A Modern Enterprise Architecture Approach

The revised version of this book to provide essential guidance, compelling ideas, and unique ways to Enterprise Architects so that they can successfully perform complex enterprise modernisation initiatives transforming from chaos to coherence. This is not an ordinary theory book describing Enterprise Architecture in detail. There are myriad of books on the market and in libraries discussing details of enterprise architecture. My aim here is to highlight success factors and reflect lessons learnt from the field within enterprise modernisation and transformation context. As a practising Senior Enterprise Architect, myself, I read hundreds of those books and articles to learn different views. They have been valuable to me to establish my foundations in the earlier phase of my profession. However, what is missing now is a concise guidance book showing Enterprise Architects the novel approaches, insights from the real-life experience and experimentations, and pointing out the differentiating technologies for enterprise modernisation. If only there were such a guide when I started engaging in modernisation and transformation programs. The biggest lesson learned is the business outcome of the enterprise modernisation. What genuinely matters for business is the return on investment of the enterprise architecture and its monetising capabilities. The rest is the theory because nowadays sponsoring executives, due to economic climate, have no interest, attention, or tolerance for non-profitable ventures. I am sorry for disappointing some idealistic Enterprise Architects, but with due respect, it is the reality, and we cannot change it. This book deals with reality rather than theoretical perfection. Anyone against this view on this climate must be coming from another planet. In this concise, uncluttered and easy-to-read book, I attempt to show the significant pain points and valuable considerations for enterprise modernisation using a structured approach and a simple narration especially considering my audience from non-English speaking backgrounds. The architectural rigour is still essential. We cannot compromise the rigour aiming to the quality of products and services as a target outcome. However, there must be a delicate balance among architectural rigour, business value, and speed to the market. I applied this pragmatic approach to multiple substantial transformation initiatives and complex modernisations programs. The key point is using an incrementally progressing iterative approach to every aspect of modernisation initiatives, including people, processes, tools, and technologies as a whole. Starting with a high-level view of enterprise architecture to set the context, I provided a dozen of distinct chapters to point out and elaborate on the factors which can make a real difference in dealing with complexity and producing excellent modernisation initiatives. As eminent leaders, Enterprise Architects are the critical talents who can undertake this massive mission using their people and technology skills, in addition to many critical attributes such as calm and composed approach. Let's keep in mind that as Enterprise Architects, we are architects, not firefighters! I have full confidence that this book can provide valuable insights and some 'aha' moments for talented architects like yourself to tackle this enormous mission of turning chaos to coherence.

I authored this book to provide essential guidance, compelling ideas, and unique ways to Enterprise Architects so that they can successfully perform complex enterprise modernisation initiatives transforming from chaos to coherence. This is not an ordinary theory book describing Enterprise Architecture in detail. There are myriad of books on the market and in libraries discussing details of enterprise architecture. My aim here is to highlight success factors and reflect lessons learnt. As a practising Senior Enterprise Architect, myself, I read hundreds of those books and articles to learn different views. They have been valuable to me to establish my foundations in the earlier phase of my profession. However, what is missing now is a concise guidance book showing Enterprise Architects the novel approaches, insights from the real-life experience and experimentations, and pointing out the differentiating technologies for enterprise modernisation. If only there were such a guide when I started engaging in modernisation and transformation programs. The biggest lesson learned is the business outcome of the enterprise modernisation. What genuinely matters for business is the return on investment of the enterprise architecture and its monetising capabilities. The rest is the theory because nowadays sponsoring executives, due to economic climate, have no interest, attention, or tolerance for non-profitable ventures. I am sorry for disappointing some idealistic Enterprise Architects, but with due respect, it is the reality, and we cannot change it. This book deals with reality rather than theoretical perfection. Anyone against this view on this climate must be coming from another planet.In this concise, uncluttered and easy-to-read book, I attempt to show the significant pain points and valuable considerations for enterprise modernisation using a structured approach. The architectural rigour is still essential. We cannot compromise the rigour aiming to the quality of products and services as a target outcome. However, there must be a delicate balance among architectural rigour, business value, and speed to market. I applied this pragmatic approach to multiple substantial transformation initiatives and complex modernisations programs. The key point is using an incrementally progressing iterative approach to every aspect of modernisation initiatives, including people, processes, tools, and technologies as a whole. Starting with a high-level view of enterprise architecture to set the context, I provided a dozen of distinct chapters to point out and elaborate on the factors which can make a real difference in dealing with complexity and producing excellent modernisation initiatives. As eminent leaders, Enterprise Architects are the critical talents who can undertake this massive mission using their people and technology skills, in addition to many critical attributes such as calm and composed approach. They are architects, not firefighters. I have full confidence that this book can provide valuable insights and aha moments for these talented architects to tackle this enormous mission turning chaos to coherence.

Based on an extensive study of the actual industry best practices, this book provides a systematic conceptual description of an EA practice and offers practically actionable answers to the key questions related to enterprise architecture.

I authored this book to provide essential guidance, compelling ideas, and unique ways to Enterprise Architects so that they can successfully perform complex enterprise modernisation initiatives transforming from chaos to coherence. This is not an ordinary theory book describing Enterprise Architecture in detail. There are myriad of books on the market and in libraries discussing details of enterprise architecture. As a practising Senior Enterprise Architect myself, I read hundreds of those books and articles to learn different views. They have been valuable to me to establish my foundations in the earlier phase of my profession. However, what is missing now is a concise guidance book showing Enterprise Architects the novel approaches, insights from the real-life experience and experimentations, and pointing out the differentiating technologies for enterprise modernisation. If only there were such a guide when I started engaging in modernisation and transformation programs. The biggest lesson learned is the business outcome of the enterprise modernisation. What genuinely matters for business is the return on investment of the enterprise architecture and its monetising capabilities. The rest is the theory because nowadays sponsoring executives, due to economic climate, have no interest, attention, or tolerance for non-profitable ventures. I am sorry for disappointing some idealistic Enterprise Architects, but with due respect, it is the reality, and we cannot change it. This book deals with reality rather than theoretical perfection. Anyone against this view on this climate must be coming from another planet.In this concise, uncluttered and easy-to-read book, I attempt to show the significant pain points and valuable considerations for enterprise modernisation using a structured approach. The architectural rigour is still essential. We cannot compromise the rigour aiming to the quality of products and services as a target outcome. However, there must be a delicate balance among architectural rigour, business value, and speed to market. I applied this pragmatic approach to multiple substantial transformation initiatives and complex modernisations programs. The key point is using an incrementally progressing iterative approach to every aspect of modernisation initiatives including people, processes, tools, and technologies as a whole. Starting with a high-level view of enterprise architecture to set the context, I provided a dozen of distinct chapters to point out and elaborate on the factors which can make a real difference in dealing with complexity and producing excellent modernisation initiatives. As eminent leaders, Enterprise Architects are the critical talents who can undertake this massive mission using their people and technology skills, in addition to many critical attributes such as calm and composed approach. They are architects, not firefighters. I have full confidence that this book can provide valuable insights and aha moments for these talented architects to tackle this enormous mission turning chaos to coherence.

Implement successful and cost-effective enterprise architecture projects. This book provides a new approach to developing enterprise architecture based on the idea of emergent behaviors—where instead of micromanaging system implementation, the enterprise architecture effort establishes clear goals and leaves the details to the implementation teams. System development efforts are measured based on their contribution to achieving business goals instead of implementing specific (possibly outdated) requirements. Most enterprise architecture initiatives employ one of the existing system architecture frameworks such as Zachman or The Open Group Architecture Framework, but these are not well-suited for enterprise architecture in a modern, agile organization. The new approach presented in this book is based on the author’s experience with large enterprise architecture efforts. The approach leverages research into complex adaptive systems and emergent behaviors, where a few simple rules result in complex and efficient enterprise behaviors. Simplifying the task of establishing and maintaining the enterprise architecture cuts the costs of building and maintaining the architecture and frees up those resources for more productive pursuits. System implementers are given the freedom to rapidly adapt to changing user needs without the blessing of the enterprise modeling priesthood, and the architecture is transformed from a static pile of obscure models and documents into an operational framework that can be actively used to manage an enterprise’s resources to better achieve business goals. The enterprise architect is free to stop focusing on building and maintaining models and start focusing on achieving business goals. What You’ll Learn Refocus enterprise architecture on business needs by eliminating most of the enterprise-level models Delegate tasks to the development teams who do system implementation Document business goals, establish strategies for achieving those goals, and measure progress toward those goals Measure the results and gauge whether the enterprise architecture is achieving its goals Utilize appropriate modeling techniques that can be effectively used in an enterprise architecture Who This Book Is For Architecture practitioners and architecture managers: Practitioners are experienced architects who have used existing frameworks such as Zachman, and have experience with formal architecture modeling and/or model-based system engineering; managers are responsible for managing an enterprise architecture project and either have experience with enterprise architecture projects that were ineffective or are looking for a different approach that will be more cost-effective and allow for more organizational agility. Government program managers looking for a different approach to make enterprise architecture more relevant and easier to implement will also find this book of value.

Enterprise architecture defines a firm's needs for standardized tasks, job roles, systems, infrastructure, and data in core business processes. This book explains enterprise architecture's vital role in enabling - or constraining - the execution of business strategy. It provides frameworks, case examples, and more.

We are in a frenetic and a convoluted digital age. Every organisation strives to transform its business to stay competitive in this exponentially growing digital world. Digital transformation became pervasive and ubiquitous in all business ventures. This new norm of constant transformation requires architecting our business and underlying technology stacks rapidly. Establishing agile business architecture frameworks are fundamental requirements to achieve successful digital transformation outcomes. In this book, I attempt to share my knowledge and experience using a rigorous yet agile architectural method. My aim is to add accelerated value to the broader business architecture and digital transformation communities by focusing on the practical aspect with minimal emphasis on the theoretical aspect. The content in this book is based on my architectural thought leadership experience gained in multiple large business and enterprise architecture initiatives, focusing on business capabilities, digital transformation initiatives, and enterprise modernisation engagements, reflecting hard lessons learned in these applied settings. In this book I attempt to redefine the role of business architects as primary leaders for digital transformation programs. The content reflects my experience and observations from the field. As a caveat, this book is not based on theories in the traditional business architecture textbooks which may conflict with my experience. My beta readers found this as a unique guide reflecting reality from the field. Hope it adds new insights for your role in the business digital transformation initiatives.

A complete, comprehensive methodology and framework for adopting and managing a successful service oriented architecture environment Achieving Service-Oriented Architecture helps to set up an SOA Architecture Practice defining the policies, procedures, and standards that apply not just to IT developers but to the entire corporation as it relates to business applications. Why a new architectural approach is necessary for your business to achieve all the value SOA has to offer Focuses on setting up an enterprise architecture practice for service-oriented architecture Discusses the implementation and governance processes for SOA Defines and describes an overall architectural framework for managing SOA assets at an enterprise architecture level Shows how to set up and run an SOA Enterprise Architecture Practice using the methodology and framework presented Defining how an Architecture Practice can transform itself and your corporation to maximize the benefits of the SOA approach, Achieving Service-Oriented Architecture provides a pragmatic enterprise architecture approach and framework for implementing and managing service oriented architecture from a business organization and business practices perspective. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.