Setting-up an EA function
Your organization's business and IT landscape has grown increasingly complex over time? Individual projects are poorly aligned and do not leverage common standards? There is no master planning process in place to guide the evolution of the landscape as a whole?
It may be the right time then, to implement an Enterprise Architecture (EA) function within your organization. However, this can become a quite difficult task.
Avoiding Typical Pitfalls
There are a lot of pitfalls when implementing an EA function. In practice, the risk of failure is high. According to our experience, these are some of the main sources of trouble:
- the EA function is positioned inappropriately and there are no clear goals defined
- the concerns of the different stakeholder groups are not accounted for adequately
- the value contribution of the EA function is not communicated sufficiently
- the EA function is focused on IT only and ignores the business architecture
- too much ressources are spent on the introduction and maintenance of a complex EA tool
- there are no defined EA processes
- interfaces with other processes are not defined clearly
- architecture governance is either too weak or too strong
- the EA function is poorly connected to the operational level and has no 'road contact'
- the EA function is fragmented across the organization and lacks a holistic approach
Our Approach
There is no one-fits-all approach to EA. Instead, the specific situation (and maturity) of the organization needs to be accounted for. Any EA implementation should hence start with a thorough stakeholder analysis. This way, the services to be provided by the EA function can be identified and prioritized. Based on this, adequate processes and tools can be derived.
Our experienced consultants have implemented EA functions in various organizations. They are familiar with the prevalent architecture frameworks (like TOGAF). In addition to this, they have a collection of reusable reference models, checklists, and documentation templates at hand. This helps to mitigate risks and may speed up implementation considerably.
Our Services at a Glance
- Development / tailoring of a suitable EA framework (incl. information model and processes)
- Introduction of standard EA frameworks like TOGAF
- Selection and introduction of an adequate EA tool
- Roll-out of the EA organization and processes (incl. Change Management)
- Initial capturing of the as-is landscape
EA in Small and Medium Enterprises
The value of an effective EA function is not limited to large organizations. Even comparatively small firms can benefit from an EA implementation, especially when they are operating internationally or growing fast.
However, smaller enterprises usually have different requirements regarding agility and cost efficiency. Hence, the right balance needs to be found. Our consultants have specific experiences with implementing EA functions in such firms and are looking forward to share these with you.