Create An Agile Enterprise Architecture. Use an EA Management Tool Plus Best Practices

Create An Agile Enterprise Architecture. Use an EA Management Tool Plus Best Practices

Enterprise Architecture Management is a term that’s widely thrown around in our industry. Some vendors even classify their software as an ‘enterprise architecture management tool’. An agile enterprise architecture management capability in an organization isn’t just based on using a limited tool to execute as-is architecture and do Technology Risk Management and Application Portfolio Management (so, the traditional enterprise architecture outcomes).

To create an agile enterprise architecture, you need the right enterprise architecture management tool, of course. However, your enterprise architecture management capability must be built on a solid foundation of best practices.

Importance of an enterprise architecture management practice

Our roles as architects are changing. More enterprises are now considering Enterprise Architecture as a strategic capability to address their transformation challenges in a rapidly evolving environment. We’re no longer viewed as ‘nice to have’ or as ‘academics’. Therefore, as architects, we can’t continue to practice ‘old school’ enterprise architecture. We must become more strategic and agile. How can we achieve this?

“You need to make your enterprise architecture management practice more relevant and powerful by embedding it into the daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly DNA of the enterprise. As a first step: Build an agile enterprise architecture based on best practices.”

We describe six best practices for creating an agile enterprise architecture management capability in your organization in our Agile Enterprise Architecture Management guide.

We focus on:

1. Define your enterprise architecture value streams and capabilities: Strive for maturity
2. Create a set of enterprise architecture services: Repeatable work gets the job done faster
3. Set up a federated team: Knowledge-sharing and collaboration
4. Measure the enterprise architecture team’s success: Create strategic value
5. Deliver continuous improvement: Support investments in services
6. Adopt an agile enterprise architecture management tool: Automation and integration

Treat your enterprise architecture management capability like any other product or service to customers with formal ownership and management. An ‘owner’ needs to organize the enterprise architecture offerings according to well-defined value streams (in line with the organization’s strategic direction) that create value for customers and the organization. There needs to be a big focus on creating customer value and customer-centricity.
Your enterprise architecture management practice needs to offer enterprise architecture services to your organization that are delivered consistently to streamline onboarding and optimize skills.
By taking this approach, your team could explicitly define critical metrics and KPIs to measure the value created from these value streams. Deliver targeted business outcomes based on customer value as captured in customer stories and measured in the value stream metrics. Focus on the capability improvements required to deliver customer value.

Next steps?

Bizzdesign offers prescriptive and predefined out-of-the-box solutions to help you develop your own set of repeatable services. Check out:

Solution Architecture Management: Helps Solutions Architects work smarter and faster while ensuring a great design experience.

Application Portfolio Management Plus: Start gaining control of your application landscape with full transparency into your portfolio. Take transformation analysis and design to the next level.

SWIFT CSP Compliance Solution: Complete Swift CSP Attestation faster and at a substantially reduced cost. Our solution includes a pre-packaged set of CSP control models, dashboards and scripts built on our enterprise architecture platform, Bizzdesign Horizzon, which also allows you to leverage existing architecture models.

Contact us:

Please book time with us for more information on our out-of-the-box solutions or best practices for your enterprise architecture management capability.