Frequently business decision making leans towards the tactical and reactive rather than the strategic and proactive. This is exacerbated through:
- poorly applied governance and compliance;
- inadequate communication and consultation with key stakeholders;
- inadequate assessment of business and technical options;
- inadequate impact and risk assessment;
- provision of standalone solutions with little or no consideration of anything else;
- multiple sources of information containing the same input and hence no identified single source of truth;
- inconsistent approach to the application of technology and
- inadequate planning and demand management;
This decision making approach has resulted in:
- the introduction of new and sometimes more serious issues;
- significant lack of consistency;
- an erosion in overall business capability;
- an inability to properly identify and mitigate risks;
- a disillusionment with the implementation and management of increasingly complex technology resulting in lost reputation and credibility and
- project and business failures.
The use of an Enterprise Architecture within a business enables informed, effective and controlled change in a planned and efficient manner. Furthermore it provides:
- contextual views of change to assist understanding and to guide appropriate decision making;
- the capability that facilitates the monitoring of coherence and completeness of the enterprise and its strategic change agenda/portfolio;
- the opportunity to manage an increasing complex technology landscape;
- the opportunity to ensure that information/data provided is contextually appropriate to the user;
- the capability to structure, assess and control decision making associated with change and
- the capability to understand the impact of decisions and change on business operations.
This is achieved by:
- the establishment and alignment of initiative prioritisation to business strategy;
- comparing options – to validate ideas and the business impact of possible solutions;
- assessing the delivered benefit and prioritising the implementation of solutions;
- presenting appropriate information to targeted stakeholder groups;
- guiding technology selection;
- guiding vendor selection and assessment;
- assessing both the impact of change and the capacity to absorb change and
- supporting financial management (investment and benefit).
An Enterprise Architecture does not guarantee that a business will be successful but it does remove much of the uncertainty whilst providing a structured approach to making better informed decisions.
