These days, business processes, IT systems, hardware and software are all so tightly connected that it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything without a complete enterprise model. That’s why Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) has become a big deal in recent years. EAM helps companies take a step back and look at the bigger picture. This, in turn, means they can use an optimized architecture monitoring to proactively achieve strategic aims. But what exactly is EAM – and why should you start building your own enterprise model? We’ll tell you how!
What is Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM)?
EAM looks at all layers of your company and helps bring together all the important information. Enterprise Architecture normally focuses on 3 layers (Business Layer, Application Layer, Technology Layer). If you use a central model to map everything out, you can create a digital twin of your company – your entire enterprise architecture, from processes and IT systems to applications and departments. This gives you the transparency you need to understand how everything connects – which is key for making smart, strategic decisions. EAM is so diverse and can be employed in may areas. We’ll show you 3 specific examples where you can profit from EAM:
3 common situations where EAM really helps
- Especially in growing and larger companies, it is often the case that software solutions are used in silos by individual departments. This leads to numerous tools not reaching all areas of application or departments. As a result, the potential of these often costly solutions remains untapped, or it can even lead to multiple tools being used that offer the same set of features. A company model provides the necessary transparency regarding software solutions and their areas of use, helps to prevent redundancies, and thereby minimize costs and the high administrative effort.
- Another common situation is the need to move or decommission one or more IT servers in order to reduce costs. This often raises the uncertainty: Which applications are actually running on which servers, and what are the consequences of my actions? Such confusion is often caused by historically grown IT landscapes. With EAM, you can immediately see which applications are implemented where. On the one hand, this provides the necessary security, and on the other, it helps you initiate the required measures, such as involving affected business units. Incidentally, EAM also prevents this knowledge from being limited to specific individuals in the future. A well-maintained enterprise model continuously evolves, ensuring that knowledge about IT structures and system landscapes is no longer held only by individuals, but is centrally available in one model. This allows your company to remain agile and future-proof, even when personnel changes occur.
- Furthermore, with EAM you can identify risks at an early stage and manage them proactively. These risks can arise from both external factors and internal dependencies. An example of this is dependencies on individual people, processes, or IT applications. With EAM, you keep your risks in view and can manage them by identifying these vulnerabilities and initiating timely measures. In this way, you remain continuously able to act thanks to forward-looking analyses.
Advantages of EAM
There are many advantages to Enterprise Architecture Management, providing real value for all departments within the company. Here’s our shortlist of why EAM is worth it:
- supports strategic planning
- boosts efficiency
- reduces risks
- improves agility and flexibility
- encourages innovation
Supports strategic planning: EAM helps align your IT with your business goals, so everything works toward the same vision. Identifying IT strategic initiatives and how they effect company goals enables a holistic approach for IT planning.
Boosts efficiency: Better planning, standardization and rationalization of the IT landscape helps companies to improve efficiency and reduce costs. EAM can optimize processes, consolidate systems and minimize redundancies, making better use of resources and sinking operating costs.
Reduces risks: EAM helps you spot risks within IT systems and processes and reduce these thanks to a consistent and secure architecture. Security risks can be assessed, weaknesses identified and control mechanisms introduced for more secure company data and applications.
Agility and flexibility: A flexible enterprise architecture lets you adapt quickly to changes and quickly implement new business requirements. Introducing a flexible and scalable IT infrastructure means that you can react to market changes and stay competitive.
Innovation: With a solid model in place, it’s easier to bring in new ideas and technologies; new business models and technologies can be integrated quickly and easily.
Where does EAM belong in your company?
EAM should be a company-wide initiative where all departments and layers work closely together but there are different ways to set it up:
- Dedicated EAM team
In this approach, a specialized department or an independent team is established that focuses exclusively on Enterprise Architecture Management. In this case, the previous distance often proves helpful in capturing the individual elements, as there is little to no company-specific knowledge present yet. - Integration into existing IT department
Another option is to integrate EAM into existing IT departments. This is especially useful when these departments already hold responsibility for the company’s technological infrastructure and systems. In this way, initial basic structures can already be established.
Which setup works best varies from company to company. Ask yourself: “What do I want to achieve with EAM?” and “Where should I focus my EAM efforts?”. If your main goal is to create transparency for software interfaces, IT might be the right place. If you’re aiming for better alignment between business and IT, a separate team might be better. Then no one will feel as if they are being replaced. In both cases, however, the executive management level should be involved, since the overarching goal of EAM is to support the company’s strategic objectives through architecture management.
You think that EAM is a good idea and want to know how to get started? Our second part of the blog series will teach you everything you need to know about EAM documentation. Discover what makes up EAM documentation and benefit from our tips of what to look out for when it comes to choosing your EAM tool.
Do you want to get started straight away? Then get in touch with our EAM specialists and find out how to successfully implement EAM within your company. Book a no-obligation consultation and chat to our EAM specialists.
