How to Architect Your Enterprise and Why It Matters

Interest in Enterprise Architecture (EA) is growing. As the world becomes more digital, the speed at which organizations evolve quickens. Businesses need to be agile and predisposed to change.

What Do We Mean by 'Enterprise'?

An enterprise can be a commercial business, a charity organization, a government body, a temporary project, or a creative venture. These are but a few examples. Any undertaking with an end product or service can be classified as an enterprise.

Enterprises are comprised of various elements. We can categorize these elements into three sections for the sake of clarity: management pieces, operational pieces, and supporting pieces.

Management pieces include organizational charts, capabilities and skills, strategies, and plans. Operational pieces are the activities, administrative tasks, transactions, products, and services. And supporting pieces are what makes the previous two operate: software applications, communication networks, databases, and hardware. All these pieces work together to achieve the enterprise's objective.

You Already Have an Enterprise Architecture

You might not have an enterprise architect. And you might have not given enterprise architecture a second thought until now. But every enterprise has an architecture.

Any organization that produces a product, offers a service, or engages in a project, has an architecture. What you may not possess is Enterprise Architecture as a discipline. Enterprise Architecture is the process of studying how all the interrelated elements that we mentioned above affect reaching the enterprise's objective. Do these elements enable or hinder reaching the objective? How are the components organized? How do they perform together? Does the system work?

Why We Need Enterprise Architects

You're not required to have an enterprise architect to have an enterprise architecture. Many enterprises don't have architects. But having one decides what kind of enterprise architecture you possess.

Your enterprise architecture can be integrated, coherent, and proactively designed. Or it can be random, ad hoc, and inconsistent. It can help you achieve your objectives or weigh you down and produce complications.

Enterprise Architecture as a Discipline

The discipline of Enterprise Architecture refers to the thought-out design of an organization's assets, its functions, its processes, and its strategies. Enterprise architects view all these pieces holistically and make sure that they work together. More importantly, they ensure that the system still works, even when one (or more) of these elements are changed. Enterprise Architecture is the basis for adapting to a changing environment.

The Strategy Behind Architecting Your Enterprise

Your objective in building your enterprise architecture is to make sure that your functions, elements, and processes are adaptable. You want to ensure success in a changing environment. Examine your structure as a whole. Review your four layers.

• The business layer: strategies, business processes, organization, functions
• The information layer: storage, data analysis, policies
• The application layer: software applications, integrated systems
• The technology layer: hardware, components, deployment, servers, networking protocols

What is these systems' current state? What might their future state be?

Weigh the alternatives for moving from your current to your future target state. (Or employ an enterprise architect to do it for you.) Formulate a framework to achieve a well-functioning architecture. This includes detailed descriptions of components, roadmaps for improvement, and strategies for adapting to change. Assess the opportunities and constraints. Jot down the benefits and risks for each alternative.

Conclusion

A well-architected enterprise leaves room for innovation and change. This is crucial because technology is evolving at an increasingly fast speed. Businesses that can't adapt will be unable to survive in the market.

Enterprise Architecture helps create a sustainable IT landscape that supports an organization's objectives, as they evolve to fit into a changing environment.