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Since the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, (which mandates
federal agencies’ approaches to IT acquisition
and management), U.S. federal agencies have been working
diligently to develop enterprise architectures (EA)
to serve as a foundation for information technology
(IT) planning and implementation. A complex and challenging
innovation, EA takes years to learn about and implement
successfully. By finding and demonstrating tangible
value as early in the implementation process as possible,
enterprise architects increase their chances of making
EA an effective component of their agency’s IT
governance processes.
Where are the opportunities for demonstrating this kind
of tangible value? ICF International has seen agencies demonstrate
the value of EA in at least three ways: through the implementation
of an EA program; through the role of EA as a learning
tool during organizational transition; and through the
use of EA as a foundation
for security analysis and planning.
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This article was published in the Fall
2004 issue
of Perspectives.
Please refer to our Terms
of Use policy regarding acceptable use of
content on the ICF International Web site.
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 Implementation
of an EA program emphasizes the change management aspects
of managing IT planning, acquisition, and management more
rigorously. Rather than focusing on the tools, models, products,
and other technical aspects of EA development, focus on creating
the organizational decision-making processes that will use
EA information to make better IT decisions.
Such a focus
means establishing the required information flows and business
processes, organizational policies, and decision-making
groups, such as an Enterprise Architecture Working Group
and a Technology Acquisition Board. Roles and responsibilities
of these groups are defined
with an eye toward the effective use of EA information.
Members receive required training in interpreting and using
the information they will need to make good
decisions. New organizational policies help support
the new behaviors while discouraging the persistence
of old behaviors.
An important aspect of this approach to
demonstrating EA value is that the organization can begin
to function
in the new way without having completed the technical implementation
of the EA itself. Instead of waiting for
all relevant EA products to be populated in the EA repository,
this approach uses the tacit architecture that already exists
in every organization. Getting the right people in the room
has the same effect as getting the right knowledge into the
tool—it makes the EA tangible and available for decision-making.
The more an agency sees the value of making disciplined IT
decisions, the more credibility the explicit EA will have
when it is finally completed and fully documented.
A second valuable use of EA seen in agencies is the role
of EA products as learning tools during a time of organizational
transition. For example, ICF International helped
a new Chief Information Officer (CIO) use EA products to
come up to speed as quickly as possible on the salient aspects
of the information infrastructure. The technical reference
model provided a useful introduction to the technology suite
in use at the agency, the systems inventory let the CIO know
which systems were central to agency business, and the systems
infrastructure diagrams allowed the CIO to see the major
system components, including internal and external interfaces
maintained by the agency.
Another form of transition relates to business process change.
Agency program managers have used the business process models
stored in the EA’s business architecture as the basis
for analysis of their day-to-day operations. Sensing the
existence of bottlenecks and other process inefficiencies,
these managers used the EA’s business process models
as a basis for process analysis and improvement activities.
The models provided a path for identifying and removing process
bottlenecks and inefficient and redundant processes, and
aided in identifying areas where additional IT investment
might lead to significant process efficiency gains. Of course,
resulting business process changes were then entered back
into the EA to keep it current.
The third area of demonstrated
value for the EA is in security management. EA models such
as the node-
connectivity diagram and the systems interface descriptions
document the places at which the agency’s systems interface
internally with other systems and externally with other agencies.
These interfaces represent one of the major vulnerabilities
for the agency infrastructure. By integrating the EA and
the security profile, security analysts can more effectively
protect their IT infrastructure.
All three of these uses of IT have demonstrated the tangible
value of the EA to the managers of the agencies involved.
Interestingly, the agencies referred to earlier did not
need to wait for the EA to be fully implemented before realizing
the benefits to be achieved. In each case the development
of EA products was conducted with reference to
the business processes that would use them. By focusing
on the value of the information stored in the EA, these agencies
have been able to gradually build a growing
management appreciation for this very complex IT requirement.
Lesson learned: find a business challenge where EA can help,
use EA to address it now, and demonstrate real
business value as soon as possible.
Learn more about ICF International’s capabilities
in enterprise
architecture and change
management.
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