Support Decision Making and Project Solutions
Enterprise Architecture is about designing and realizing architectures and integral business IT solutions in an organization. As the bridge between strategy and digital transformation.
Often the goal of using Enterprise Architecture as Strategy is to have projects carry out fundamental strategic change successfully.
The visualization is used to support strategic decision-making to get an approved integral solution design.
Once the design is approved, these visualizations support the projects in realizing the integrated solutions in a modular way, so each one is compliant with the enterprise architecture and executes the strategy.
Many of our users, therefore, create and manage atlases, models, diagrams, principles, concepts, and frameworks that form the design of productive business solutions or in other words the fundamental strategic change. All are based on strategic requirements.
Using Dragon1 Enterprise Architecture Tool in the organization enables implementation and reporting on your Enterprise Architecture strategy for digital transformation projects.
Example of Using Strategy in Enterprises
Screenshot of Monitoring the strategic fit by enterprise layer alignment.
In this visualization, you see how the architecture is the basis for an enterprise architecture and how the solutions architectures are mapped. And how the various architectures are connected integrally which will ensure Business alignment.
Dragon1 offers an Integral Approach
Enterprise Architecture often comes down to an integrated approach where you as CIO or IT Manager want to execute fundamental strategic change in your organization and control the risks. Here you can read more about our vision on visualization using the Enterprise Data Services.
The challenge is to keep the enterprise layers (governance, business, information, technology, ...) aligned with each other and to keep per enterprise layer a strategic fit.
On the platform, you can monitor the alignment and progress utilizing a dashboard and clickable architecture visualizations.
Enterprise Architecture can be well used as a strategic management instrument because the architecture is visually linked to the enterprise strategy.
Dragon1 software lets the enterprise architects design architecture solutions and create visualizations that can be used by the board (CEO, CIO, CFO) and Business / IT / Project / Portfolio managers to take decisions. Later on, these or the detailed versions of the visualizations can be used to realize the enterprise solution. This ensures the necessary changes compliant with the architecture are made.
Three important Dragon 1 Enterprise Architecture processes, to make it work as a strategy, are:
- Strategic Decision Making (Architecture Governance)
- Creation of a Solutions Architecture Diagram
- Realization of Integral Solutions
Each of these three processes and the products that need to be created in the processes are detailed below. Dragon1 supports matching architecture solutions onto enterprise layers, aligning enterprise layers, and supporting strategically fitting enterprise layers.
1. Strategic Decision Making (the WHY)
On the Dragon1 platform, you can create architecture visualizations and management dashboards. CxOs and management can make strategic decisions based on insights, overviews, and progress shown by these visualizations.
First there is strategy, then there is architecture. Solution Architecture is the total concept of an integrated solution for the organization. The board and management could decide what solution concepts should be part of the total concept of a solution and if the solution architecture design of the solution fits the enterprise strategy enough.
Dragon1 with the powerful Enterprise Architecture Tools help to stimulate, inspire, and enable enterprise architects to create strategic architecture visualizations, enabling Board and management to see the impact on the organization and to choose for the correct concepts and principles. These visualizations are used as supporting material to make their strategic decisions, such as standardizing on a certain concept.
Generic Architecture products that can be produced for the architecture process 'Strategic Decision Making' are:
- Enterprise Architecture Vision Design Sketch
- Enterprise Architecture Framework (Issue & Progress report view)
- Enterprise Domain & Functions Map
- Enterprise Services & Capabilities Map
- Enterprise Architecture Blueprint & Landscape (Issue & Progress report view)
- Digital Transformation Project Map (Progress report views)
- Stakeholders Needs Onion Diagram
- Solution Architecture Vision Design Sketch, projected on the Enterprise Vision
- Solution Architecture Framework, projected on the Enterprise Framework (Issue & Progress report view)
- Solution Architecture Blueprint / Landscape, projected on the Enterprise Blueprint (Impact & Progress report view)
2. Create Solution Architecture Designs (the WHAT)
On the platform, you can create architecture designs. High level and in detail. If the Board and management have decided to go for a certain architectural & integral solution, the architects are assigned to create an architectural design of the integral solution.
Dragon 1 enables you to derive the architecture from the strategy and get requirements from stakeholders so the design leads to the perfect solution for the organization. Also, a lot of visualizations are made by architects so all stakeholders have a lot of control over the actual design of the solution.
For the Architectural Design to be of value it MUST contain information about the costs for implementing certain concepts and follow certain principles and information on HOW to build and implement certain elements, building blocks, and components.
Generic Architecture products that can be produced for the architecture process 'Create Solution Architecture Designs' are:
- Solution Domain & Functions Map
- Solution Services & Capabilities Map
- Stakeholders Needs Onion Diagram
- Program of Requirements
- Architecture Design Book
- Concept Design Sketches
- Principle Design Drawings
- Solution Building Block Landscape
- Project Portfolio Map
- Artist Impression of the Solution
- Solution Architecture Blueprint / Landscape - (Impact & Progress report view for the Business Architecture, Information Architecture, and Technical Architecture)
3. Realize Integral Solution Architecture Designs (the HOW)
Dragon1 facilitates the realization of architecture solutions design in a project. This is done in two ways: 1) By enabling architects to design and visualize HOW concepts can be developed and implemented and 2) By providing concepts and template views for project management and project portfolio management. You can, for instance, create a Gantt Chart or visualize the structure of the project and create a management report view of it (with colors).
Dragon1 covers a lot of project management concepts to make sure architects can supervise. The biggest challenge for architects is to have the architecture that is documented used. Enterprise architecture is more than enterprise modeling or enterprise design. It is also building and implementing integral architecture solutions and controlling their impact.
If you have an architectural design document of a solution it always contains deliverables. With these deliverables, a building plan can be created and a program or project structure blueprint can be visualized. This helps in realizing intelligent business solutions correctly. Also, every architecture document should contain information (principle diagrams) about HOW to build and implement elements, as said before.
Generic Architecture products that can be produced on the platform for the architecture process 'Realizing Integral Solution' are:
- Project Structure Blueprint
- Architecture ERA and Plateaus Overview
- Architecture Design Book (Interactive Atlas)
- Progress reports in the form of Management Report Views on architecture landscape and architecture blueprint posters
Where to start with Planning your Strategy?
You can start with Enterprise Architecture Strategy planning at any time by creating an AS-IS Enterprise Architecture Blueprint. By visualizing (with colors) this blueprint as a Management Report View, it shows you the Strategic Fit and for which themes and topics the solutions architecture design should be created and realized. Planing strategy is related to the implementation of the concepts and principles chosen within these themes and topics.
Enterprise Architecture always consists of other architectures. Most commonly organizations define the following architectures:
- Business Architecture - The Focus for Business Managers and Business Architects
- Information Architecture - The Focus for Information Managers and Information Architects
- Technical Architecture - The Focus for IT Managers and IT Architects
- Security Architecture - The Focus for Security Managers and Security Architects
- Reference Architecture - The Focus for Quality Workers
- Solution Architecture - The Focus for Program Managers, Project Managers, Project Portfolio Managers, and Solution Architects
Get Started Using Enterprise Architecture as Strategy
A Generic set of Architecture products (i.e. Baseline) that are created, when starting with Enterprise Architecture as Strategy are:
- Enterprise Architecture Framework
- Glossary of Terms
- Enterprise Domains model
- Enterprise Functions model
- Enterprise Services model
- Enterprise Capabilities model
- Enterprise Concepts model
- Enterprise Principles model
- Blueprint & Landscape diagram (Issue & Progress report view)
- Working with Visual Enterprise Architecture - A Management presentation
- Also for Business Architecture, Information Architecture, and Technical Architecture these products are created.
Agile Framework for Management Reporting
The Management Overview of the Enterprise Architecture of an organization is often visualized in an Enterprise Architecture Framework Diagram. It is the coherent set of architectures, and their important parts, of an organization.
On the Dragon1 platform, you will find a template, checklist, tutorial, and much more to create framework diagrams in a short period. You will be managing your Enterprise Architecture and supporting projects in no time, realizing fundamental strategic change successfully.
Here's a demo with a visualization template to create an enterprise framework with the import of Excel data.
Users create, share, and manage every ea product thinkable to enable enterprise transformation and use architecture strategy, realizing the goals of the organization.
Enabling Digital Transformation
If you are interested in using Dragon1 to design, visualize and communicate your Enterprise Architecture as Strategy and build your Smart Digital Company, purchase your Dragon1 Business license and start today.
Read More
If you want to know more about Enterprise Architecture Strategy, you can also read: