Digital technology has taken over and businesses across the globe are looking toward enterprise architecture to prevent them from becoming obsolete. Forward-thinking enterprise organizations are full throttle for the key concepts of enterprise architecture.
It all goes back to business strategy. Enterprise architecture is a way to adapt quickly to changing business and handle unforeseen situations.
If you are too slow to react or if you are simply unprepared, your competitors will take advantage of this and take over your market share. The larger the business, the more complex it becomes.
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You Need a Plan!
Large organizations need a framework. They need a plan to help them invest in the best innovative technology. Options such as machine learning, automated analytics, and cloud computing.
Enterprise architecture tools keep you not only alive but help you operate so so you can compete against anyone and anything.
Enterprise Architecture: What is it?
Enterprise architecture is the business model for planning and arranging IT infrastructure. Elements of a system, enterprise architecture includes design, planning, analysis, and implementation.
Enterprise architectural framework needs principles to navigate the company through business, process, information and technology strategies. The outlook is to reach the goals and objectives of the desired business outcomes.
A Look Back at Enterprise Architecture
They created the first concept of enterprise architecture in the 1960s. Back then, they called it BSP or Business Systems Planning. It wasn’t until the 1980s, with spiking business technologies, that there was widespread adoption and implementation of EA frameworks.
Enterprise architecture became a common way for organizations to combine their legacy applications with both current and future processes. They run concurrently, implementing, which allows a business to optimize its capabilities.
Now, enterprise architecture has gone a step further. They have developed various additional methodologies, from general to industry-specific frameworks.
The Importance of Enterprise Architecture
Businesses are unlikely to survive if they are not digital. Teams work in various locations, remotely and even at home, now more than ever. The business needs to work anywhere, anytime.
Enterprise architecture outlines movable pathways and helps organizations be flexible in adopting new technologies and enterprise architecture tools when needed. Enterprise architecture is the balance between development and performance.
Enterprise Architecture Goals
A comprehensive blueprint, the purpose of enterprise architecture keeps the organization structured in a cohesive manner. It paints the picture with a long-term view of what comes next.
Business processes, elements of a system, hierarchical structure, software elements and technologies describe with a solid plan and blueprint. They can adopt modern innovations in the future without disrupting the organization and how it operates.
The goal of enterprise architecture is to serve as a roadmap for planning and maintaining business objectives for the future and pushing them through technological changes and advancements.
Enterprise architecture has the following goals.
Efficiency
Enterprise architecture is how organizations eliminate redundancies and guide them on how to reuse resources. The framework set clearly this. Workflow mapping and process modeling help start more collaboration among your teams and departments.
Effectiveness
The core elements of enterprise architecture establish a workflow. This details what is essential and correct for business processes. Enterprise architecture is a blueprint for reaching deliverables.
Agility
Enterprise architecture is how organizations can make sense of adopting new technology, as well as combining legacy technologies. Enterprise architecture offers a model to determine risk. It guides the metrics, monitoring, and analysis for evolving the business’s technology and aligning the changes to ensure it meets business goals.
Continuity
Enterprise architecture is a method that ensures continuity. The highest level of standardization, for the IT process, is critical for leading enterprises to stay on mission with their business operations.
Core Elements of Enterprise Architecture
For companies to enable their business vision to come to fruition, they need to leverage technology to their advantage. Enterprise architecture, or EA, helps them get there.
While there are multiple components, all have six core elements of enterprise architecture.
1. Management
Every organization will select a team to oversee the enterprise architecture and software elements. The team will see to it that everyone involved stays the course and aligns with the business objectives for the IT infrastructure.
2. Framework
The enterprise architecture defined by the method, or model used, is like a blueprint. It’s seeing the big picture including the business strategy and the key concepts of enterprise architecture.
For instance, what is the modeling language, and what is the difference between TOGAF and ArchiMate? TOGAF is an Architecture Development Framework while ArchiMate is a multi-purpose modeling language.
3. Implementation Methods
When you create the elements of a system, you will then need to implement them. The team will need a method for this and create the required steps.
The team will implement a strategy that is outlaid by the framework. All the way towards completion, the implementation guides a project.
4. Artifact Documentation
The plan, strategy, and workflow will need to be documented for the organization. IT solutions will help set this up. It must fit within the scope set by the implementation and framework.
Documentation artifacts are necessary to record all processes and their changes. This has to be maintained and up-to-date.
5. Repository
The toolbox for the enterprise, the repository contains all the processes and resources available to the organization. If deemed necessary, a team can use enterprise architecture tools. This is for the enterprise architecture framework to accomplish set goals.
6. Best Practices
SOPs, or Standard Operating Procedures, document best practices. It can enforce the compliance and consistency of the processes by using SOPs.
SOPs can also help with promoting transparency in the enterprise architecture and for the teams. It helps to interpret deliverables.
Going Forward
If you are a forward-thinking business with goals and objectives, looking to knock out your competitors, this article should have given you some valuable insight on how enterprise architecture works. Keep checking out our website for more information to keep you and your business teams informed on today’s trends.
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