- Part I: Basic Concepts
- Part II: Calculating Variances and Indexes
- Part III: Forecasting Completion
Earned Value Management - Made Easy
User-centric EA seeks to align the various life cycle IT system processes to help users understand, navigate, and complete these as simply and smoothly as possible.
Below is an alignment of the processes for System Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC), Enterprise Architecture (EA), and the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK).
SDLC | CPIC | EA | PMBOK |
Conceptual Planning | Select | Business Alignment | Initiating |
Planning & Requirements | Control | Technical Alignment | Planning |
Design | Executing | ||
Development & Testing | |||
Implementation | |||
Operations & Maintenance | Evaluate | Architecture Assessment | |
Disposition | Closing |
The graphic demonstrates that the various IT system processes align quite nicely, and that user seeking to stand up a new system or make major changes to existing systems can follow the basic 7 steps of the SDLC and complete the requirements of CPIC, EA, and PMBOK along the way (the touch points are all identified).
The way to read this graphic is as follows:
For example, in the first phase of the SDLC, the conceptual planning stage, the user does the following: 1) defines their need (SDLC process) 2) develop their business justification and seek to obtain approval and funding from the IT Investment Review Board (CPIC process) 3) develops their business alignment and seeks approval from the Enterprise Architecture Board (EA process), and 4) define their project and seek authorization to proceed (PMBOK process).
For CPIC, users identify the following:
For EA, users demonstrate the following:
For PMBOK, users complete various project management processes:
Note: The EA/CPIC alignment is adapted from Architecture Alignment and Assessment Guide, Chief Information Officers Council, August 2001. The PMBOK definitions are adopted from the Project Management Book of Knowledge, Third Edition.
User-centric EA promotes the alignment of the various IT system processes to help users to easily understand the touch points in the various life cycle steps to getting their system up and running. Moreover, the alignment enables the CIO to develop processes and job aids to assist and ‘speed’ users through the process. Thus, the processes are transformed from inhibitors to facilitators of systems progress for the enterprise.
SDLC, CPIC, PMBOK, and EA
Several times in my career, I have been brought in to develop an enterprise architecture for an organization, and just about every time, the boss has asked how long will it take, when will it be done, or some other similar version to time-bind the effort.
However, for those of us who are practitioners in the field of EA, we know resolutely the answer is that EA is never done.
Legally, EA is mandated by the Information Technology Management Reform Act (a.k.a. the Clinger-Cohen Act). As such, it is not a one-time event, but an ongoing requirement, and thus an established program in every department of the federal government.
But more than that, EA defines the current, target, and transition plans for an organization. And by definition, a current and target are just snapshots in time, which are in essence outdated a moment after you publish (just like when you drive a new car off the dealer lot and it immediately becomes “used.”) That is, an organization, its business and technology, are constantly evolving and in a state of flux, responding to internal and external factors (such as new mission challenges, business opportunities, congressional or executive mandates, changing customer expectations, new technologies, and so on). So in an ever-evolving organization, the “current” state does not stay current, and the “target” does not stay current (up to date). That is, unless you place these under “maintenance,” i.e. you refresh these on a periodic basis, and make course corrections along the way.
Further, developing and maintaining an EA for any organization is a challenging task, especially for a large and complex organization (like many in the federal government). As such, EA efforts need to be broken down into smaller projects to be successful. And these projects need to be clearly defined in terms of scope, schedule, and performance measures and managed for all project knowledge areas (reference: Project Management Book of Knowledge).
So the next time your boss asks you, “When will the EA be done?” I suggest you tell them: “The EA is a program with many phases and projects. Phase (#) is scheduled to roll out (date).”
Has this ever happened to you – that your boss asked you when the EA would be finished? What did you say/do?
Enterprise Architecture: Program or Project?