Updated - Enterprise architecture as a capability
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The document discusses enterprise architecture capabilities and services. It outlines three key responsibilities of enterprise architecture professionals: 1) Help leverage current enterprise capabilities, 2) Transform essential capabilities to capitalize on opportunities, and 3) Develop an enterprise architecture capability. It then describes services that EA professionals provide to systematically deliver on these responsibilities, including transforming capabilities, leveraging existing capabilities, and building an EA practice. Performance measures for assessing EA services and their ability to deliver disruptive change without disruption are also discussed.
Updated - Enterprise architecture as a capability
- 1. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 1 | P a g e TOGAF® based Enterprise Architecture Capability Enterprise architecture professionals have two key responsibilities: Help the enterprise leverage current capabilities to utmost Transform essential capabilities to help capitalize on opportunities presented by discontinuities in primary and secondary markets By: Major Jason Uppal, P.Eng. Open CA Level 3 Certified Chief Architect Date: April 2014 Enterprise Architecture is about delivering Disruptive Change without the Disruptions
- 2. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 2 | P a g e Abstract The ability to leverage current enterprise capabilities and to manage changes to these capabilities to capitalize on new opportunities can hardly be considered new work. In the past, this work was undertaken by different disciplines and groups in organizations. This approach has served us well for long time. Our economies are now becoming global, integrated and with the rise of consumerism, the need to transform our enterprise capabilities continuously, effectively and efficiently has never been greater. To capitalize on new opportunities, the enterprises have sought to build an integrated capability through Enterprise Architecture with varying degrees of success. The purpose of this paper is share good practices with intent to help improve the organizations’ ability to leverage better what they own and/or effectively transform them when required. This paper advocates that ability to leverage and transform is the province of enterprise architecture professionals. Furthermore, it explicitly defines set of services that EA professionals must deliver to systematize above stated work. The skills required, performance measures to gauge their success as well guidance to all affected stakeholders. This paper is a result of good practices deployed by QRS EA practitioners.
- 3. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 3 | P a g e Table of Contents Abstract..............................................................................................................................................2 Enterprise Architecture Today..........................................................................................................4 Relevant Scientific Management Methods and Frameworks..........................................................5 EA Professional Services....................................................................................................................6 Performance Measures..................................................................................................................6 1. Transform Enterprise Capabilities.............................................................................................7 2. Leverage what you Own ............................................................................................................8 3. Enterprise Architecture Capability ..........................................................................................10 Advance Applications of TOGAF..................................................................................................... 11 EA Capability Challenges.................................................................................................................12 About QR Systems Inc. (QRS) .........................................................................................................14 Contact Information.....................................................................................................................14
- 4. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 4 | P a g e Enterprise Architecture Today For both profit and non profit enterprise, the goal has always been the same: For Profit Enterprise: Market Share Profit Margins Value of Products in the Pipeline For Non Profit Value for Money Public Perception Organizations had always relied on proven scientific management methods to study the value chain, develop enterprise capabilities and applied balanced portfolio management approaches to allocate scarce resources to optimize the performance of their assets. In most organization this work is undertaken by ad hoc as well by various disciplines, professional groups. Today Enterprise Architecture discipline has the opportunity to make the above defined work scientific and professionalize those who deliver this work. As a result the EA professionals have the opportunity to help deliver most disruptive change without the disruptions to their current operations.
- 5. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 5 | P a g e Relevant Scientific Management Methods and Frameworks Enterprise Architecture professionals draw from many methods, techniques and frameworks. The following is only partial list so the reader can develop appreciation for skills required to be an enterprise architecture professional: Strategic Planning – balanced scorecard, five forces analysis, value chain , strategic themes mapping, executive facilitation, active listening, collaboration and conflict resolution Project Management – ability to manage diverse set of skills to plan and execute complex tasks System Development Life Cycle – deep understanding of the system (which includes software) development life cycle IT Service Management – appreciate the importance and techniques to support both technical and human terms Continuous Improvement – master continuous improvement techniques, engagement, maintain common vision and relationship building Performance Management – understand the difference between capability performance and outcome performance and appreciate levers available to get the right outcome. Enterprise Staff engagement – master fundamentals of why people engage, build ad hoc teams and work as volunteers Enterprise Architecture – master the strategic, segmented and capability architecture concepts and apply innovative skills to define the problems right and engage all stakeholders to solve the problem right This is only a partial list of skills and techniques required for an aspiring enterprise architect to learn and master.
- 6. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 6 | P a g e EA Professional Services EA professional services model outlined as Figure 1, describes comprehensive list of services that EA professionals are often asked to perform. These services form the essence of Enterprise Architecture capability. It is not our expectation that one must master all services in order to be classified as an EA professional. It is however our expectation that an EA professional will have deep expertise to perform some services and working knowledge of all others. Performance Measures Key performance indicators to measure the effectiveness of EA Capability and by proxy measure effectiveness of EA professional services : Employee Engagement – number of suggestions and comments per employee. This is an objective way to continuously elicit architecture requirements Time and Cost to Plan each Opportunity – time and cost to study each suggestion and manage it to the start of the formal initiative Project Plan Efficiency – number of change projects delivered on time, on budget and planned capability transitioned to target level of performance Capabilities Effectiveness – number of capabilities performing at desired level of performance and outcomes gaps (from expected to actual) Decision Information Quality – quality of information provided by EA professional at each stage gate to help make the right investment choices Figure 1: EA Professional Services Model
- 7. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 7 | P a g e 1. Transform Enterprise Capabilities Ability to define change and effectively manage the change to current enterprise capabilities to capitalize on opportunities presented by the discontinuities in primary as well as in complementary industries. 1.1 Map Change Strategy Context: To capitalize on the opportunities presented by the Discontinuities, this service helps senior management define change strategy and develop top down business case. Deliverables: Change Strategy that explicitly defines – enterprise capabilities that must change, transitioned capability performance and in understandable terms communicate how transitioned capability will help yield the intended outcomes. This is a top down business case for change which explicitly defines the value of change, without focus on cost and risk of doing. Decisions Enabled: Based on top down business case, the senior management can decide which change strategy to pursue. Practitioner Skills: Open CA Level 3 Chief Architect or equivalent and Deep understanding of the primary industry and working understanding of minimum two complementary industries 1.2 Architect Roadmap Context: This services guides the architect on how to develop an ideal transition plan for set of capabilities that are part of the change strategy Deliverables: architecture definition document for each capability optimized for overall change strategy Decisions Enabled: this document supports two stakeholders – senior management to understand what is possible and secondly subsequent development team has clear directions on how to transition the capability to desired state of performance Practitioner Skills: Open CA Level 2 or equivalent with specific experience with subjected capabilities 1.3 Transition Plan and Business Case Context: adapt ideal roadmap for set of capabilities to enterprise realities which includes – financial, speed of change, risk tolerance etc and develop pragmatic transition plan Deliverables: pragmatic transition plan with clearly defined scope of each work package, investment and ROI .
- 8. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 8 | P a g e Decisions Enabled: this is a complete and accurate architecture that can help transition the required capabilities to target performance most pragmatically as well conform to all enterprise standards and architecture requirements Practitioner Skills: Open CA Level 2 or equivalent with specific experience with enterprise culture, ability to execute, value management and ability to manage execution risks within the organization 1.4 Execute Change Context: extend conceptual architecture roadmap to logical and physical level of detail and ensure implementation conforms to all enterprise standards, contracts and approved overall architecture for the change strategy Deliverables: transitioned capability conform to the target performance Decisions Enabled: throughout the execution phase, the architecture work constantly addresses the execution concerns and provides the most pragmatic solution to ensure the execution programs can be managed within project management triple constraints. Practitioner Skills: experience with specific capabilities sunder transition and minimum Open CA Level 1 architecture thinking 2. Leverage what you Own This service guides the EA professional how to build repository of enterprise capabilities and work with all stakeholder in the enterprise to leverage what the enterprise already owns. A well-structured repository of enterprise capabilities enables senior management to assess the impact of change rapidly and make decisions on strategy direction – invest or/and improve utilization. 2.1 Define Value Chain and Enterprise Capabilities Context: capabilities of an enterprise are comprised of – people, processes and technologies. The architecture of the enterprise defines at required level of detail how various capabilities and scarce resources interact to product the final value product. Deliverables: repository of enterprise capabilities. The granularity and precise definition of each capability will depend on the eco system of the enterprise. Higher competitive pressure will require more granularity and enable the enterprise to start from position of strength.
- 9. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 9 | P a g e Decisions Enabled: rapid assessment of discontinuities and strategies to purse to capitalize on new opportunities. Practitioner Skills: Open CA Level 3 with deep expertise in primary and complementary industries. 2.2 Map Operational Strategy Context: assess performance of current capabilities against their capacity and target continuous improvement plan for selected capabilities. Deliverables: operational strategy with specific capabilities that will be improved through continuous improvement (CI) and specifically define incremental value that can realized Decisions Enabled: target capabilities that can be incrementally improved Practitioner Skills: business planning and CI (lean six sigma, business analysis and TOGAF ® foundations) 2.3 Support and Continuous Improvement Context: often ensuring the current capabilities are leveraged to the fullest is more important than new investment. This service makes the EA practitioner part current operational units. Deliverables: assess the current performance of capabilities against their capacity. Iteratively develop and execute continuous improvement plan to ensure the current capabilities are leveraged to their full capacity. Decisions Enabled: continuous improvement plan and capabilities to focus on. Practitioner Skills: expertise in the line of business, relationship with operational teams and deep appreciation for shared goal. Typical skills – lean six sigma, the open group architecture framework and business analysis. 2.4 Monitor Capability Performance and Business Outcomes Context: through structured enterprise dashboard and suitable drill down capability, link capability performance to enterprise outcome and drive meaningful engagement across the enterprise Deliverables: performance dashboard and engagement of all enterprise stakeholders
- 10. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 10 | P a g e Decisions Enabled: continuous alignment of scarce resources Practitioner Skills: human capital management and social engagement 3. Enterprise Architecture Capability Enterprise Architecture is a capability that is staffed by EA professionals with varying degree of skills. The skills range from Open CA Level 3 to TOGAF Foundations. This service ensures the EA Capability maturity is suitable to the enterprise needs. In this context, the focus of enterprise capability is to – leverage current enterprise capabilities to the fullest and effectively and efficiently transform target capabilities to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the discontinuities in primary and complementary industries. 3.1 Build EA Practice Context: enterprise architecture is a capability like any other enterprise capability. For a capability to be effective, among other things, it must have explicitly defined performance indicators that are meaningful to both the sponsor and the practitioners, roles, responsibilities, workflow, skill and governance etc.. Deliverables: fully defined EA capability with continuous improvement plan Decisions Enabled: assess maturity of current capability, agree to required maturity and develop most pragmatic transition plan to get there. Practitioner Skills: depending on the complexity of the enterprise Open CA Level 3 or Level 2 skills may be sufficient to help build EA practice 3.2 Operate EA Practice Context: process and skills to manage group of highly creative and innovative group of professionals in matrix organization structure. Deliverables: EA performance measures, manage professional discipline and cost effectively deliver EA services by closely matching supply and demand for EA services Decisions Enabled: effective utilization of current enterprise capabilities Practitioner Skills: enterprise management skills
- 11. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 11 | P a g e 3.3 Develop EA Skills across the Enterprise Context: as a part of enterprise human capital management team, actively identify skills gaps, close gaps and ensure the skills improvement is linked to tangible outcomes measured through EA capability performance indicators Deliverables: continuously assess skills gaps that are based on supply and demand for EA skills and plan programs to close skills gaps Decisions Enabled: pragmatic skills development plan Practitioner Skills: skills development, continuous education and ability to monitor performance of experiential learning Advance Applications of TOGAF The table below is a cross walk between how various EA Services and delivered by using TOGAF® standards EA Service Applications of TOGAF ® 1. Transform Enterprise Capabilities 1.1 Map Change Strategy Strategic Architecture – follow all ADM phases with enterprise being the entire or extended organization – focus is on capabilities to transform that can help realize the opportunities presented by the discontinuities in the industry 1.2 Architect Roadmap Segmented Architecture – follow all ADM phases with enterprise being capabilities within the change strategy 1.3 Transition Plan and Business Case Segmented Architecture – adapt Architecture roadmap to create transition plan (Ops and Solutions) that conforms to the current concerns of the organization 1.4 Execute Change Capability Architecture – follow all ADM phases to define logical and physical level architecture for each capability and transitioned stage. 2. Architecture of the Enterprise 2.1 Define Value Chain and Enterprise Capabilities Extend Enterprise Continuum and Technical Reference Model to develop value chain and enterprise capabilities. 2.2 Map Operational Strategy Strategic Architecture – follow all ADM phases with enterprise being the entire organization – focus is on capabilities that are performing below their capacity and their performance can be improved through continuous improvement initiatives
- 12. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 12 | P a g e 2.3 Support and Continuous Improvement TOGAF ADM – Architecture Change Management and continuously plan enterprise changes 2.4 Monitor Capability Performance and Business Outcomes TOGAF ADM – Architecture Change Management and monitor performance of capabilities and resulting business outcome. 3. Enterprise Architecture Capability 3.1 Build EA Practice Extend TOGAF® Capability framework to build EA practice 3.2 Operate EA Practice Operate or manage EA practice and ensure enterprise wide engagement of all 3.3 Develop EA Skills across the Enterprise Develop EA and Business Transformation skills in eth entire organization EA Capability Challenges Fundamentally there are two challenges to make EA practice, as defined above, a reality in many organizations: 1. Lack of skilled staff and discipline 2. Enterprise support for those who are trying to practice Enterprise Architecture. What can you do? Over the years, QRS EA practitioners worked with many organization with varying degree of success. The fundamental focus of our engagement has been to demonstrate tangible contribution to – help leverage current capabilities better and/or help identify and effectively change essential capabilities within two months. Major milestones of our engagement often are:
- 13. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 13 | P a g e It is up to the Enterprise Architecture professionals to define what we do, build relationship with key stakeholders in the organization and within a quarter demonstrate positive contribution.
- 14. © QR Systems Inc. 2014 14 | P a g e About QR Systems Inc. (QRS) QR Systems Inc. (QRS) have been providing enterprise architecture, business architecture and business transformation education, training and professional services for the past 12 years to wide range of industries globally. Our enterprise architecture professionals regularly contribute to the industry knowledgebase through writings, research and publications. Business Transformation made straight forward is free downloadable book designed for practicing architects who would like to take responsibility to improve enterprise performance through application of architecture methods. Contact Information Jason Uppal, P.Eng. Tel: 610.732.8500 (US) or 416.464.3329 (Canada) Email: jason.uppal@qrs3E.com