Enterprise Architecture Management

EAM

The Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) capability is the ability to envision, plan, design, lead, manage, and control organizations, systems, and/or processes in current, transitionary, and future states, and the relationships between them. Architecture conceptualizations may be layered to represent specific types of relationships — for example, those between applications, business services, internal IT services, security, networking, data storage, and so on.

Structure

EAM is made up of the following Categories and CBBs. Maturity and Planning are described at both the CC and the CBB level.

AGovernance

A1Architecture Governance: Determine the principles, decision rights, rules, and methods that are used to give direction to, and monitor the development of, enterprise architecture and its alignment and integration with wider organizational governance.
A2Architecture Roles and Engagement: Define the roles and responsibilities required for enterprise architecture management. Determine the depth of architect coverage based on the organization's needs, and describe the type and engagement of architects within the organization's context.
A3Architecture Funding: Develop approaches to funding enterprise architecture management and architecture improvement initiatives.

BBusiness Enablement

B1Enterprise Design: Collaborate and support the organization through the design, creation, and evolution of business models, organization structures, ecosystem and related interfaces, operating model designs (business capabilities, value streams), gap analysis, and roadmaps to the future.
B2Architecture Alignment: Collaborate and support the development of enterprise strategy and planning. Use architecture principles and blueprints to align business needs and organizational capabilities. Define strategic guidelines for selecting capabilities for IT enablement and investment.
B3Architecture Value: Define, measure, and communicate the business value of enterprise architecture. Track and report benefits realized from project portfolios and programmes delivering on the enterprise architecture initiated roadmaps.

CArchitecture Enablement

C1Architecture Framework: Provide the overarching framework of standards, templates, and specifications for organizing and presenting a description of the business and technical architectures.
C2Architecture Processes: Provide the processes to define, develop, and maintain architecture components and their interrelationships.
C3Architecture Planning: Plan and deliver the enterprise architecture vision and strategic objectives.
C4Architecture Tools and Techniques: Determine and select the tools and techniques required to ensure consistent and repeatable delivery of architecture across the organization.

DPeople

D1Skills and Competences: Define and develop the skills and competences required for architect roles and stakeholders within the organization.
D2Communication and Stakeholder Management: Manage communication with stakeholders who are interested in, or are influenced by, enterprise architecture management, and manage their expectations of what it can deliver.

Overview

Goal

The Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) capability aims to enable the organization set and attain its strategic, tactical, and operational objectives by providing guidance and an overarching approach to architecture for business strategy, business model design and use, and the provision of aligned business and technology roadmaps.

Objectives

Enable the business understand its current composition, utility, costs, and sources of value generation.
Envision and develop the programmes and projects necessary to support its future strategic objectives.
Indicate the technical standards and operating principles for guiding business solution design and technology choices.
Ensure consistency and integration across processes, information, applications, and infrastructure for optimal business performance.
Improve business processes and enhance productivity across the organization by unifying and integrating data linkages.
Reduce business complexity through the reuse and sharing of functional components, and through standardization of technologies and infrastructure.
Minimize and manage organization and project-level risks through more informed project portfolio and solutions planning.
Promote sound architecture management guidelines, practices, and governance.
Provide a vision and leadership for the architecture function.
Manage the architectural skills and architecture resourcing.
Capture, analyse, and communicate the impact of enterprise architecture activities.

Scope

Definition

Improvement Planning

Practices-Outcomes-Metrics (POM)

Representative POMs are described for EAM at each level of maturity.

2Basic

Practice
Select architecture frameworks, toolsets, vendors, and partners.
Outcome
Knowledge acquisition efforts can focus on the selected options.
Metric
Survey results that identify organization support and resistance for architecture projects.
Practice
Develop enterprise architecture processes and procedures with key stakeholders.
Outcome
People know what to do and stakeholder expectations are set.
Metrics
- Satisfaction ratings for the architecture function.
- Basic counters and trends.
Practice
Train staff for identified architecture roles and those staff who will interact with architecture.
Outcome
Staff are competent in architecture roles and users effectively use architecture artefacts.
Metric
Costs and resource usage.
Practice
Provide clear ownership and leadership for the enterprise architecture function.
Outcome
Successful outcomes are more common.
Metric
Aggregated project portfolio, programme, and project metrics for dash boards, and project phase and task metrics for diagnosis.

3Intermediate

Practice
Assign only competent staff to architect roles.
Outcome
Enterprise architecture quality is maintained.
Metric
Error and rework counts and costs.
Practice
Issue and enforce, as necessary, architectural guidelines.
Outcome
Standardization simplifies specifying, procuring, developing, and implementing solutions.
Metric
Target variance on systems, processes, and standards.
Practice
Provide ongoing training and education supports to all stakeholders.
Outcome
Those working in architecture and those using architecture artefacts are competent.
Metric
Issue trends and open to close metrics.
Practice
Enforce policies and maintain process compliance.
Outcome
A competent professional architecture service is evident.
Metric
Metadata to allow levels of analysis — e.g. department function, business unit, geospacial region, and so forth.

4Advanced

Practice
Use automation to reduce costs and improve quality of enterprise architecture activities.
Outcome
Lower costs of architecture and a higher quality service are evident.
Metrics
- Time — governance approvals cycles.
- Recurring issue count — corrective action effectiveness.
Practice
Use advanced features of the architecture framework and toolsets, and advanced practices and techniques.
Outcome
Agility and flexibility are improved and more complex assignments are managed.
Metric
Effectiveness of tool usage and automation on business metrics.
Practice
Support staff development to ‘masters’ level and career progressions to senior levels.
Outcome
Staff have advanced capabilities and enterprise architecture delivers significant value.
Metrics
- Costs and resource usage.
- Issue trends and open to close metrics.

5Optimized

Practice
Focus on continuous capability improvement leveraging vendor advocacy, emerging research ideas, lessons learned, and business ecosystem stakeholder feedback.
Outcome
The enterprise architecture function is maintained as a leading-edge, up-to-date capability.
Metrics
- Count of simplified metrics presentations available.
- Count of reports using advanced analytical techniques.
- Count of users using the metrics data platform.
- Count of reports using anonymized datasets.
- Count of reports with restricted access.
Practice
Provide education supports to ‘doctoral’ level and provide access to research literature.
Outcome
Staff have career progressions and supports to the highest levels and, for that reason, the organization has and can attract the very best practitioners.
Metric
Costs and resource usage.

Reference

History

This capability was introduced in Revision 18.07 as an update to Enterprise Architecture Management (16).