Patrice Kerremans
Below you'll find 7 interesting rules for enterprise architecture according to Ardoq.
They are best practices for every Enterprise Architect to make sure their efforts are relevant.
Source: https://content.ardoq.com/new-rules-of-ea
There's no great 'secret' to selling business leaders on the value of EA. Demonstrate how the increased amount of higher-quality data helps stakeholders make better-informed decisions.
As you plan your future EA capabilities, consider this factor:
What are the questions my stakeholders are struggling to answer?
Unfortunately, many traditional EA efforts have resulted in widespread perceptions that the practice was too bureaucratic, technical and a barrier to achieving business results. Your EA initiatives will only succeed if they help address hard business challenges.
As you focus your EA development efforts, answer this question:
How can we frame the EA value in terms of business performance measures?
If your EA still relies on traditional, complex tools that only a few can interpret, your efforts will have little impact on the organization. Begin by shoring up the accuracy of your data, prioritizing which metrics are most important, and helping stakeholders better understand it through data visualizations.
Moving towards open data encourages greater collaboration and alignment between stakeholders. It also helps reduce the need for resource-draining retrospective governance.
To move forward, consider addressing this key question:
What level of engagement do we require from stakeholders to achieve the EA strategic goals?
Gathering data is good. Insights are better. But action is best. Building strategy-focused metrics on top of EA data allows you (and your stakeholders) to make sense of disparate information. This generally leads to smarter business decisions.
To move forward, address this question:
Can we create a digital twin of our organization using current tools, or do we need to consider our options?
The future is unpredictable. That means your EA function must help your business adjust strategy quickly and accurately. Automation is key here – it allows you to increase your ability to model many more futures quickly and efficiently.
Consider this important question:
Do we have a suitably flexible mindset to encourage flexibility?
There are few certainties in life – but the exponential growth of your data estate is one of them. Your EA, processes, and delivery must all be scalable.
Aim to answer this key question:
Do our EA tools scale automatically as our estate develops? What needs to change?
