What Are The Benefits From TOGAF® For Different Types … · For Different Types Of Stakeholder? ... and COBIT, and unites these ... including the core EA team and governance processes.

What Are The Benefits From TOGAF® For Different Types Of Stakeholder?by Roger Evernden

The TOGAF® documentation frequently reminds us to adapt the material to suit specific needs.

In doing this we need to consider the various stakeholders that have a stake in architectural changes.

The value and benefits for each stakeholder will vary – depending on the nature of the changes, the role and concerns of the stakeholder, and their relationship to other stakeholders.

“An indirect benefit of EA or TOGAF is that the business becomes more agile. Faster changes become possible.“

So, what are the typical benefits from TOGAF® for each of the different types of stakeholder?

To make these benefits more useful, I have distinguished between benefits that come from the general use of enterprise architecture from those that are TOGAF® specific, and I have also distinguished between benefits that are direct, and those that are indirect.

Direct benefits are those that can be easily attributed to a state of the enterprise architecture; these benefits relate directly to the qualities or characteristics of the architecture.

Indirect benefits are follow-on results, that are typically the specific benefits required by a stakeholder. For example, a business-specific benefit might be an increase in customer share of market; an effective enterprise architecture may contribute to making this possible, but the benefit is an outcome that is enabled through an architectural state.

All of the benefits are “potential” benefits – i.e. they only exist if enterprise architecture and/or TOGAF® are applied effectively.

Note

It could be argued that there are “disadvantages” in using TOGAF® or EA for some of these stakeholders. For example, the IT service provider might consider using EA / TOGAF® as an unnecessary overhead that adds costs without necessarily adding any perceived value. I have not included any disadvantages in this Report, as any perceived disadvantage can be countered by the benefits included here.

TOGAF Series #61 | ATL002:61

© Copyright 2016 Good e-Learning. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, resold, stored in a retrieval system, or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Such requests for permission or any other comments relating to the material contained in this document may be submitted to: [email protected]. Good e-Learning is a trading name used by

Educational Systems Ltd. The Open Group® and TOGAF® are registered trademarks of the Open Group in the United States and other countries

© Copyright 2016 Good e-Learning. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, resold, stored in a retrieval system, or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Such requests for permission or any other comments relating to the material contained in this document may be submitted to: [email protected]. Good e-Learning is a trading name used by

Educational Systems Ltd. The Open Group® and TOGAF® are registered trademarks of the Open Group in the United States and other countries

Suggestions for discovering further benefits:• Look for goals, objectives and strategies for each

type of stakeholder.

• Then think about which parts of the enterprise architecture need to be improved to deliver those outcomes.

• Or which features of TOGAF® (which Phases of the ADM, which techniques, which reference models, etc.) might contribute to the outcomes.

• I’ve listed some of the key benefits for each type of stakeholder, based on my experience and research. Clearly some of the benefits that I’ve listed for a particular stakeholder might apply to other types of stakeholder.

THE EXECUTIVE SPONSOR, EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT, BOARD MEMBERS:

These people are all involved with making significant decisions about the current and future needs of the enterprise. Key responsibilities including identifying strategies, concerns, needs, requirements, problems, or other reasons for making changes to the enterprise; reviewing facts, data, opinions, recommendations, key performance indicators and other information that is pertinent to making a decision; making decisions.

Direct Benefits from Enterprise Architecture• Clear and explicit descriptions of the constraints

and options inherent in current and future architecture states.

• A clear outline of architectural options and roadmaps.

• A detailed assessment of the potential costs, risks, and benefits of alternative architectural change options.

Direct Benefits from TOGAF®

• Templates and other materials that can help establish an enterprise architecture in a shorter time frame.

Indirect Benefits enabled by applying EA or TOGAF®• More effective change programs.

• Reduced enterprise complexity.

• Better returns on investment and resources.

• More efficient and effective management, business and IT.

THE BUSINESS USER:

Business users, from an EA perspective, are people using components in an enterprise architecture to carry out or perform business functions or operations. Key responsibilities are performing business-related tasks, activities, or operations.

Direct Benefits from Enterprise Architecture

• Better, more appropriate components - components that are easier to use and better integrated with other components.

• Modular business components, allowing flexibility, easier and quicker introduction of new products or processes, easier changes to business rules, etc.

• Better synergy and collaboration with other business units. For example, shared investment in common architectural components; reuse of architecture-enabled capabilities.

• Easier to identify or report areas of concern in components or a state of the architecture.

• Better alignment between business needs and supporting components (e.g. applications, data, communication networks, or IT infrastructure).

Direct Benefits from TOGAF®

• Easier to identify or define hand-offs between business planning and change processes and the Phases defined in the Architecture Development Method (ADM).

• Focus on improving (business) capabilities, through the emphasis in TOGAF® on Capability-Based Planning

• More likely that IT change will be business-driven, by following the flow of the ADM, resulting in better returns on business investment.

• Use of techniques, such as Business Scenarios or Business Transformation Readiness Assessment, help

Indirect Benefits enabled by applying EA or TOGAF®

• More efficient business operations.• More effective business operations.• Reduced operational costs.• Shorter time to market for new products.• More effective marketing or product promotion.• Improved customer satisfaction ratings.• Etc.

© Copyright 2016 Good e-Learning. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, resold, stored in a retrieval system, or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Such requests for permission or any other comments relating to the material contained in this document may be submitted to: [email protected]. Good e-Learning is a trading name used by

Educational Systems Ltd. The Open Group® and TOGAF® are registered trademarks of the Open Group in the United States and other countries

THE BUSINESS MANAGERS:

Business managers, from an EA perspective, are people responsible for managing business users and others who use components in an enterprise architecture to carry out or perform business functions or operations. Key responsibilities are making decisions, changing business rules, introducing new produce lines, making investments in change.

Direct Benefits from Enterprise Architecture

• Better overview of the business landscape.

• Clearer understanding of how the architecture constrains (or enables) the business.

• Clearer exposition of the costs, benefits, and risks associated with different plans of action.

• Opportunity to spread costs of changes with other business managers.

• Opportunity to develop shared / common architectural components.

• Reduced business complexity.

Direct Benefits from TOGAF®

• Better strategy and investment planning processes through application of the early Phases of the ADM.

• Templates for establishing architecture governance and practice.

Indirect Benefits enabled by applying EA or TOGAF®

• More agile business. Faster changes become possible.

• More effective business capabilities.

• Lower management costs.

THE HUMAN RESOURCE OR PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT:

People responsible for recruitment, training, or career development within an organization.

Direct Benefits from Enterprise Architecture

• Provides a training discipline.

• Career opportunities beyond TOGAF® - additional training or learning.

Direct Benefits from TOGAF®

• Provides a fairly well-accepted standard or baseline of training in Enterprise Architecture.

• Provides certification of enterprise architects, which gives a benchmark for assessing job applicants, etc.

• Checklists of skills in the Skills Framework.

• Various models to help establish architecture related work teams – e.g. governance, the EA team itself, etc.

“Enterprise Architecture is a discipline that compliments others, such as Agile, ITIL, and COBIT, and unites these disciplines in a broad holistic systemic way.“

© Copyright 2016 Good e-Learning. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, resold, stored in a retrieval system, or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Such requests for permission or any other comments relating to the material contained in this document may be submitted to: [email protected]. Good e-Learning is a trading name used by

Educational Systems Ltd. The Open Group® and TOGAF® are registered trademarks of the Open Group in the United States and other countries

THE IT ORGANIZATION:

The IT organization is responsible for developing, maintaining and operating the IT components within the enterprise architecture. Typically, this includes services, applications, data, infrastructure technologies, security… etc.

Direct Benefits from Enterprise Architecture

• Better understanding and management of the IT landscape.

• A holistic / systemic view of all IT components, and their business, organizational and environmental contexts.

• Improved ability to deliver common, standard, or reusable components across the IT landscape.

• Criteria, qualities or characteristics of more agile, more effective IT components.

• A discipline that complements others, such as agile, ITIL, COBIT, etc., and unites these disciplines in a broad, holistic, systemic way.

• Reduced IT complexity.

Direct Benefits from TOGAF®

• Good understanding of how to integrate architecture development with (IT) strategy planning, business strategies, solution design, IT development, implementations and programme / project management through use of the ADM.

• Good understanding of how to integrate architecture governance with IT governance (government framework in TOGAF®).

• The two reference models provide a reasonable contextual basis for structuring and populating an enterprise-specific model.

• Numerous checklist to support IT governance in general, and architecture governance in particular.

• Techniques and artefacts that can be adapted to meet IT and architecture needs.

Indirect Benefits enabled by applying EA or TOGAF®

• Reduced IT operating costs.

• More efficient IT operation.

• Increased portability of applications.

• Improved interoperability.

THE EA ORGANIZATION:

People who are engaged in the various processes of architecting an enterprise. Key responsibilities are understanding the current architecture; planning future and transition architecture states; explicitly describing constraints and options inherent in each architecture state; applying and using enterprise architecture techniques and practice.

Direct Benefits from Enterprise Architecture

• A growing repertoire of concepts and techniques to architect an enterprise.

• A vast range of material to supplement and extend the TOGAF® documentation.

• A good understanding of the context in which a particular enterprise operates.

Direct Benefits from TOGAF®

• A common starting point for establishing an EA practice.

• A benchmark that can be applied to applicants for roles in the EA organization

• Guidelines for establishing and running an EA organization – including the core EA team and governance processes.

• Guidelines for the core operational process of developing architectures (ADM), as well as guidelines and techniques that can support this process.

• Materials that can (should be) tailored to meet the exact needs of the enterprise.

• Various frameworks (Skills, Governance, Content, Process, etc.) that can be tailored to meet the exact needs of the enterprise.

• Reference Models that can be used as the basis for enterprise-specific models, or as a foundational structure that encompasses enterprise-specific models.

• Templates for artifacts and deliverables.

• A template for a content framework and metamodel.

• Guidelines for assessing the maturity of an enterprise, an EA team, or a capability.

• Additional guidelines for Security Architects and Service Oriented Architectures.

© Copyright 2016 Good e-Learning. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, resold, stored in a retrieval system, or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Such requests for permission or any other comments relating to the material contained in this document may be submitted to: [email protected]. Good e-Learning is a trading name used by

Educational Systems Ltd. The Open Group® and TOGAF® are registered trademarks of the Open Group in the United States and other countries

Indirect Benefits enabled by applying EA or TOGAF®• An effective EA practice.• An optimal enterprise architecture.• An enterprise architecture that is a true asset or

resource, and that distinguishes the enterprise from its competitors.

• Reduced complexity across all components and aspects of the enterprise architecture.

• Simpler and quicker change; a more agile, flexible and adaptive enterprise.

• More effective use of the information resources that are unique to an enterprise.

• Better integration of the enterprise with architecture components in its environment.

“A successful Enterprise Architecture is a true asset, and can distinguish the enterprise from it’s competitors“

THE IT SERVICE PROVIDER:

An organization that provides various IT services to an enterprise. Key responsibilities are the provision of services, but in addition the provider might be responsible for identifying and documenting concerns and requirements, designing and building solutions, and operational support.

Direct Benefits from Enterprise Architecture• Better definition of the contexts in which IT

services are required (environment, enterprise, business, etc.)

• A more holistic, systemic view of the complete range of IT services.

• A value-add: now all services can be seen as part of an integrated set.

• Easier to show where capabilities are supported by IT services.

• Easier to show how IT services support other architecture components.

Direct Benefits from TOGAF® • [Depending on the role of the IT service provider,

these benefits are likely to be similar to the benefits for the IT or EA organizations – see above].

• A common, standard framework that can be applied and used across all clients.

Indirect Benefits enabled by applying EA or TOGAF®• A more effective provision of services, because it is

easier to manage them holistically, as a set.• Faster, more effective process for service provision.

© Copyright 2016 Good e-Learning. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, resold, stored in a retrieval system, or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Such requests for permission or any other comments relating to the material contained in this document may be submitted to: [email protected]. Good e-Learning is a trading name used by

Educational Systems Ltd. The Open Group® and TOGAF® are registered trademarks of the Open Group in the United States and other countries

THE IT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE VENDOR:

People involved in providing software that helps an enterprise to manage its IT components. Key responsibilities are software provision, training in and handover of software.

Direct Benefits from Enterprise Architecture

• A better understanding of the IT management needs of the enterprise, and therefore of the best ways to apply and use the IT management software.

• A good understanding of how the IT management software will fit in with other enterprise governance and EA practice in general.

• Better and easier integration of IT management software with other related software, for example, service management, development software, etc.

Direct Benefits from TOGAF®

• Checklists and templates that may help to identify the IT management software needs of the enterprise.

Indirect Benefits enabled by applying EA or TOGAF®

• Efficient or effective use of the IT management software.

THE INDUSTRY-RELATED TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION PROVIDER:

People providing training or certification in enterprise architecture, TOGAF® or related subjects. Key responsibilities are assessing training needs, developing training materials, providing training courses, and assessing students.

Direct Benefits from Enterprise Architecture

• Huge subject with potential for many different training courses, provided at various levels of training (beginners through to advanced).

• Plenty of forums and groups for promoting training and certification services.

Direct Benefits from TOGAF®

• Basis for developing two levels of training leading to the two levels of certification.

• Material provided by The Open Group, including the TOGAF® documentation, Key Learning Points, exam infrastructure, certification, etc.

• Possibility of joining the Open Group to influence future development of TOGAF®.

• A community of people who are using, or training in the use of, TOGAF®.

• Ability to leverage existing resources and materials available across the Internet, in published books and journals, etc.

Indirect Benefits enabled by applying EA or TOGAF®

• New training revenue streams.

• Opportunities to link to related training courses, especially as enterprise architecture provides a holistic overview of an enterprise (i.e. the opportunity to present training holistically as part of an EA program).