August 2, 2007

EA Modeling is Key to Business Process Improvement

Modeling & simulation has been hailed as a national critical technology and vital to national economic leadership (Source: Congressional Modeling and Simulation Caucus).

Models are representations of real world phenomenon and are static (while simulations are dynamic).

In EA, models are used to represent business processes, data and information entities, and IT systems. These models can be unified into representations that detail all the following:

  • Business processes required for mission execution;
  • Information requirements to supports these business processes; and
  • IT systems that serve up the needed information.

In user-centric EA, models are done not just for the sake of representing these realities but are done to improve organizational performance and results by the end users. Models are central in analyzing problem areas and identifying gaps, redundancies, inefficiencies, and opportunities. The desired outcome is business process reengineering and improvement, ensuring vital information flows to end-users when and where they need it, and to support these with information technology solutions that helps us perform better, faster, and cheaper.

User-centric EA acknowledges that models are static. However, EA models need to result in dynamic corrective actions to an organization.

To really get the benefit of these modeling efforts, they must be conducted throughout the organization, in all lines of business. Unfortunately the reality is that this is a heavy lift and requires extensive commitment of resources and resolve.

Are models critical in your EA efforts? How do you use them?


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2 comments:

CareShare Network said...

Interesting article, but what is EA?

Andy Blumenthal said...

Thank you for the feedback and interest in EA. In answer to your question on what is EA: Enterprise architecture (EA) is the discipline that synthesizes key business and technical information across the organization to support better decision-making. EA includes the development, maintenance and use of an as-is, to-be, and transition plan. Together, these serve as the blueprints for modernizing and transforming an organization to meet future mission capabilities and requirements. The goal of EA is to improve information technology planning and governance.