Enterprise Architecture
In the first part of this blog post, we discussed in general how the structure of the ArchiMate modeling language matches the structure of both component and feature teams. In this second part, we want to go a bit deeper into this topic.
In the most recent post in our ongoing series on agile and architecture, I argued why architecture models are valuable for agile organizations. That post concentrated on the ways in which you can use these models to foster business agility at the enterprise level. In this post I want to zoom in a bit and discuss how architecture models and ArchiMate in particular can support agile teams. Read more
While we are navigating the “new normal”, we are trying to cope with things in the best possible way. As such, we continue to realize new product developments and improvements for our customers. Read more
CSL Behring is part of CSL Limited, the world’s third largest biotech company. CSL has over 25,000 employees with operations in more than 35 countries and annual revenues close to $9 billion. When COVID-19 started to grow into a worldwide pandemic, as an organization, CSL Behring reacted in a globally-coordinated manner to ensure that any negative impact to their business would be minimized. Read more
It comes as a surprise when something as unlikely as a worldwide pandemic happens. It’s the sort of event that you may prepare for, but will likely never experience. Instead, you think, “Not in my lifetime,” or perhaps “Not where I live.” COVID-19, however, showed us that low probability of an event doesn’t mean its occurrence is impossible. Read more
These are strange times and for many of us the world has been turned upside-down by the Covid-19 pandemic. Enterprise architects, used to a medium- and long-term focus, suddenly and urgently need to contribute to the very survival of their organizations in the immediate term. This requires a thorough rethink of what we do, but we won’t have time to sit back and contemplate the EA discipline. We need to take action now and with this blog post I want to give you some concrete ideas on this. Read more
With the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, it seems hard to imagine that so little time ago everything was business as usual. Read more
At BiZZdesign, we believe collaboration is a key success factor for business change. In fact, collaboration is one of the main drivers behind the development of HoriZZon. Read more
My colleagues Marc and Matthijs recently finished a series on innovation, which made me think of the importance of being forward-facing in today’s marketplace but also of the fact that many organizations suffer on that front. Their premise was that enterprise architects can help businesses overcome this problem, given their strategic positioning within the enterprise and the valuable insights they can deliver decision makers – I recommend you read it.
Schaeffler is a globally acting component supplier for the mechanical engineering and automotive industry employing around 89,000 people. Facing the challenges and opportunities of digitization and transition from combustion engines to fuel-cell and electric vehicles, the business processes and underpinning application landscape and technology use are in an ongoing transition; generating a strong need for Enterprise Architecture. In this blog we outline the nature of EA at Schaeffler and tool support by BiZZdesign’s solution, focusing on architecture modeling quality. Read more
Welcome to the second part of this series on process optimization challenges. Last time we went over the importance of simplicity in process, and more specifically how looking at the big picture when affecting change can ensure that you make a more significant improvement.
Earlier this year, we published a blog about how enterprise architects can contribute to innovation. In this blog series, we want to further explore the different roles enterprise architects can play in innovation in their organization. In general, we see an increasing need for and contribution of an architectural perspective on innovation. That’s because most large organizations have become pretty complex beasts and innovating there is not always easy. Lots of moving parts need to be coordinated but not many people have the necessary overview. This is typically where enterprise architecture can add value.
We’ve spoken about security on this blog before. We addressed how you can build a better protected organization with the help of enterprise architecture, for instance, and also collated our thoughts on improving cybersecurity with EA in a whitepaper (have a read if you haven’t already). That’s because we are genuinely preoccupied with the topic and we make it our business to not only adhere to high security standards ourselves, but also create awareness within our industry around this important subject.
Across the globe, Enterprise Architecture teams deliver three key organizational functions. Firstly, they provide understanding of their current organization; this enables the organization to effectively control and regulate its existing operating model. Secondly, those teams provide a window into the organization’s potential, insight into where value can be found and unlocked, and an insight into the future. Thirdly, EA teams drive, enable and support the iterative improvement of this direction setting insight, and with that they translate strategy into reality, creating real business value.
At BiZZdesign, we’ve had many engagements throughout the years where we were brought in to breathe new life into failing enterprise architecture initiatives. A common denominator across many of these projects was replacing an ineffective trinity of Visio, Excel, and PowerPoint.
In our experience, many organizations find it appropriate to start off an EA practice with a cheap, homemade solution. The thinking is that once some value has been achieved, they may then (maybe) graduate to a professional tool. In this webinar, Marc Lankhorst, Managing Consultant and Chief Technology Evangelist, will explain why we think that’s absolutely the wrong approach if you want to do real, meaningful architecture work that makes an organization more competitive.
The webinar will address specific reasons why real EA platforms beat simple office tools every time for doing true architecture work, addressing topics such as modeling vs. just drawing pictures, analysis vs. looking at pictures, real collaboration vs. mere publication, integration vs. copy-paste, and more. If you’re an architect, this will give you solid arguments to convince management why your organization needs to invest in a proper solution.
A Request for Proposal (or Request for Information) is a critical stage in any business transformation process. With the need to procure a professional tool onto which to anchor the enterprise architecture practice clearly identified, the next step is just as important – but not so straightforward. It is at this junction point that one must ask themselves – How do we identify the best offer out there? What should/shouldn’t we prioritize? And is it possible to make it more difficult for ourselves, or perhaps even endanger the transformation initiative through our own fault?
At the Open Group conference in Amsterdam in November 2019, the latest version of the ArchiMate modeling language for enterprise architecture was released. Version 3.1 is an update to the previous major version 3.0 (released in 2016). Despite being ‘just’ a minor version update, it holds a number of useful additions and improvements for EA practitioners.
A great many organizations have migrated their workloads (databases, back office systems, web applications etc.) to the cloud over the last decade or so. A great many more have still to do so, either because they’re dealing with industry-specific regulatory requirements or, more likely, because of the disruption this change would cause. In any case, the benefits of a cloud migration are well-known at this point, so we won’t waste time talking about those.
Our recent blog post on abstraction levels in architecture models resulted in a lively discussion on LinkedIn. As part of that discussion, the notion of layering was questioned, and in particular the layers that are built into the ArchiMate language. In this post I want to clarify the thinking behind the language structure.