Architecting Success: Transforming EA into a Business Capability

In a recent webinar with Miranda Mason, Managing Director of Slalom Consulting, we explored the topic of how to transform Enterprise Architecture into a business capability.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of technology and business, the strategic alignment between an organization's objectives and its technological capabilities has never been more crucial. However, a disconnect in this alignment can lead to stagnation, inefficiency, and a diminished competitive edge. This results in technology redundancy, resource misallocation, and a sluggish response to market dynamics, directly impacting long-term profitability and sustainability.  Enterprise Architecture (EA) is vital for aligning business and IT strategies, particularly in large-scale transformation initiatives. 

Trends Driving EA

Organizations are increasingly acknowledging the importance of EA as a business capability to drive successful transformation. CIOs and IT leaders are partnering with business units to lead transformation initiatives, recognizing that technology is a critical enabler. While the majority of IT organizations have an EA capability, they are struggling to move at the pace the business needs. Effective EA practices help organizations manage complexity, reduce tech debt, and achieve cost savings while aligning technology with business objectives.

To mature their EA function, organizations need to:

• Increase the agility of their EA capability.
• Build tighter alignment with the business using a more federated EA operating model.
• Move away from old school Ivory Tower thinking where EAs are disconnected from everyday operations to a more modern EA approach which incorporates the rest of the business in decision making.
• Rationalize their application and technology landscape to reduce complexity and tech debt, enabling modernization.
  
  

51% of CIOs are in the process of maturing an EA capability.

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Common EA Challenges

Organizations wishing to realize the benefits of EA as a business capability typically face challenges related to how EA is seen in the organization and the resources it’s given. These can include:

• Lack of understanding of EA’s value by business stakeholders.
• EA teams being under-resourced and overwhelmed.
• Difficulty in supporting digital and business transformation, especially across global and cross-business unit initiatives.
• Absence of a robust EA tool or platform, which hinders the ability to manage and visualize the current and future state of the technology landscape.

Why Mature the EA Function?

Identify Positive ROI Opportunities

Because it works across the business, a modern EA approach can spot themes across silos and coordinate business case development of cross-cutting initiatives that would have limited effect within one silo or business unit.

Cost-saving Initiatives

Enterprise Architects can support cost-saving initiatives through license consolidation, infrastructure restructuring and optimizing technology sourcing to fit program objectives.

Optimize M&A Transactions

Modern EA practices can enhance mergers and acquisitions by simplifying transactions and identifying where savings can be made, for example, if the businesses involved use multiple types of the same system.

Bridge the Gap Between IT and Business 

Effective EAs are hybrid experts capable of communicating with a range of stakeholders; talking technology with technologists and business priorities with the business. They understand the space between what is wanted from the top and what is possible based on the reality of the systems and processes on the ground.

How to Reimagine EA

Turning EA into a business capability requires a mindset shift across the enterprise to drive transformational change. This mindset shift takes EA from a team to a program which involves the entire business, not just IT. It requires the EA capability to stay collaborative and engaged, using agile techniques to stay responsive to changing circumstances. This means moving away from the traditional approach of strict governance to something less restrictive, where the EA team provides guidance to drive EA efforts across the organization.

Before establishing a modern EA program, it’s important to ask some key questions. These include:

• How is the business managing typical architecture activities, such as governance, standards and road mapping?
• What is the impact of current architecture practices?
• Who are the key stakeholders, and how will their needs be addressed by new EA practices?
• Does the existing technology stack meet current (short-term) and future (long-term) business needs?

The EA Modernization Journey

Once these questions have been answered, you can begin your EA modernization journey. This will involve:

• Defining EA Capabilities: Understand and assess roles, responsibilities, and current maturity levels.
• Developing Initiatives: Identifying actions to improve EA maturity and align with business goals.
• Creating a Roadmap: Planning and prioritizing initiatives to achieve the desired state over time.

Assess EA Capabilities

A structured framework to assess, mature, and govern EA capabilities could include these steps:

1. Assessment: Understanding the current state of an organization’s EA, including maturity levels, existing processes, governance, and stakeholder needs. This information could be gathered through interviews.
2. Future State Definition: Determining where the organization wants to be in terms of EA maturity and defining the necessary initiatives to bridge the gap. Initiatives are prioritized based on impact and how long they could be expected to take.
3. Roadmap Development: Creating a detailed plan with prioritized initiatives to achieve desired maturity levels. This starts with quick wins i.e. what could be done in a short period of time, such as three months, that have an immediate and substantial impact, before looking at what can be done in 12, 18 or 24 months.

EA Capability Framework

A good EA capability framework includes several key components:

• Governance and Standards: Establishing policies and procedures for EA activities.
• Architecture Execution: Implementing and managing EA projects.
• Business and IT Alignment: Ensuring tight collaboration between business units and IT.
• Tools and Platforms: Leveraging EA tools like Ardoq to automate and accelerate EA work.

By leveraging a structured approach to defining and improving their EA capabilities and using a robust EA platform like Ardoq, organizations can better align their technology and business units, driving transformation and achieving strategic outcomes. Slalom Consulting's expertise makes them a vital partner to deliver this value.

To learn more about how to modernize EA and transform it into a business capability, you can access the full webinar recording here.