Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a critical enabler for successful transformation and strategy implementation. However, putting EA into practice can be challenging. Often, EA is not well positioned within the organization and its value is not clearly communicated to the various stakeholders. In addition, a lack of operational embedding and poor governance may undermine the effectiveness of EA. To minimize the risk of failure, the introduction of EA should be carefully planned.

We provide comprehensive support in setting up a robust and demand-oriented EA capability. Our approach is based on tangible use cases and the value contribution of EA. The cornerstone of our approach is our EA Base Model, which consolidates our project experience from over 10 years. This includes numerous assets such as catalogs of typical use cases and EA services, as well as proven reference models, views, and document templates. This can significantly accelerate EA implementation and substantially reduce the risk of failure.

In practice, EA functions have often evolved within IT and hence neglected the business layer. In such cases, it may be necessary to expand the EA function and/or establish a complementary business architecture function. Based on our experience, we will guide you safely through this process. Similar to Establishing EA, our approach is based on tangible use cases and the business value to be created. It leverages our comprehensive Business Architecture Framework together with numerous proven reference models, views, and document templates.

Capability Maps have proven to be a solid foundation for strategic planning and transformation and are one of the most important tools of any EA practice. Despite established standard approaches (such as BIZBOK®), the development and alignment of an organization-specific capability map remains a major challenge. Based on our long-standing experience, we can provide substantial support here as well. In addition to our experience, we have compiled a large repository of models (both industry-specific reference models and proven in-house developments) that can be used as a starting point and adapted to meet specific needs with minimal effort.

Architecture principles provide a simple and effective means for translating strategies into strategy-compliant architectures. However, developing and aligning architecture principles is often challenging. Difficulties may arise in understanding the corporate strategy and strategic inconsistencies may become apparent. Additionally, architecture principles typically limit the scope for decision-making, thereby leading to resistance. This is adressed by our service package Strategy to Principles. We help you to derive, formulate, align, decide on, and communicate architecture principles, as well as to create the necessary tools for compliance checks. Our service includes a proven approach, a catalog of guidelines and principles (including review criteria), and templates for architecture reviews.

The success of EA depends to a large extent on the quality and suitability of the EA tool used, as it forms not only the central data base but also an important communication means. Based on our many years of experience with EA tools, we have developed a special offering for the vendor-independent and requirements-oriented selection of an EA tool. The approach seamlessly integrates into our EA introduction service and includes numerous additional assets such as a vendor list, a standardized criteria catalog, and templates for showcases and evaluations. With this, the efforts and risks associated with a tool selection can be substantially reduced.