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SECTION : SERVICES / Integration / Enterprise Architecture
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Enterprise ArchitectureAfter years of investing in IT initiatives often without seeing the return on investments promised, today’s organizations are taking a tougher stance toward the IT decisions they make. IT departments are being asked to spend less and get more out of the infrastructures they already have in place. Businesses are requiring that IT initiatives support and align with the strategic business initiatives of the organization.
Management is now demanding more visibility into their IT department, an area that in the past was often treated as a "black box". While this certainly puts significant burden on IT, this approach is not without warrant. When IT departments do take the time to thoroughly examine themselves, inefficiencies and redundancies are often discovered. Applications are uncovered that no longer support the strategic direction of the organization. An IT staff, stretched to its limits in support is often the result of an overly diverse infrastructure and a lack of defined standards and processes.
Without a more effective approach to manage these initiatives, organizations will continue to experience inefficiencies and disconnects that will prevent them from reaching their full potential. Organizations may need to reassess their enterprise strategy when they are unable to answer questions such as:
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Solution OverviewOrganizations are now starting to realize the benefits of taking a more structured and holistic approach to enterprise initiatives. Achieving alignment of all architectural layers with the organization’s strategic direction and core goals can produce a clear and well thought-out strategy for implementation. Without this panoptic view, opportunities for organizational reuse and cost savings are missed, giving way to departmental silos and incompatibilities across the organization.
Enterprise Architecture (EA) is increasingly becoming a common practice to enable organizations to achieve their desired level of business strategy and IT investment alignment. Within the federal government, Departments and Agencies are now being mandated to institute EA to effectively manage their initiatives. However, simply instituting an EA does not automatically translate into successful and immediate results, as is often advertised. Understanding what it takes to effectively implement, use, and communicate an enterprise architecture will ultimately determine its success or failure.
Princeton Diversity Partners understands the various challenges and obstacles that must be overcome for a successful EA implementation. Our consultants focus on defining the organization’s critical EA success factors and developing an actionable plan to achieve those goals. Our methodology is adaptable and proven: we focus on understanding the organization’s goals and objectives, defining and documenting the current and to be environments, and developing a roadmap to get there.
Analyze the BusinessWe obtain an understanding of exactly how the organization conducts their business and ensure that strategic goals and objectives are understood and documented. These strategic objectives will eventually become the primary drivers within the EA for the technology and processes that are identified, established, or obtained. Identifying how the organization as a whole is structured and managed will help determine how the organization will eventually interact, update, and maintain the EA, once implemented. Key deliverables in this phase typically include an EA business case, communication plan, tool landscape analysis, suggested implementation timeline and project plan, and a concept of operations.
Define and Document the As-Is EnvironmentAssessing the applications, technologies, and processes in place at the organization establishes a baseline EA model. We work to gather this information through existing artifacts, interviews with key personnel, and other existing data sources. We work to identify and resolve any data quality and accessibility issues at this stage and focus on developing the reports and queries that will be used to extract meaningful data out of the EA model. Key deliverables in this phase typically include a working as-is EA model for the organization, a set of reports, and a gap analysis for organizational and process capabilities and technology infrastructure.
Define and Document the To-Be EnvironmentWith an understanding of existing gaps and inefficiencies, we work to define the desired state for the EA. Illustrating opportunities for cost savings, reuse, optimization, and interoperability will anchor the to-be architecture activities. Key deliverables in this phase typically include a working to-be EA model for the organization and identification analysis of targeted areas for improvement.
Develop Action PlansMany enterprise architectures fall short of delivering the anticipated benefits due to a lack of understanding of how to get from where the organization is to where they want to be. We develop an actionable and achievable road map and action plan to move the organization to the optimally defined state. Both strategic long term goals as well as shorter term tactical goals that can be implemented are identified here. Key deliverables in this phase typically include completed Strategic Planning documentation, overall phased implementation plan, and a business case and action plan for achieving the desired EA.
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