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Embedding EAM into strategic planning - Leveraging EAM for strategic planning

Q: Describe management recommendations for analysing the situation:

gaining EA transparency requires: Set scope: in order to address the main stakeholders’ concerns and to keep the documentation and maintenance efforts reasonable strong functional management involvement: increases awareness and acceptance of modelling activities Management must mandate the preparation and maintenance of architectural descriptions : as part of project management guidelines in order to ensure that changes are incorporated into the architecture documentation

Q: What is EAM's role in elaboratin on strategic option?

to help assess and evaluate options: to which organisations must adapt, based on analysis and scanning the environment to address strategic architecture concerns by initiating dedicated architecture-driven initiatives

Q: Describe management recommendation in order to support EAM's role in assessing Strategic architecture initiatives a

The EAM team should be encouraged to suggest dedicated EA related objectives and evaluate business cases for strategic architecture initiatives. Management must promote architecture initiatives to tackle enterprise architecture deficits. Such initiatives reduce the burden for business and IT projects, which are often beset by architecture issues, but do not have the means to solve them within their project scope. Management must assign sufficient resources (e.g., a dedicated budget), since it is difficult to create short-term business cases for architecture initiatives; if not, the initiatives’ effectiveness may be harmed by architectural constraints, local politics and resource battles.

10 important questions on Embedding EAM into strategic planning - Leveraging EAM for strategic planning

Why is elaborating on strategic options through EAM usefull for strategic business and IT options?

1. Because EA analyses illustrate how strategic options affect the different parts and resources of the organisation.
2. And decisions can be taken more consciously, because:

the impact of strategic options, notably the required changes in business and IT, becomes explicit;
the scope of the initiatives is set more appropiately;
business-IT communication is enhanced.

3. But one has to ensure architects' participation in strategy processes.

Why is elaborating on strategic options through EAM usefull for strategic architecture initiatives?

1. Because an EAM is the driver of strategic architecture initiatives, such as

standardisation & harmonisation and
service orientation & modularisation and
the implementation of reference models and industry norms.

2. And, architecture initiatives prepare the organisation to better cope with future requirements.
3. Also, dedicated architecture initiatives ensure that structural problems are systematically addressed.

What is the use of developing the architecture vision?

By developing a high-level architecture model, such as a target operating model (TOM), the architecture vision refines and explicates the strategic directions.
This target architecture provides a collaborative view that many managers and architects create in a joint effort.

How can EAM contribute to assessing and prioritising the project portfolio?

Two initiatives are important: strategic and emergent & operational initiatives. EAM complements traditional project portfolio techniques by:

assessing the projects' strategic contribution and conformance with the target architecture;
identifying and resolving interdependencies and implementation conflicts in project portfolios;
identifying potentials for shared developments.

What is important at evaluating architecture development: steering strategy implementation?

EAM supports strategy evaluation by:

measuring and reviewing EA status and evolution; EAM regularly monitors and reviews the current EA status;
monitoring the progress of strategic initiatives along the agreed roadmap;
linking business performance indicators to EA models.

What is important at Analysing the situation: Achieving transparancy concerning the As-Is state?

EA documentation complements the traditional information basis for strategic decision-making;
EA documentation should be created step by step;
Involve stakeholdes (e.g. functional managers) and experts in creating EA documentation.

Describe management recommendations for analysing the situation:

gaining EA transparency requires:

Set scope: in order to address the main stakeholders’ concerns and to keep the documentation and maintenance efforts reasonable
strong functional management involvement: increases awareness and acceptance of modelling activities
Management must mandate the preparation and maintenance of architectural descriptions:
- as part of project management guidelines
- in order to ensure that changes are incorporated into the architecture documentation

What is EAM's role in elaboratin on strategic option?

to help assess and evaluate options:
- to which organisations must adapt, based on analysis and scanning the environment
to address strategic architecture concerns by initiating dedicated architecture-driven initiatives

Describe management recommendation in order to support EAM's role in assessing Strategic architecture initiatives a

The EAM team should be encouraged to suggest dedicated EA related objectives and evaluate business cases for strategic architecture initiatives.
Management must promote architecture initiatives to tackle enterprise architecture deficits. Such initiatives reduce the burden for business and IT projects, which are often beset by architecture issues, but do not have the means to solve them within their project scope.
Management must assign sufficient resources (e.g., a dedicated budget), since it is difficult to create short-term business cases for architecture initiatives; if not, the initiatives’ effectiveness may be harmed by architectural constraints, local politics and resource battles.

Describe Management recommendations for evaluating the architecture evolution.

Understand that achieving and maintaining up-to-date EA documentation are essential for strategy evaluation through EAM.
Mandate the use of measures and performance indicators. The EAM cockpit describes a suitable structure and the KPIs.
Understand that incorporating additional data in the EA models may support further usage scenarios and thereby increase EAM awareness and acceptance.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

Strategic Enterprise Architecture Management Challenges, Best Practices, and Future Developments | 9783642242236 | Frederik Ahlemann, et al

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