sarah Winchester, the rifle
heiress, after death of husband and child
Built continuously over 38 years; 22 carpenters
Approximately 160 rooms
40 Staircases
Filled with unexplained oddities and bizarre features
Lots of dead ends - a house "where downstairs leads
neither to the cellar nor upstairs to the roof “
Design Objective: Confuse the Spirits
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All is not what it seems:
The Gherkin
Design objective:
“Symbolise the innovation and success of Swiss Re’s
complex products and services portfolio”
The reality?
“…..fabulous from the outside, but inside it’s completely
banal and it’s not functioning very well in terms of
workplace culture. …..”
(Tom Dyckhoff)
The ‘Gherkin’
So what
buildings
does
Tom like?
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An alternative metaphor for the enterprise?
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Is it possible to distribute capacities for intelligence and
control throughout an enterprise so that the system as a
whole can self-organise and evolve along with emerging
challenges?
(Gareth Morgan, Images of Organization, 1997)
What does this mean for EA?
What can EA learn from systems thinking & cybernetics?
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The ‘Why and What of EA’
My view
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Metaphors are great for bringing the idea of EA to life, but we
should apply them thoughtfully and not extend them too far
The Building metaphor has limitations, and does not reflect the
dynamic complexity and human qualities of the enterprise
We need to consider more organic metaphors
EA seems to be most successful when there’s a clear primary
motivation for it aligned with the values of the organisation
If there isn’t one, ask ‘Where’s the pain? And ‘Who cares’?
Organisations should develop a ‘pragmatically loose’
description of EA that fits their context and evolves over time
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Key Success Factors: PROCESS and PEOPLE
Vision
Integrate Architecture with
Business Strategy AND
Projects
Product
Process
People
Think outside-in
Plan
Involve the right
stakeholders in the
right manner
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What I see: Mainstream EA approaches are
inaccessible to non-architects
Zachman Framework?
(Abstract content; no process)
TOGAF
IT process oriented
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The DYA process framework is much easier
for a non-EA person to understand
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What does increased fragmentation and a stronger
emphasis on Business Architecture mean for EA?
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?
?
?
?
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My view: A generic model of enterprise change,
without architecture
(market, legislators, supply chain, etc)
External environment
Change the Business
Strategic Dialogue
and Planning
Run the
Business
Change Programmes & Projects
(People, Process, IT, Facilities)
Day-to-day Operations and Management
Processes
Guiding Processes
Core Processes
Enabling Processes
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How does architecture contribute?
(market, legislators, supply chain, etc)
External environment
Change the Business
Strategic Dialogue
More coherent
and Planning
business change by
design
Understanding
Of Performance
Run the
Business
Change Programmes & Projects
(People,
Process,
IT, Facilities)
Efficient
and Coherent
Change Projects
Change
directives
Operational
Expertise
Improved
capabilities
Day-to-day Operations and Management
Processes
A more coherent, resilient and adaptive
Guiding Processes
Enterprise
Core Processes
Enabling Processes
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EA can be positioned as a collaborative
PRACTICE that facilitates business change
(market, legislators, supply chain, etc)
External environment
Change the Business
Strategic Dialogue
& Planning
Collaborative
Practices
Run the
Business
Change Projects
(People, Process, IT, Facilities)
EA
Day-to-day Operations and Management
Processes
Guiding Processes
Core Processes
Enabling Processes
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Helpful to distinguish Core activities from
extended activities
Investment &
‘Roadmap’
planning
(market, legislators, supply chain, etc)
Holistic Business/IT
change design
External environment
Business &
Technology Trend
assessment
Change the Business
Strategic Dialogue
& Planning
Collaborative
Standards,
Practices
Policies
and
Governance
Run the
Business
Project Guidance
and Assurance
Change Projects
(People, Process, IT, Facilities)
Enterprise Model
Management
EA
Day-to-day Operations and Management
Processes
Training?
Asset
Optimisation?
Guiding Processes
Core Processes
Enabling Processes
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EA is more a discipline than a department, with a
wide community of interest
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Core
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Extended
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People accountable for
EA practice, process and
coherence
People who contribute
to the production of EA
or are involved in its
governance
Consumers
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People who make use of
EA content
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CORE EA people must engage with many other
different practice communities
(market, legislators, supply chain, etc)
External environment
Change the Business
Strategic Dialogue
& Planning
Practices
Run the
Business
EA
Change Projects
(People, Process, IT, Facilities)
OD
BPM
PM
Dev
etc
Day-to-day Operations and Management
Processes
Guiding Processes
Core Processes
Enabling Processes
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Key Success Factor: PRODUCT
Vision
Product
Ensure Architecture
actually steers
behaviour towards
business goals
Process
People
Plan
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Architecture is not always user-friendly or
actionable
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Unwieldy, full of
abstractions
Lacks rationale
Incoherent,
incomprehensible
inconsistent
notations…….
Random levels of
precision
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What I see: 3 types of EA content
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Prescriptive
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Descriptive
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Stating fundamental principles, policies, guidelines and standards to support
the organisation’s operating model, cohesiveness and strategic direction.
Models that must be adhered to, to maintain coherence
Models, inventories and other artifacts that describe key elements of
business, its information systems and technologies
Descriptions of pattern-based knowledge
Contextual descriptions that help to make architecture more relevant and
understandable
Programmatic
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Content with a time-based element to it, incorporating interdependencies
E.g. Presenting a target state architecture and a coordinated portfolio of
projects to achieve it, including building blocks that can be shared by
organisations or projects
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A way of think about selecting, communicating
and managing architecture content
Prescriptive
Provide direction and
guidance – or protocols
for communicating .
Must be authoritative,
widely communicated
and supported by
governance procedures
Primarily provide information.
Must ensure ownership,
audience, usage and value is
clearly understood
Descriptive
Time-based element Primarily coordinate
architectural change
dependencies
Programmatic
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Any given deliverable may contain any or each of
these elements
Prescriptive
The EA team does not maintain
all the content, but provides the
framework, structure and
governance to ensure that it’s
self-consistent and accurate
e.g. Architecture
Principles
e.g. Technology Road Maps
Descriptive
Programmatic
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Key Success Factor: PLAN
Vision
Product
Process
People
Plan
Balance Thought and Action
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In Summary
Design for
adaptation and learning
as well as execution
Vision
Product
Process
Use the content triangle to
ensure architecture
products are purposeful
People
Promote collaborative
practices as well as
processes
Plan
Make sure you keep moving
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