All you need to know as CIO about a software tool for Enterprise Architecture
This page explains high-level to CIOs what is an EA Tool or EA Software Tool in general and what its common benefits and basic features are.
Reducing the time spent on controlling IT complexity is one of the CIOs' objectives. Supporting how technology can be best aligned with the execution of strategic business plans is one of his challenges.
More and more, Enterprise Architecture is becoming a strategic instrument in organizations for managing risks and controlling programs of change. With this also, specialized software is more and more used to be able to practice Enterprise Architecture at a more mature level than just working with PowerPoint, Excel, and Word.
EA Software Tool, the most significant software tool in the workplace
Enterprise Architecture Tool or EA Software Tool is a fairly new type of tool in our workplace. The first generation appeared on the business market around 2000. EA Tools started as pimped UML modelling tools, and some still are.
A lot of EA Software Tools then focused on supporting the creation of formal diagrams of process models, software application models, and IT network models that fitted the Zachman Framework.
Solution Design
One could argue that currently, the third generation of EA Tools is around: entering the visual age, supporting the creation of user-defined models and visualizations. The best EA Tools nowadays are like a toolbox or toolkit, containing all different applications for administering, modeling, visualizing, and publishing architecture products.
Enterprise Transformation
With an EA Software Tool, managers, architects, and chiefs can do things like enterprise and solution design, solution creation, enterprise architecture and enterprise governance.
With business models, process models, data models, application models, and IT models created with EA Tools, impacts of change or risky undertakings can be identified and dealt with very efficiently in projects and programs.
Enterprise Governance
With real EA Tools, people can create blueprints, design sketches, artist impressions, and infographics of business and IT concepts and solutions. Everything that is needed for enterprise governance.
There are commercial EA Tools like our own Dragon1 and open-source tools like Archi that can be downloaded for free. Free EA Tools offer fewer services, support, benefits, and features than commercial tools.
Solution Design with an EA Tool
In our opinion, one should be able to do solution design with an EA Tool. But visually, for example, creating an application landscape or process landscape at A0-sized of the AS-IS situation and future state.
Our own Dragon1 EA Tool focuses on visualisation and reporting rather than just modeling. In a second, you can draw the most beautiful and convincing visualization of a solution concept that answers all the needs and requirements of stakeholders.
Next to Solution Design with EA Tools, people must be able to do Enterprise Design of several generic structures such as the enterprise's governance, enterprise business, human capital, information facilities, IT Infrastructure, and information security.
For this, every EA Tool needs a basic set of entities and shapes for the market, client, product, process, service, contract, organizational- unit, capability, application, database, interface, network, computer, etc..
EA Tools as Instrument for Enterprise Transformation
The enterprise architecture product one creates with an EA Tool is valuable for every project as a guiding framework.
With an EA Tool, people must be able to design scenarios and stable migration plateaus. This makes risk management and control easier when fundamentally changing the enterprise strategically.
Enterprise Governance using an EA Tool
With EA Tools, people can do Enterprise Governance: strategic planning, supervision/control, accountability/justification, evaluation/feedback, and adjusting plans/change. All this can be done with true EA Tools.
Dragon1 supports the user in Business Intelligence Information, Management Information, Dashboards, and Management Report Views. Everything you need for Enterprise Governance.
Enterprise Architecture in the Boardroom using Dragon1
Here is an article on the usage of Enterprise Architecture in the Boardroom: Enterprise Architecture in the Boardroom
Read how to use Dragon1 in the boardroom successfully.
More Information on EA Tool
Here are some nice links on what is an EA Tool:
Read the Gartner Magic Quadrant here on this blog for a comparison of well-known tools Criteria for EA Tool Selection - a basic selection guide
Which EA Tools? - Blog of Tom Graves: https://weblog.tetradian.com
Do an EA Tool Selection
If you are planning to select an EA Tool, be sure to read the following pages: