Enterprise Architecture is in Full Bloom this Season

When selecting the right flowers to plant in your garden this spring, you may consider elements such as type of soil required, the amount of sunlight needed, and the level of care—all crucial to ensure your flowers blossom. Similarly, enterprise architecture today is increasingly being evaluated on its ability to drive business initiatives which include saving costs, increasing revenue, and being able to respond quickly to change—all of which are crucial for business success. To ensure EAs can blossom just as well as those spring flowers, I have compiled four top assets that will help EAs become more strategic, rather than purely technical.

According to Forrester:

“Business-focused enterprise architecture creates operational and strategic views of the business and technology that can improve decision making, coordinate diverse initiatives, and accelerate the pace of change.”

This means being a strategic EA—one that believes they make a significant or major contribution to the corporate strategy—as opposed to technical EAs that believe they only have a minor impact. To learn more about the difference between the two and how you can become more strategic, check out the reading list below.

Enterprise Architecture Spring Reading List

• Strategy, Not Technology, Is the Future State for Enterprise Architects: This Executive Brief identifies 4 key traits of strategic enterprise architecture teams and offers 6 key recommendations to improve both the value and longevity of EA efforts. Here’s a sneak peek at the first two recommendations to become more strategic:
  1. Business outcomes— “The greater the focus on business outcomes, rather than architecture, then the more likely EA teams are to contribute to the organization’s success and increase their credibility.”
  2. C-Level Visibility— “EA teams should place greater efforts on business imperatives and work to communicate how they can assist their CIO in becoming a better business partner.”

• The Power of Capability and Technology Management: This infographic demonstrates “a customer use case leveraging Capability and Technology Management (CTM) and how it becomes an aggregate for siloed systems.” It highlights benefits of Planview Portfolios and CTM, including:
  • Single system ownership;
  • Improved data quality; and
  • A robust structured information system.

• The Emergence of the Strategic Enterprise Architect: Watch this webinar to learn how EAs can improve their standing or role within their organization. The webinar covers key differentiators and steps you need to take to become a strategic EA, including:
  • How to gain C-level visibility;
  • Taking business outcome focused approach to delivering value; and
  • Placing greater emphasis on business architecture.

• Three Deliverables Every Enterprise Architect Should Be Providing to the Project Management Office: This eBook presents three items the EA should regularly deliver to the PMO to facilitate mutual success and collaborate more effectively. Here’s a sneak peek at the first item:
  • Strategy/Business Outcome Roadmaps— “As an EA, you must translate company strategy into action. This requires identifying what changes to make to the technology portfolio to meet the organization’s strategic objectives.”

As a strategic EA, you will be more visible to the C-Suite and will have a greater impact on the business overall—sounds like an EA in full bloom, if you ask me. To learn more about enterprise architecture and how Planview can help you achieve your strategic goals, visit the website and register for a free demo of Planview Portfolios today.

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