EA Masterset
What is a photo album in the picture approach?
1 As-Is picture and 2 - 4 To-Be pictures.
Name 5 core components of an EA.
1. AS-IS 2. TO-BE 3. Migration plan - plan to bring AS-IS to TO-BE 4. Principles - guidelines of the architecture, e.g. buy not build, adhere to data standards 5. Decisions log - start during build and keep live.
Name 4 drivers for EA.
1. Complex IS portfolio 2. Decentralization of IS budgets 3. Low flexibility of IS 4. Failing IS and business projects
How does technology acceptance leads to more business value.
1. EA infrastructure and service delivery quality leads to Organizational anchoring and Product quality. 2. Organizational anchoring leads to Intention to use EA and Organizational & Project benefits. 3. Intention to use EA leads to Actual system use. 4. More Actual system use leads to more Business value of IT.
How does EA quality lead to organizational benefits according to Tamm et al?
1. EA quality leads to 4 benefit enablers: organisational alignment, information availability, resource portfolio optimisation, resource complementarity. 2. Benefit enablers lead to organisational benefits.
How does EA service provision resources lead to business value according to Tamm et al?
1. EA resources lead to EA enabled organisational capabilities. 2. EA organisational capabilities consist of planning, operating platform, project delivery. 3. EA enabled organiational capabilities lead to organisational and project value.
How does the decision making process lead to EA value according decision theory.
1. EA-based IT governance involves the existence of roles (# roles defined/all potential roles), stakeholder involvement, EA monitoring, and centralized decision making. 2. EA-based IT governance leads to the use of EA standards in human and physical IT infrastructure & data and application integration. 3. Use of EA standards lead to EA value in the sense of low redundancy, homogeneous IT infrastructure, and data and application integration.
What 3 main components does the picture approach consist of?
1. Project: taking pictures to enforce shared meaning and vision among stakeholders. 2. Products: 1 AS-IS picture and supporting fact sheets. 3. Decision: using pictures, fact sheets, and Analytical Hierarchy Planning to aid in decision-making for further steps.
What are the 4 managerial approaches to reducing complexity?
1. Reverse engineer architectural artifacts: costs time and money. 2. Trial-and-error approach: risky and costly. 3. Make assumptions: can be incorrect. 4. Tear down and start over: destroys legacy.
What are the 4 managerial options to deal with complexity?
1. Reverse engineering architectural artifacts: costs time and money. 2. Trial-and-error approach: increases risk and costs. 3. Make assumptions: can be inaccurate. 4. Tear down and start over: unlikely to be chosen.
What does the resource-based perspective on business value via EAM involve?
1. Technological, intangible and human EAM resources lead to EAM capabilities. 2. EAM capabilities include modelling, planning, implementation and governance. 3. EAM capabilities leads to IS capabilities. 4. IS capabilities include IS planning & change mgt, business partnerships, market responsiveness, and cost-effective IS operations. 4. IS capabilities leads to organizational performance.
What are the 3 main EA approaches to reduce complexity?
1. Zachman framework = develop models for each perspective and viewpoint. 2. Picture approach = create 1 As-Is and 1 To-Be model using AHP. 3. Practical approach = use simple models for IS portfolio management
What are the 2 least supported meta-principles?
1. centralization (not important/feasible in modular architecture) 2. portability.
What are the 5 most supported meta-principles?
1. standardization 2. compliance 3. data consistency 4. modularity 5. reusability
What is a value network?
A group of enterprises collaborating in defined roles to deliver a value proposition to customers and the market. An enterprise can play different roles in different value networks. E.g. Sony is in contact with suppliers that assemble and test Sony's PCs, making Sony the enterprise in this value network. Sony also provides monitors to computer maker Dell, making Sony the supplier for Dell's value chain.
How does stable EA leads to Agile Enterprise?
A stable base of digitized core processes in a FfE makes firm more agile and efficient than their competitors in a fast changing business world.
What are function points?
Amount of business functionality an IS provides the user. Used to compute functional size of software. More FP = higher risk of failure.
How does complexity (design debt) accumulate?
Applying quick system fixes without proper refactoring. If you do more quick fixes, then things will become more complex, exponentially increasing the total cost (effort) required to repay the debt.
What are the characteristics of diversification within the operating model?
BUs have autonomy and use shared services. Own clients, own products.
What are the characteristics of coordination within the operating model?
BUs have seamless entry to shared data, but use different processes. Shared clients, own product.
What are the characteristics of unification within the operating model?
BUs operate seamlessly together as 1 machine. Shared clients and shared products.
What are the characteristics of replication within the operating model?
BUs use their own data but run similar processes. Own client and shared products.
What is the difference between commandments and spectrum principles?
Commandments = just make sense. Hard to disagree with but not all relevant to the situation. Spectrum principles = each side is an opposing belief. Both sides are good, but not for the same organizations.
What are architectural models for?
Communication and understanding of a phenomenon using visualization. More complex phenomenon requires a model.
Explain the meta-principle interoperability.
Compatibility and connectivity among all hardware, software, & communication components. It is a prerequisite for integration.
What does a CRUD matrix do?
Connect diagrams to help check their validity. It helps you create a To-Be state of the organization.
Explain the meta-principle centralization.
Consolidation/centralization of hardware, software, & communication components.
Explain the meta-principle modularity (decomposition).
Decomposing a complex system into components & creating an independency between modules. It is a prerequisite of reusability.
What is integration/data standardization within the operating model?
Degree to which BUs and processes use the same data. If the success of 1 BU is dependent on the availability, accuracy, and timeliness of other BU's data, then there is high integration. It increases efficiency, coordination, transparency, agility, and presents a single face to customers. The biggest challenge is the development of standard data definitions and formats.
What is process standardization within the operating model?
Degree to which processes operate identically regardless of who performs the process and where it is performed. If the company benefits by having BU run operations in the same way, there is high standardization. Increases efficiency, but costs flexibility in market response.
What is a fact sheet in the picture approach?
Description of pictures of each system complex to compare As-Is and To-Be system complexes and support decision-making. Contains information on IT architecture, systems functionality, process support, costs and benefits, risks.
What is a Foundation for Execution (FfE)?
Digitizing and automation of routine tasks for reliable and predictable execution. It consists of the IT infrastructure and digitized business processes that together automates a firm's core capabilities. Creating an FfE requires and operating model, EA maturity model and IT engagement model. Ross & Weill on FfE = FfE is the basis for digital transformation.
What does the following nonprinciple mean: confusion with low-level governance means, representing standards and guidelines.
EA principles are pervasive and concern high-level decisions, meaning that it can't be confused with low-level governance means.
What does the following nonprinciple mean: confusion of principles and EAM goals
EAM goals differ from principles because they don't limit design space or guide design decisions.
What does the following nonprinciple mean: confusion of principles and EAM practices
EAM practices differ from principles because they do not provide guidance or contribute to design decisions.
What is a behaviour element in the Archimate framework?
Element that are a performed act. It consists of services (externally visible) and an internal behaviour element.
What is an active structure element in the Archimate framework?
Element that performs a behaviour. It consists of an interface (externally visible) to access services and an internal active structure element.
Explain the meta-principle integration.
Enterprise, process, data, application, and infrastructure integration. It requires (1) interoperability and (2) data consistency.
Explain the meta-principle standardization.
Facilitating uniformity, interaction, & compatibility through standardized infrastructure and organizational approaches. It requires compliance.
What is TOGAF?
Framework that facilitates Architecture Development Method process to create Enterprise Architectures.
What are principles used for?
Govern architecture design and evolutions. It should be used to limit design space and guide design decisions. It should concern architecture design decision points to harmonize IT projects towards predefined goals. It should be understandable by key stakeholders to ensure adoption.
Explain the meta-principle reusability.
IS architecture approach that minimizes errors in modules, which subsequently improves maintainability, quality, portability, & software productivity. It requires modularity.
What happens when developing IT applications without EA?
IT projects portfolio enhance current IS applications and create new IS applications. IS applications portfolio support business processes, but may also lead to emerging business problems that cannot be solved by IS applications. Emerging business problems lead to a specification of new IT requirements, which lead to new IT project proposals. IT project proposals that are accepted and financed become part of the IT projects portfolio. However, it has not been checked whether the project will fit within the existing architecture. This leads to complex IS portfolio and design debt.
What is a picture in the picture approach?
Image of organizational processes that maps IS functions within processes. More interfaces within a process, more system complexity.
What does encapsulation involve in Archimate?
Internal details are hidden, service and interface show external details. Service is a behavior element. They are used by elements external to this layer. It explains the what instead of the how of a behavior. Interface is an active structure element. They are assigned to services. There is no external passive structure element, because passive structure elements are always internal.
What happens when developing IT applications with EA?
Internal drivers (IT complexity, high IT cost, business problems) and external drivers lead to the Architecture Development Process, which leads to an Enterprise Architecture. EA now requires IT project proposals and IT project portfolio to align with EA models (Zachman, Picture approach, Ross & Weill, TOGAF, Archimate)
How does Zachman framework relate to Enterprise Architecture?
It is a tool for thinking and communicating about organisations and all of their concepts and assets. Helps decision makers at all levels verify the completeness of their thinking and their decision models.
What is Archimate?
Language to define EA models fitting in Zachman framework and support decision-making. It gives high-level modeling within a domain and relations between domains. The Archimate's core framework classifies active structures, behaviors, and passive structures in business, application, and technology.
Describe IS for unification.
Leverage IT infrastructure, standardized business processes, and shared data. Integrate and standardize key processes so BU operate as 1 machine.
Describe IS for replication.
Leverage standardized IT-enabled business processes and services. Focus on providing standardized process modules and infrastructure components. Each BU uses their own data.
Describe IS for coordination.
Leverage strong IT infrastructure to share data across BUs. Focus on centralizing customer/supplier/product data. Give BUs control over process/IT.
What is the difference between a logical data model and a conceptual data model?
Logical data model has only 1-N and 1-1 relationships via FK. Architects' perspective. E.g. relational model. Conceptual data models can have N-N relationships and may lack PK. Business manager's perspective. E.g. ERD.
What does the practical approach application mapping to business processes involve?
Map all IS (rows) to main business processes (column) in 1 spreadsheet. This leads to an IT project portfolio, which leads to the IS portfolio. Supports phasing out, merging and prioritizing applications.
Describe IS for diversification.
May develop shared infrastructure to cut out costs. Focus on sharing internal services e.g. HRM, finance, IT.
What is the picture approach to EA?
Method to reduce the complexity of the application architecture in a firm and change the EA of a firm from a complex, unstructured As-Is architecture to a lean and well-structured To-Be architecture that supports business objectives. Produces 1 As-Is and 1 To-Be picture, where each picture requires 5 - 6 fact sheets.
Explain the meta-principle simplicity.
Minimal dependencies between modules. It is a prerequisite of usability.
Explain the resource-based/dependency theory.
More EA resources (IV) lead to more EA capabilities that ultimately lead to more business performance (DV).
What is an operating model?
Necessary level of business process integration and standardization for delivering goods and services to customers. Provides business guidance for IT decisions. Supports how a company wants to thrive and grow.
What is objective complexity?
Number of components (applications), number of interfaces between components, number of function points. You can reduce objective complexity by reducing components, interfaces, or functions.
Explain the meta-principle portability.
Operability in different hardware & software platforms. 🡪 replaced by technology independence
What is the organic and acquisition growth strategy for the diversification operating model?
Organic growth strategy - organic via independent BUs Acquisition growth strategy - acquisition by acquiring related businesses.
What is the organic and acquisition growth strategy for the coordination operating model?
Organic growth strategy - organic via product innovations to existing customers. Integration facilitates expansion into new markets. Acquisition growth strategy - new customers for existing products or new products for existing customers. Integration makes acquisitions more challenging.
What is subjective complexity?
Perceived effort to understand and to cope with the portfolio. You can reduce subjective complexity by (1) reducing the effort to understand the portfolio by visualizing main parts & relations from managerial and IT perspectives and (2) use Analytical Hierarchy Planning to decide on criteria to support decision making, allowing you to discover system details.
What are the 9 phases of TOGAF's ADM?
Preliminary: Framework and principles. A: Architecture vision B: Business architecture C: Information Systems architecture D: Technology architecture E: Opportunities and solutions F: Migration planning G: Implementation governance H: Architecture change management
What are meta-principles?
Principles containing related principles.
What do use-case diagrams do?
Provide a bird view of systems and businesses. E.g. what functionalities and relationships between functionalities.
What do activity diagrams do?
Provide details of systems and businesses. E.g. what details does a functionality consist of.
What is enterprise architecture?
Set of concepts and practices based on holistic systems thinking, principles of shared language, and long-standing disciplines of engineering and architecture. It's pupose it to align, integrate, optimize and synergize the whole firm.
Explain the meta-principle data consistency.
Shared data definitions, consistency in stored data, 1-time capturing of data at the source, & business continuity support in case of interruptions. It is a prerequisite for integration.
Explain the meta-principle usability (ease-of-use).
Shared look-and-feel & ease-of-use applications. It requires simplicity.
What is a capability blueprint?
Shows capability elements, their operational characteristics/capacities, and the relationships between classes of elements.
What is a value network diagram?
Shows enterprise value network and actor relationships. There is 1 value network for each market and customer strategy. An enterprise may have different roles in the value network and participate in more than 1 value network.
What is a capabilities diagram?
Shows enterprise's internal structure and operations/capabilities. It contains capability definitions, the relationships between capabilities, the information flows between capabilities and the interaction between internal capabilities, value network actors and customers.
What is the difference between a system diagram and a business diagram?
System diagrams = what system does (use-case), how system does that (activity diagram). Design dependent, technology independent. Business diagrams = what business does (use-case), how business does that (activity diagram). Design dependent.
What does Zachman's framework provide?
Systematic taxonomy of concepts to show a system from many different perspectives and how they are related.
What is EA as a business strategy from McDonald's network perspective?
The deliberate design of the enterprise as a whole. Enterprise architecture is an instrument/management tool to implement business strategy, linking strategy and implementation of strategy. It focuses on what the position of the firm is in a network.
What is EA as a business strategy from Ross & Weill's form perspective?
The organizing logic for core BP and IT infrastructure reflecting standardization and integration of a company's operating model. Enterprise architecture focused on guiding strategy analysis, choice, and implementation. It focuses on how firms analyse, create, and implement their strategy.
What is Analytical Hierarchy Planning?
Tool for simplifying comparisons using 2 types of criteria: 1. Knock-out criteria that the To-Be system is required to meet. 2. Preference criteria for To-Be systems that meet the knock-out criteria
How do principles lead to EA benefits?
Use of principles influence the quality of EA (capabilities), which leads to EA benefits.
What are VRIN resources?
Valuable, rare, inmitable, non-substitutable that lead to business success, given they are handled by EA capabilities.
What is a flowchart?
Visualization of what is going on in a program. Can be created for different perspectives.
What does the practical approach quality of the applications portfolio involve?
Visualize each IS as a circle where system is assessed on (1) technical quality, (2) functional quality, (3) total yearly costs. This leads to an IT project portfolio, which leads to the IS portfolio. Supports technical improvements, functional improvements, cost reduction opportunities, IS replacement opportunities.
What does SONAR do?
Visualize the relations between all modules in the system to assess software complexity.
What is simple/atomic behaviour in Archimate?
When 1 active structure element performs a service on its own.
What is a business ecosystem in Archimate?
When a service offered by 1 party is (partially) realized by process of another party.
What is complex behaviour in Archimate?
When more than 1 active structure elements perform a service. E.g. meal ordering involves 1 ordering party and 1 receiving party.
Explain the meta-principle compliance.
· Conformity with corporate/industry-specific/universal standards & laws/regulations. It is a prerequisite of standardization.
What are the 6 steps of the Picture approach process?
1. Establish the project, project management, & senior management support. 2. Create photos/models of process architecture, application portfolio, information architecture, organization architecture, and IT architecture. 3. Review photos/models with management team. 4. Detail photos/models by adding fact sheets. The 5 fact sheets include (1) the sustainability of current/future architecture, (2) application functionality, (3) degree to which systems support processes, (4) costs and benefits per applications, and (5) risks per applications and total risk. 5. Select 1 AS-IS and some TO-BE photo(s)/model(s). 6. Select 1 TO-BE photo/model using Analytical Hierarchy Planning.
What are internal drivers to model Enterprise Architecture?
1. Evaluate current situation 2. Monitor processes and data required 3. Manage IT system portfolio 4. Manage (out)sourcing relationships 5. Guide systems development 6. Preparing a Merger or Acquisition 7. Reducing complexity
What are the 4 steps of the Analytical Hierarchy Planning process?
1. Experts measures which TO-BE model best fulfils subcriteria (e.g. performance, user friendliness) based on models' fact sheets. 2. Management assigns a weight to the subcriteria. Subcriteria are grouped under main criteria. 3. Management assigns a weight to main criteria. The best TO-BE model is calculated given the weights. 4. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess whether a change in weight results in a change in best TO-BE model.
What are the 4 steps of applying Archimate?
1. Figure out baseline situation using Archimate core framework. 2. Based on analysis of stakeholders and their motivations, design target situation with Archimate core framework. 3. Identify gap between baseline and target core framework. 4. Bridge gap using implementation and migration.
What are the 3 rules of a Zachman framework?
1. Flexibility on the level of detail. 2. Consistency between models in columns. 3. Alignment between models in business and IT rows.
How does group decisions influence the EA outcome according group decision theory.
1. Groups, tasks, context, and technology influences the EA process. 2. The EA process influences the outcome of the EA process. 3. Groups and technology also directly influence the outcome of the EA process.
What are the 3 drivers of doing Enterprise Architecture?
1. IT governance: division and coordination of work. 2. Centralization and decentralization. 3. Standardization of data and processes.
What are the 4 characteristics of the picture approach?
1. Informational: systems documentation, systems analysis and design, systems project management. 2. Organizational: organizational structure representation, role redesign, human resource management. 3. Behavioural: Business process documentation. 4. Functional: Task documentation, task redesign, CPI/TQM project management.
What are the 3 business drivers for Enterprise Architecture FfE?
1. Lack of integration/data standardization: Different BUs give different answers to same customer questions. Firm-wide information for key decisions is not available. 2. Lack of agility: IT impedes strategic change. 3. Lack of process standardization: Different BP are executed for the same activity, each with different IT systems. IT ROI is unknown. Senior management dislikes discussing IT.
Name 4 advantages of FfE?
1. Less complexity: better data accessibility, smoother processes, fewer system failures, fewer rewiring of single systems if infrastructure changes. 2. Regulatory/legal compliance: more transparent and accessible information. 3. Business agility: faster time to market, higher profitability, more IT ROI, digitized core processes to allow focus for dynamic processes. 4. Less risky and expensive than not having FfE: incrementally building FfE lowers IT cost and increase business efficiency.
Name 3 Zachman schema characteristics.
1. Normalized: facts can only be in 1 cell to prevent redundancy. 2. Columns: abstractions of industrial products. 3. Rows: perspectives on physical reality.
Name the 2 growth strategies for operating models.
1. Organic growth 2. Acquisition growth: mergers
Name 2 benefits of the Zachman framework.
1. Organized current artifacts. 2. Predicted the need for unknown artifacts.
