Building a business-specific core foundation

An organization aligned with EA principles must have EA leaders who are thinking ahead about certain elements of the process to keep the workflow smooth and seamless. The size of the team, infrastructure model, and organizational structure are at the top of the list. Individuals or teams that are working together on a project with a common goal may have a different approach, but the work ethic and EA model must be aligned to maintain an effective workflow and ensure the agility of operations:

• Understanding EA stakeholders

Attracting and identifying the set of stakeholders, including customers, that meet certain criteria is the top priority for an organization looking to transform its EA model. Each stakeholder holds a position with specific needs that can be fulfilled by the credible EA structure. For instance, while setting the foundation for the business value from technology, a CIO is likely to have a set of queries about the application roadmap, investments, and cost structure. Referring to the application life cycle map, financial matrix, and cost heatmap can help find answers.

• Involving EA stakeholders

Getting the right team and having them on board is likely an easier task than keeping them all aligned and providing continuous support and effective communication. A stakeholder engagement initiative will vary based on an organization’s structure and EA program scope, but it typically involves the following progressive levels:

• Develop a strategy: Plan the approach, keeping in mind the ongoing processes that must be maintained, to retain key stakeholder support
• Understand the organization: A firm grasp of the organization’s history, culture, and key stakeholders makes it easier to assess and identify best institutional practices
• Assess current competencies: Use analytics, organizational insights, and data to scope steps for desired outcomes
• Operate and evolve: Set up EA operations based on organizational guidelines and continuously evolve the effort amid industry and organizational developments to generate and maintain stakeholder support

• Choosing an operating model

It is important to build a model that fortifies the organization and can deal with arising internal or external issues efficiently. It is the first step toward the foundation for execution in EA.

Each model is different from another, based on the organization’s core values, goals, and program size. Here are the most common EA operating models:

• Coordination Operating Model: Autonomous business units control the business process design and adapt to its operations.
• Unification Operating Model: A matrix approach is used to integrate a global set of business processes with centralized management. Under this model, higher management stays focused on standardizing business processes across all units.
• Diversification Operating Model: Every business unit is unique, with a set of independent transactions. Apart from a minimal business process standardization, most IT decisions and business choices are made independently using a set of shared services.
• Replication Operating Model: Business units leverage a federated approach for integration and standardization. The workflow is centrally managed, but data is locally owned, with some aggregation and sharing with the enterprise.

• Defining the structure of the EA team

How to structure the EA team is sometimes a constantly echoing question within an organization that is planning to build an in-house EA structure. Any decision that’s made in the beginning will have a long-term impact, and it is easier at this stage to garner organizational buy-in.

Despite having small teams, limited budgets, and little decision-making power, most enterprise architects are expected to implement powerful strategic technology programs. EAs can be distributed among leadership across an organization to strive for better alignment and a better workflow.

“The key to the success of any EA lies within a strategic allocation of architects. They can either be based in one department or spread across various groups reporting to a different manager. Hence, no two EA teams look identical.”

Forrester

• Building an EA ecosystem

Building a network wider and wider by garnering buy-in from major stakeholders will ultimately achieve the maximum good. The core EA team should keep exploring the ways it works with the wider team and make improvements along the way.

The core EA team owns the overall EA structure, defines standards, and develops the business-aligned strategy. According to Marcus Blosch, research vice president at Gartner, instead of focusing on standards, structure, and control, organizations must widen their strategy toward driving business outcomes and work flexibly and creatively to define the future and how to get there. By adopting these traits, EA teams can develop a new group of talent to support digital business and digital transformation. They will establish competencies in developing a business strategy, designing new services and experiences, pursuing innovation, orchestrating collaboration across the organization, and navigating to the future.

Conversely, wider EA teams that consist of the solution, technical, and business architects are an extension of the core team. They work with other stakeholders in a constantly evolving, chaotic environment. A smooth and consistent flow of information among the core team and the wider team ensures a sturdier infrastructure and better outcomes.

• Size teams accurately

A large EA team may have 50+ individuals focusing on different architecture domains or EA overall, a medium team that consists of between 15-50 people, and a small team that consists of fewer than 15 people. Here is a list of factors that can help EA leaders determine the appropriate size for their team:

• Number of products and services within an organization
• Timing for revenue and profit calculations
• Maturity of the business process in an organization
• How efficiently accounts and finances are managed
• Organizational resources and the IT budget for advancements
• The rate at which an organization adapts to the EA

Overall, there is no set standard for the right size when it comes to an EA team since it is based on certain factors within the organization.