Aligning Portfolio Establishment Activities to Business Drivers Is Key to Gaining Buy-in and Adoption

The ArchiMate® enterprise architecture modeling language has been developed to provide a uniform representation for enterprise architecture descriptions1. It offers an integrated architectural approach that describes and visualizes the different architecture domains and their underlying relationships and dependencies. In a short time, ArchiMate has become the open standard for architecture modeling in the Netherlands. It was officially launched in April 2009 as an Open Group standard; since then, the international interest in ArchiMate has been growing rapidly.

An enterprise architecture is rarely if ever successfully implemented in its entirety in a single project; it is generally implemented incrementally, as a succession of individual business solution projects or coordinated solution programs. How one thinks of architecture critically affects the ability to govern the implementation of these solutions. Modeling is often emphasized as the basis for architecture, but principles provide a more robust foundation that makes it possible to straightforwardly derive solution-level governance from enterprise-level governance.

Enterprise architecture governance is a consensus-driven framework. Business and IT professionals use it to guide significant architecture decisions. The framework helps professionals oversee the delivery of business value from major enterprise-level architecture activities. To maximize the effectiveness of the governance process, a consistent measurement program with a set of easy-to-use metrics is recommended. EA metrics can simplify and validate architecture decisions and in doing so assist the organization in delivering the targeted business value.

Decisions are becoming more intricate and outcomes more uncertain. Corporations are increasingly finding themselves competing within global markets for sophisticated consumers with high expectations. Time-to-market pressures have increased, but the recent economic downturn has significantly reduced available market liquidity and created a “zombie” economy.

Architecture provides the ability to describe an existing IT Application or architect a new IT Application. Best practices explain that architecture needs to be described using architectural views. Essentially, IT Applications can be perceived from the Business View and the IT View. The context architecture explained in this article is one of the views within the IT View.

One of the main issues with technology is the way it has grown up. Applications were generally originally written to automate processes or tasks that were too boring or onerous for employees to carry out. The speed of the computer meant it could carry out simple tasks more efficiently than a human. This led to the rise of applications managing areas such as claims handling, mortgage offers, and so on.

When it comes to new technology, first comes ignorance, then comes fear, then comes the embrace and rush to the IT department to make it happen—now! This scenario plays out again and again in organizations.

THREE KEY PHASES TO TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION

The alignment of business and IT has been a chief management concern for more than two decades. Two recent surveys revealed that it continues to be a top priority for CIOs in 2009. A contributing issue is the lack of functional relationships between business and IT units, complicated by the complexity of the service delivery mechanism. There is also the attitude that a quick application fix, if implemented, will be the magic bullet that solves the problem and increases confidence and collaboration within the business units receiving the IT service.

Irrespective of the business space your organization might be in, you will find that information technology has become an essential and critical component for the success of your organization. Understanding and implementing new solutions aligned with the overall business vision and strategic plans of your organization, while maximizing the return on new investments and fully leveraging existing assets, heavily depends on how well you understand your organization’s entire IT investment portfolio in addition to strategic intents.