KeyBank

KeyBank is a large regional based financial services company located within the United States of America. They have over 1,000 branches and 40,000 ATMs scattered over 15 states. A Bizzdesign customer since 2017, KeyBank’s enterprise architecture management team consists of about 20 architects ranging from solution, domain, business and enterprise architects, all guided by a Chief Architect. Collectively, the team manages an estimated 1,600 individually identified applications.

The Challenge – Why KeyBank required a unified, centralized architecture repository?

KeyBank’s enterprise architecture management team lacked a centralized repository for their solution architecture diagrams. They were using Microsoft PowerPoint and Visio to design and store diagrams. , With this shortsighted approach diagrams were dispersed across multiple SharePoint sites and shared drives, making it difficult to find and extract useful information about solutions.

The bank also heavily depended on outside consultants. Since they were not using a centralized architecture repository, when these consultants left, the bank lost significant insights about various solutions, including their historical context and specifics.

Additionally, architects sometimes designed solutions that used the same technologies. Nonetheless, because they did not have an architecture repository to share this information, architects often reproduced diagrams unnecessarily. They, therefore, wanted to reuse knowledge rather than continually reproducing the same redundant content.

The team realized they needed a central architecture repository to locate reliable, clean diagrams quickly. They investigated a couple of enterprise architecture tools in the market and subsequently chose Bizzdesign Horizzon.

KeyBank’s enterprise architecture management team specifically utilized the centralized and collaborative nature of Bizzdesign, mainly its check-in, check-out capabilities. This feature enables the reuse of diagrams, allowing team members to leverage their colleagues’ related diagrams.

The team adopted ArchiMate as an enterprise architecture framework to make diagrams universally understandable across the team. To broaden their knowledge, they attended training sessions at Bizzdesign Academy.

The solution – How KeyBank overcame architectural challenges with centralized diagramming

As a first step, KeyBank integrated data from ServiceNow CMDB into their diagrams in Bizzdesign. They wanted to leverage the substantial information they already had in ServiceNow and feed this data into Bizzdesign. With a list of their identified applications in Bizzdesign, architects can design more detailed accurate diagrams around applications and interconnect them.

KeyBank now has a consistent and stable ‘source of truth’ that enforces a common notation system. It has now become easier to reference information from all their verticals: retail, small business, corporate, commercial and investment, into their design.

For this, they use the ‘viewpoint’ functionality in Bizzdesign, where architects can ‘bubble’ the underlying metadata to the surface, emphasizing certain aspects to create diagrams that stakeholders can easily understand.

Security metadata is also embedded into the architecture repository. Security architects are informed of the security stance of a particular architecture based on the flags already ingested from ServiceNow.

With a centralized architecture repository, KeyBank can also establish enterprise architecture standards around architecture diagramming. At their weekly Architectural Review Board meetings, architects now present solution architecture diagrams grounded in the Bizzdesign architecture repository so that there is a record of it, rather than simply a static PowerPoint presentation.

They have also added Bizzdesign’s ‘scripting’ feature to put a triage process in place so they can review and validate diagrams before they get approved by the Architectural Review Board.

Key Benefits – Benefits of using a centralized architecture repository for diagram development

KeyBank uses Bizzdesign as a standardized, centralized repository for diagram development and management. As a result, they enjoy the following benefits:

A central repository boosts efficiency
The central Bizzdesign architecture repository has simplified information sharing by providing a single source for all relevant information. This has eliminated redundant efforts and reduced the need for multiple meetings for information collection. Instead, they now have a base they can readily retrieve and work from.

Common language promotes consistency
Using Bizzdesign as a repository for architecture diagrams at KeyBank has created a common foundation and language for diagramming. Earlier, every diagram style was different, representing siloed, tribal knowledge. Now they have developed standards for designing architecture diagrams.

Est. 10% time-saving in architecture creation and approval
Using Bizzdesign for architecture creation and approval enables architects to make decisions more swiftly, saving time compared to their former approach utilizing SharePoint and PowerPoint.

A unified architecture framework ensures governance
By integrating their ServiceNow CMDB with their diagrams in Bizzdesign, KeyBank ensures compliance with their internal policies, maintaining governance across all architectural designs.

Collaborative enterprise architecture tool fosters teamwork
The use of a common foundation language for diagramming has fostered improved collaboration. Teams can now design diagrams that link to others, enabling them to reuse diagrams and information.

Consistent standards enhance data integrity
The team’s commitment to a unified language and format in architecture diagramming reinforces data integrity. This common ‘language’ minimizes misunderstanding and supports informed decision-making. This consistency proves critical in the discussion of solutions and the construction of system architectures.

Solving financial audit items to improve solutions over time
KeyBank can now solve financial audit items such as asset optimization and compliance with financial regulations. They ensure that all their applications are optimally utilized, and they can identify redundancies. By leveraging the Bizzdesign architecture repository, KeyBank also ensures their architecture complies with SOX regulations.