Strategy by Design

strategy + business (Trepant and Newman) - Enterprise architecture [EA] can eliminate the space between an organization’s technology and its business model...We define EA as the logical framework that establishes the links between business strategy and organizational structures, processes, databases, and technologies. For example, a bank that wants to capture better customer information in order to energize an effort to sell additional, higher-margin products and services to existing customers would use an EA system to align its customer relationship management, information retrieval, and sales planning software. At the same time, EA applications would be set up for staff training, account management, and frequent assessments of the campaign’s efficacy. The goal of EA is thus twofold: to add value through its support of business goals and to enable companies to measure the value added.

Attaining high levels of EA maturity, however, is no easy task. An organization that wants to do so must see EA not as a state to be reached but rather as an ongoing process, a long-term effort to improve both the company’s technology and its receptivity to using IT as a fulcrum for improved performance. Four key elements must be addressed to master EA maturity...Read More