Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a strategic planning process that aligns business and technology, ensures that investments are driven by business strategy, and that the company is well-structured to achieve its mission. This discipline has a variety of deliverables, which are created for different stakeholders to fulfill various objectives.

A friendly warning, though: Focusing on outcomes, not artifacts, is vital. Drowning in deliverables does not move the needle. Here’s a comprehensive list of possible enterprise architecture deliverables:

Enterprise Architecture Deliverables

  1. Enterprise Architecture Blueprint
    • What it is: An Enterprise Architecture Blueprint is a detailed diagram or set of diagrams representing the structure and relationships of the core business, data, applications, and technology elements within an organization.
    • Why it’s essential: It offers a holistic view of the enterprise, helping stakeholders understand how various components are interrelated. This helps make decisions, reduces redundancy, increases consistency, and enhances coordination across business units.
    • How to create it:
      1. Understand the organization’s goals, strategic drivers, and transformational needs.
      2. Identify and classify all business components, including business functions, data, applications, and technology.
      3. Map relationships and dependencies between these components.
      4. Represent the details visually, often using an architecture modeling tool.
  1. Enterprise Architecture Strategy
    • What it is: This document provides an overall approach to designing, implementing, and maintaining the enterprise architecture. It outlines the architecture principles, framework, tools, and methods.
    • Why it’s essential: It ensures alignment of the enterprise architecture practice with business strategy and provides clear guidance to all stakeholders on managing the architecture.
    • How to create it:
      1. Understand the business strategy and goals.
      2. Determine the architectural principles that will guide the practice. These could be related to standardization, modularity, flexibility, and security.
      3. Select the architecture framework (e.g., TOGAF, Zachman).
      4. Identify the architecture modeling tools and methods that will be used to create and manage architecture artifacts.
      5. Document all the above in a clear and concise strategy document.
  1. Roadmaps
    • What it is: Roadmaps are plans that outline the transformation journey from the current architecture state to the desired future state. This might include technology, application, and business process roadmaps.
    • Why it’s important: They provide clear steps to achieve the desired architecture state, help coordinate efforts across the organization, and ensure that progress can be tracked and managed.
    • How to create it:
      1. Understand the current architecture state.
      2. Define the desired future state of the architecture.
      3. Identify the gaps between the current and future state.
      4. Develop a plan to bridge these gaps over time, considering resource availability, business priorities, and risk tolerance.
      5. Document the plan in a roadmap that clearly outlines the steps to be taken, the expected timeframe, and the resources needed.

Which of these Enterprise Architecture Deliverables does your EA team produce? Are we missing any vital Enterprise Architecture Deliverables in this list?

  1. Standards and Guidelines
    • What it is: These are documented rules for using and managing various architectural components. This could include data standards, software development guidelines, and technology standards.
    • Why it’s important: They ensure consistency, improve interoperability, reduce redundancy, and improve the quality and performance of the enterprise architecture.
    • How to create it:
      1. Understand the requirements and constraints of the organization.
      2. Identify best practices and industry standards relevant to the organization.
      3. Develop specific rules and guidelines based on these practices and standards.
      4. Document the rules in a clear, easy-to-understand format.
      5. Implement a process for updating and managing these rules as the organization and its environment evolve.

 

  1. Project and Program Architectural Requirements
    • What it is: These are detailed documents specifying the architectural requirements for a given project or program. They define the structural, behavioral, and non-functional requirements the architecture of the project or program must fulfill.
    • Why it’s important: They provide clear guidelines for developing and implementing projects or programs, ensuring they align with the overall enterprise architecture and business objectives.
    • How to create it:
      1. Understand the business and technical objectives of the project or program.
      2. Analyze these objectives and translate them into specific architectural requirements.
      3. Consult with stakeholders, such as business owners, users, and architects, to validate and refine these requirements.
      4. Document the requirements clearly in a structured format, preferably using a standardized template.
  1. Architecture Review Reports
    • What it is: Reports detailing the findings of architectural reviews are conducted to assess a project or program’s adherence to the enterprise architecture.
    • Why it’s important: They ensure that the project or program is aligned with the overall enterprise architecture, identify potential issues early, and provide recommendations for improvements.
    • How to create it:
      1. Establish criteria to evaluate the project or program against the enterprise architecture.
      2. Conduct the review, assessing the structure, design, technology, and interoperability.
      3. Document the findings, including areas of alignment, non-compliance, and potential risks.
      4. Provide recommendations for alignment and improvement.
  1. Gap Analysis Reports
    • What it is: These reports highlight the gaps between the current and desired state of the enterprise architecture.
    • Why it’s important: They help identify areas of improvement and serve as a basis for developing a roadmap for transitioning from the current to the future state.
    • How to create it:
      1. Understand the current state of the enterprise architecture.
      2. Define the desired future state of the architecture.
      3. Identify the gaps between the current and future state.
      4. Analyze the implications of these gaps and their potential impact on the business.
      5. Document the findings in a structured gap analysis report.
  1. Business Capability Maps
    • What it is: Graphical representations of the organization’s business capabilities and how they relate.
    • Why it’s essential: They clearly understand what the organization can do, help identify redundancies and gaps, and align capabilities with the business strategy and architecture.
    • How to create it:
      1. Identify the key capabilities of the business, which could include operations, customer service, product development, etc.
      2. Organize these capabilities in a hierarchical structure, starting with high-level capabilities and breaking them down into more specific ones.
      3. Map the relationships between these capabilities.
      4. Represent these capabilities and their relationships in a visual diagram.
  1. Data Architecture Diagrams and Models
    • What it is: Visual representations of the organization’s data entities, their relationships, and flows.
    • Why it’s essential: They clearly understand the data landscape, support data governance, and guide the design and development of data-intensive applications.
    • How to create it:
      1. Identify the critical data entities within the organization.
      2. Define the relationships between these entities.
      3. Map the flow of data between these entities.
      4. Use a data modeling tool to represent these entities, relationships, and flows visually.
  1. Application Architecture Diagrams and Models
    • What it is: Visual representations of the organization’s software applications, their relationships, and how they support business processes and functions.
    • Why it’s important: They help understand the application landscape, guide the development and integration of applications, and support IT planning and decision-making.
    • How to create it:
      1. Identify the critical applications within the organization.
      2. Understand the functionality of each application and how it supports business processes and functions.
      3. Define the relationships and dependencies between these applications.
      4. Use an architecture modeling tool to represent these applications and their relationships visually.

 

  1. Technology or Infrastructure Architecture Diagrams and Models
    • What it is: These are visual representations of the organization’s hardware, software, networks, and other technology or infrastructure components and how they interact.
    • Why it’s important: They provide an overview of the organization’s technological landscape, help with IT decision-making and planning, and ensure alignment with business goals.
    • How to create it:
      1. Identify the critical technology or infrastructure components within the organization.
      2. Understand how these components interact with each other.
      3. Define the relationships between these components.
      4. Use an architecture modeling tool to represent these components and their relationships visually.
  1. Business Process Models
    • What it is: These models represent the detailed flows of the organization’s business processes, including triggers, activities, outcomes, and roles responsible.
    • Why it’s important: They help to understand, analyze, and improve business processes and ensure alignment with the organization’s goals and architecture.
    • How to create it:
      1. Identify the business processes that need to be modeled.
      2. Understand each process’s triggers, activities, outcomes, and roles.
      3. Map out the flow of each process, using standard symbols to represent different activities and flow control elements.
      4. Use a business process modeling tool to create a visual diagram of these flows.
  1. Risk Assessment Reports
    • What it is: These are evaluations of risks involved with implementing specific architecture components or gaps present in the current state.
    • Why it’s important: They help to identify, evaluate, and manage risks, thus supporting decision-making, planning, and governance activities.
    • How to create it:
      1. Identify the potential risks associated with the architecture or its implementation.
      2. Assess the impact and likelihood of each risk using a risk assessment matrix or similar tool.
      3. Define potential mitigation strategies for each risk.
      4. Document the results in a structured risk assessment report.
  1. Governance Documents
    • What it is: These documents outline the responsibilities and roles within the enterprise architecture practice, processes to manage changes to the architecture, and procedures for architecture compliance.
    • Why it’s important: They provide clear guidelines for managing the enterprise architecture practice, ensuring accountability, consistency, and alignment with business goals.
    • How to create it:
      1. Define the roles and responsibilities within the architecture practice.
      2. Establish the processes for managing changes to the architecture.
      3. Define the procedures for ensuring compliance with the architecture.
      4. Document all the above in a clear and concise governance document.
  1. Metrics and Performance Reports
    • What it is: Reports on the effectiveness of the architecture, usually based on specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that align with the organization’s strategic objectives.
    • Why it’s important: They provide insights into the architecture’s performance, supporting decision-making, planning, and continuous improvement efforts.
    • How to create it:
      1. Define the KPIs that will be used to measure the architecture’s performance.
      2. Collect data on these KPIs over a defined period.
      3. Analyze the data to assess the performance of the architecture.
      4. Document the results in a structured performance report.
  1. Architectural Decisions Log
    • What it is: A document outlining critical decisions in the architecture’s development, maintenance, and implementation.
    • Why it’s important: It helps to track and justify decisions made, providing transparency, supporting governance activities, and serving as a reference for future decision-making.
    • How to create it:
      1. Whenever a decision is related to the architecture, record it, its reason, and the alternatives considered.
      2. Document the impact of the decision on the architecture and the business.
      3. Regularly update the log as new decisions are made.
      4. Ensure that the log is easily accessible and understood by all relevant stakeholders.

Remember, not every deliverable is required in every situation. The specific deliverables needed would depend on the scope, objectives, and maturity of the enterprise architecture in the organization.