Issue 3

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Business Process Architecture: A Comparative Analysis of Reference Models and Methodologies

There is a general lack of awareness regarding the creation, use, and potential benefits of enterprise-wide process architectures. This article addresses these issues by attempting to address the question: What are the potential benefits of business process architecture and how may they be achieved? This article explores and analyzes a subset of the most popular and widely used process reference models, tools, and implementation methodologies as identified in popular practitioner literature. The models are then compared and critiqued for strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the selected sample of reference models will be evaluated and scrutinized for apparent themes. Considerations regarding how the reference models and methodologies can be selected and combined for maximum benefit are offered. The article provides an overview of the developing business process architecture discipline, and describes the practice conceptually and then discusses potential benefits and common challenges. Analysis of the various models, tools, and methodologies yields that they are often distinguished by relative strengths and weaknesses, and that the best option depends on the situation and objectives. By following generic initial phases of the selected methodologies, organizations can roughly visualize their business context and enterprise-level processes to facilitate the creation of process architecture vision and objectives.

A Lifecycle Approach to Portfolio Management

Portfolio management considers the integrated management of the IT assets of an organization and of the projects that produce and modify these assets. In particular, it is focused on making investment decisions in such a way that the portfolio as a whole conforms to the short-term and long-term strategy and goals of the organization. In order to make well-founded decisions about the replacement or maintenance of enterprise applications, organizations need insight into the current and future business value, technical quality, maintenance costs, and replacement costs of these applications, and in particular, how these develop over time: a lifecycle approach. This article describes our first steps towards the ultimate goal, a portfolio dashboard that indicates the current and future value of applications, and the benefits, costs, and risks associated with changing or replacing them. The method for supporting lifecycle decisions on information systems is on the one hand based on cost predictions from benchmark data and on the other hand on architecture analysis of these systems. The approach is the synthesis of three elements: future cost predictions, portfolio valuation, and modifiability analysis.

Rethinking our Enterprise Architecture Principles

This past recessionary decade has forced many of us to narrow the focus of our respective Enterprise Architecture (EA) programs and concentrate on delivering value to our Information Technology (IT) leadership teams. It was not a time where we typically reshaped our EA programs, expanded into business areas of EA, or considered how other critical guidance documents like EA Principles might need to be updated. Based on recent Fortune 500 CEO surveys and published business articles, we may need to start thinking about changes to multiple aspects of our EA programs. As suggested by these CEO comments, business and IT organizations need to become more closely aligned than ever before. While our EA programs are specifically intended to enable exactly this form of close alignment, many of our building block EA documents including principles are often written with a focus on IT and technology. Intentional or not, the perception of what those principles represent will need to change. We should be putting our best business foot forward with CEOs and business leaders, and Enterprise Architecture Principles may be one best place to start.

Establishing Enterprise Architecture at WA Police

Western Australia Police provide law enforcement services to the largest geographical Police jurisdiction in the world. While some of the cultural and physical aspects of this jurisdiction are unique, the challenge of maximizing ICT investment and working effectively with partners to achieve the highest possible quality of service delivery is common to most government and private enterprises. This article shares the approach undertaken by WA Police to establish an Enterprise Architecture (EA) capability, covering three topics and key learnings of each: Establishing Enterprise Architecture – Discussion includes: a layered sourcing model that has been used to delineate service provider contracts; the structure and responsibilities of the team; establishment of governance structures for review and approval of EA deliverables; the adaptation of TOGAF to suit the needs of WA Police;
Connecting with Business Units – A description of the business of policing and the importance of this knowledge within the EA Office; includes the approach taken to communicate architecture directions; Connecting with Partners – Who are our partners and what is the approach taken to identify opportunities to share information more freely? This includes examples of previously successful business-led change and opportunities that have been identified but remain to be completed. The article is based on a presentation given to the inaugural Asia Pacific Government Enterprise Architecture Summit in Adelaide 2010, sponsored by the Government of South Australia.