Enterprise Architecture
We recently organized a workshop at BiZZdesign for enterprise architects in healthcare. A mixed group, from hospitals and other healthcare providers. In the workshop, various issues were discussed. We want to highlight some of these topics in this blog.
In previous blogs in this series, we discussed the ‘wastes’ of enterprise architects and enterprise architectures. That may have sounded rather negative, but the main message of course is: EA is no goal in itself, it should support the organization. Regarding Lean we have the same message. Read more
In my previous blog posts, I discussed the way I see strategy work and the types of models that can be used, and how the business model canvas should be the focal point for architecture work. In this blog post, I will show that enterprise architecture is the tool to go from strategy and business model to execution.
Business models are a helpful way to define a business strategy and steer an organization in the “right” direction. Furthermore, business models foster discussions on the way organizations want to deliver value to their customers. Building business models is fun! Thinking about your organization and its future in an abstract manner is addictive, since there is no chance of failure…
Times are tough: many businesses are struggling to stay afloat in the wild economic currents. Many organizations attempt to find a “blue ocean” of uncontested space, but let’s face it: most of us are stuck in a “red ocean” with a lot of competition, growing power of both suppliers and consumers and increased threat of substitutes. Indeed, one can argue that it is “all hands on deck” for many organizations in their struggle to survive.
In our previous two blogs in this series, we outlined the connections between Lean Management and Enterprise Architecture. The focus of Lean is on taking day-to-day small steps for improvement. The elimination of waste and focus on customer value are central elements in Lean. Enterprise Architecture focuses on longer term results, but as we have seen in the previous blog in this series a Lean perspective is also powerful for Enterprise Architects. Read more
In Lean Management, a lot of time is spent finding and eliminating waste. Our processes and organizations are full of waste. In the Lean philosophy these wastes should not be dealt with as ‘problems’, but as opportunities for improvement.
Over the last two decades, Lean management has proved to be very powerful in improving an organization’s business process performance. During the same time frame, Enterprise Architecture came up as a discipline for controlling the complexity of organizations, their processes, information and IT. At first glance, both approaches appear very different in nature. Read more
This short video explains what The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) is and how Enterprise Architects can benefit from this open standard in their architecture work.
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Enterprise Architecture supports implementation of change in a coordinated way. Building an Enterprise Architecture Capability is a process of change in itself, and thus can be supported by Enterprise Architecture methods and tools. In this White Paper we described how a high-level approach for the initiation and development of the Enterprise Architecture capability can be derived from TOGAF, and especially its core component the Architecture Development Method (ADM). This high level approach consists of four steps:
In the webinar Business Model Innovation for Architects and their Stakeholders we presented the Business Model Canvas as a relevant tool for Architects in many roles. Changing systems and processes alone is no longer enough in the rapidly changing environment your organization is in today. Designing, innovating and changing business models becomes a discipline that is of increasingly importance for organizations both in profit and non-profit. We explained how this approach fits The Open Group standards TOGAF® and ArchiMate®.
The Decision Model (TDM) is a rapidly growing framework for modeling and executing the business logic behind business decisions. When I first read the book “The Decision Model – A Business Logic Framework Linking Business and Technology” by Larry Goldberg and Barbara von Halle, I was impressed with how TDM models the business logic behind operational business decisions. Read more
One of the main challenges of business model innovation and business model implementation is communication. We need to get the message to the right people, and communicate it in a way they understand, like, and can move forward with. In this blog post, we will describe different ways of communicating business models.
Implementing Enterprise Architecture in any organization requires an effective method and a consistent way of modeling to build architecture models. The Open Group standards TOGAF® and ArchiMate® are used worldwide to implement Enterprise Architecture. TOGAF® focuses on the method of implementing and maintaining Enterprise Architecture. ArchiMate® is an Enterprise Architecture modeling language standard. A lot of organizations in various markets worldwide use (a a combination of) these standards.
The last few years have been tough for many organizations, especially in (the aftermath of) the global economic turmoil. Getting to grips with the complexity of doing business is increasingly important. Many of the problems that organizations struggle with have similar characteristics. Consider for example:
No one is allowed to enter the building without proper authorization; all incoming e-mail messages are filtered; personal computers that are used to store sensitive data do not have a direct connection to the internet, and therefore cannot be accessed remotely. With these enterprise security rules, we have ensured that our private information is safe, right? Wrong!
In an earlier blog post, we introduced the Business Model Canvas (Osterwalder, 2009) as a useful tool for describing how a business captures, creates and delivers value. In this blog, we will elaborate on Business Models, introducing the subject of Business Model Analysis. We will present several possible analytical techniques, using the case of Nextpresso, a virtual coffee-cup company.