One of the earliest points in the Architecture journey is the understanding of the overarching business strategy.
If technology is the enabler of business strategy, then the business strategy is the driver for many of the technology choices.
Enterprise Architecture is also a journey where the progress is not necessarily linear.
Categories of Business Strategy
In order to simplify the engagement when trying to get a clear understanding of Business Strategy a model that categorises strategic initiatives can be of assistance.
While not exhaustive a simple view of the spectrum of Business Strategy can be categorised as follows:
There are foundational requirements for all business strategy initiatives:
Foundational
Controlling Risk (or mitigating risks) which is often related to regulatory frameworks e.g. Basel III&IV or CPS 230, 234 Then there is Lowering Complexity which is sometimes referred to as Simplification, but rationale for thinking about it slightly differently is that some business processes are complex and may not necesarily be simplified. What is true in a lot of larger organisations is that some complexity is accidental or incremental, from the addition of steps or processes over time.We could also include here Cost Optimisation as this is another foundational requirement which will support strategy.
Enabling
Timeliness & Responsiveness, this can relate to both the speed at which business services and capabilties can be executed as well as the ability to respond to market changes and evolving customer needs. Which leads us into Enabling Innovation which is often related to the ability to respond to market changes and evolving customer needs. Also, from a business perspective enabling the business to bring new features and products to market may not require a new Architecture if the Target Architecture provides the level of flexibility or optionality required. Enabling Sustainability. A forward-looking approach that embeds environmental, social, and economic sustainability principles into the design, operation, and evolution of an enterprise’s technology landscape. In simple terms, it’s about aligning IT architecture with sustainability goals, importantly, without compromising performance, security, or agility. Growth how do we grow the business and the organisation? This could be in a bottom line growth to the EBIDTA or profit, which might relate to lowering the cost of doing business or it may actually relate to customer or revenue growth. This is quite a broad category.
Measurement
One of the clear outcomes from many engagements is that whatever strategies are identified, you must have metrics to measure the success of the strategy. How will we know that the Architecture is delivering the right things? What metrics will we use?