M. De Vries

EVALUATING AND REFINING THE 'ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE AS STRATEGY' APPROACH AND ARTEFACTS

Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a new discipline that has emerged from the need to create a holistic view of an enterprise, and thereby to discover business/IT integration and alignment opportunities across enterprise structures. Previous EA value propositions that merely focus on IT cost reductions will no longer convince management to invest in EA. Today, EA should enable business strategy in the organisation to create value. This resides in the ability to do enterprise optimisation through process standardisation and integration. In order to do this, a new approach is required to integrate EA into the strategy planning process of the organisation. This article explores the use of three key artefacts – operating models, core diagrams, and an operating maturity assessment as defined by Ross, Weill & Robertson [1] – as the basis of this new approach. Action research is applied to a research group to obtain qualitative feedback on the practicality of the artefacts. OPSOMMING Ondernemingsargitektuur (OA) is ’n nuwe dissipline wat ontstaan het uit die behoefte om ’n holistiese perspektief van ’n onderneming te skep om sodoende besigheid/IT-integrasie en belyningsgeleenthede regoor ondernemingstrukture te ontdek. Vorige OA waardeaanbiedings wat hoofsaaklik gefokus het op IT kostebesparings sal bestuur nie meer kan oorreed om in OA te bele nie. Vandag behoort OA bevoegdheid te gee aan ondernemingstrategie om werklik waarde te skep. Hierdie bevoegdheid le gesetel in ondernemingsoptimering deur middel van prosesstandaardisasie en -integrasie. ’n Nuwe benadering word benodig ten einde OA te integreer met die strategiese beplanningsproses van die organisasie. Hierdie artikel ondersoek die gebruik van drie artefakte – operasionele modelle, kerndiagramme, en operasionele volwassenheidsassessering soos gedefinieer deur Ross, Weill & Robertson [1] – as die basis van hierdie nuwe benadering. Aksienavorsing word toegepas op ’n navorsingsgroep ten einde kwalitatiewe terugvoer te kry oor die praktiese sin van die artefakte.

A method for identifying process reuse opportunities to enhance the operating model

Staying competitive in the 21st century requires enterprise unity and integration, allowing for agility to accommodate swift changes in strategy as markets evolve and new opportunities emerge. The foundation for execution approach acknowledges the volatility of strategy and suggests the use of an operating model (OM), which is a commitment to a way of doing business. The OM creates a company-wide vision for process standardization and data centralization and guides decisions about how a company implements processes and IT infrastructure. Although the OM provides senior management with a powerful decision-making tool in evolving the current IT landscape, the selection of an appropriate OM requires additional guidance. This article elaborates on current OM deficiencies, requirements for enhancement and a new method, mechanisms and practices to enable an enterprise architecture practitioner to identify the required process reuse opportunities for a specific OM.

A METHOD TO ENHANCE EXISTING BUSINESS-IT ALIGNMENT APPROACHES

Enterprise engineering has recently emerged as a new discipline to address the intensified complexity and dynamics of the evolving enterprise by designing, aligning, and governing its development. Enterprise designers employ various approaches, frameworks, and methodologies to design and align various components in the enterprise. This paper takes a closer look at alignment between the business and IT components of an enterprise, and the need for a theoretical backing when combining multiple approaches during enterprise design. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a ‘method artefact’. The method artefact applies an existing model, called the business-IT alignment model, and is useful to enterprise designers when they need to enhance an existing business-IT alignment approach. As an additional contribution, the paper emphasises the role of an emerging research methodology, called ‘design research’, in developing the new method artefact. The paper demonstrates the use of the method artefact by enhancing the ‘foundation for execution’ approach with an element from the ‘essence of operation’ approach, and concludes with opportunities for further research. OPSOMMING Ondernemingsontwerp het onlangs ontwikkel as ’n nuwe dissipline om die intensiteit van die ondernemingsdinamika en kompleksiteit te adresseer deur middel van ontwerp, belyning en leiding tydens ondernemingsontwikkeling. Ondernemingsontwerpers gebruik verskillende benaderings, raamwerke, en metodologiee om verskeie komponente van die onderneming te belyn en te ontwerp. Die artikel ondersoek die belyning van die besigheidskomponente en inligtingstegnologie-komponente, asook die behoefte aan ’n teoretiese onderbou vir die kombinering van veelvuldige benaderings gedurende ondernemingsontwerp. Die kernbydrae van die artikel is die ontwikkeling van ’n ‘metodeartefak’. Die metode-artefak inkorporeer ’n bestaande model, die besigheidsinligtingstegnologie belyningsmodel, en is bruikbaar wanneer ondernemingsontwerpers ’n bestaande besigheids-inligtingstegnologie belyningsbenadering wil uitbrei. As addisionele bydrae, beklemtoon die artikel die rol van ’n groeiende navorsingsmetodologie, genaamd ‘ontwerpnavorsing’, met die ontwerp van die nuwe metode-artefak. Die artikel toon die gebruik van die metode-artefak wanneer die ‘foundation for execution’ benadering uitgebrei word met ’n element van die ‘essence of operation’ benadering, en sluit af met geleenthede vir verdere navorsing. a a a a a a a a a a a

A new process improvement approach for management consultancy organisations

Management consultancy organisations of the 21 st century realise that they need to move away from balance sheet accounting systems as the primary tool of management. Intangible assets, such as knowledge, skills and process assets, may be worth more than their physical assets, and require effective management to gain a competitive advantage. Many models for process-improvement and knowledge management that currently exist could be used in leveraging organisational intangible assets. Though the intricate interaction between the domains of process improvement management and knowledge management is clear in current models, a fully integrated model does not exist. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the integration possibilities of process improvement and knowledge management in an attempt to improve the practices of both during the same exercise, using an integrated model. OPSOMMING Bestuurskonsultasie-organisasies van die 21 ste eeu besef dat hul moet wegbeweeg van balansstaat gebaseerde rekenkundige stelsels as die primere gereedskapstuk vir bestuur. Ontasbare bates, soos kennis, vaardighede en prosesbates, mag meer waardevol wees as fisiese bates, en moet effektief bestuur word om ‘n mededingende voordeel te behou. Talle modelle vir prosesverbeteringsbestuur en kennisbestuur bestaan tans en word ingespan om optimale benutting van die ontasbare bates te verseker. Alhoewel die ingewikkelde interaksie tussen die velde van prosesverbeteringsbestuur en kennisbestuur duidelik is in die bestaande modelle, bestaan daar nie ‘n geintegreerde model nie. Hierdie artikel demonstreer die integrasie moontlikhede van prosesverbeteringsbestuur en kennisbestuur deur gebruik te maak van ‘n geintegreerde model, sodat praktyke van beide velde gedurende dieselfde oefening verbeter word.