4 tips for digitizing enterprise architecture

By: Jim Freeman and David White

While the process of aligning business and technology is well established, there is still limited application of technology to create that alignment.   

In many cases, businesses miss the opportunity to automate the process of linking their strategic goals and their technology stack. With the growth of the cloud and increasing standardization of software products, we can now create infrastructure as code that serves as an application program for configuring that technology stack, as well as cutting down difficulty and cost. 

Despite these advancements, many business leaders remain uncertain about the benefits of digitizing enterprise architecture (EA). But in a rapidly evolving market influenced by economic shifts, competition and fast-paced technology like generative AI, making data-driven decisions is crucial. In this context, digitizing EA can play a key role in maximizing efficiency and profitability.

Let’s look at four priorities for digitizing enterprise architecture. 

1. Get executive leadership endorsement  

Executive leadership might see digitizing EA as an unnecessary expense rather than an investment that can significantly enhance business alignment and efficiency.  

Senior leaders might be daunted by the perceived complexity and resource requirements of conducting a comprehensive digital inventory of IT assets and aligning them with business goals. They might also be concerned about the potential disruption to existing workflows and the need for significant collaboration across various departments.  

To overcome these challenges, it’s vital to help senior leadership see the need for this investment by communicating the benefits of digitizing EA in terms of their strategic goals and priorities. For example, you might highlight how an automated inventory can streamline processes, reduce costs and improve decision-making.  

2. Invest in an automated inventory of the assets  

To create effective enterprise architecture, you need to start with a comprehensive inventory of all your IT assets: applications, servers, networks, user IDs and other elements. Going through this process will contribute to insight into how to align business goals and IT resources.   

 While the prospect of doing such an inventory may seem daunting, technology can assist in the analysis of what IT assets must be retained, modified, discarded and added to reach your stated goals. The technology can then build a project plan that lays out the steps in this process, as well as dependencies and even cost.   

As generative AI becomes more sophisticated, we will increasingly be able to use it to reduce the time needed to achieve an accurate inventory.  

3. Take a comprehensive approach  

A common mistake is taking a piecemeal approach to EA, which can create a fragmented system in which certain data and functions are siloed and operational efficiency is compromised.  

The key to avoiding this pitfall is ensuring that all stakeholders are involved and on the same page throughout the process. At the very least, you need buy-in from C-suite, IT and finance leaders, and the cooperation of appropriate staff members from these departments. Ideally, you will also include others whose workflows may be affected by the process. 

Part of ensuring the project goes smoothly is effectively communicating to each team or individual per their technical expertise and need-to-know. For example, a C-suite leader can be spared the technical details of application migration but will need to see a detailed cost-benefit analysis. Meanwhile, a finance representative will benefit from pricing details but may not need network diagrams.

4. Know what to expect in terms of resources   

As with any major project, it’s vital to know what resources you will need to invest to complete an end-to-end EA transformation. Analyze ahead of time what you will expect of your enterprise architects, the velocity of change you anticipate, the number of programs you’ll be handling and other elements of the work.  

It can be tempting to underestimate the size of the undertaking, but large companies may need a large architecture team. For example, in a recent resourcing exercise for a company with a billion-dollar IT budget, we recommended a team of ten enterprise architects doing five transformations a year via ServiceNow, with a total bill for the project clocking in at 0.1% of total IT spend. In a capital-intensive industry like airlines or mining, the percentage of IT spend may be even lower.  

A tried-and-true methodology   

Despite how transformative digitizing enterprise architecture can be for your business, there is little innovation involved in this process. At its core, it involves applying existing technologies using a tried-and-true methodology.

Jim Freeman is Vice President and CTO for Kyndryl Australia and New Zealand.
David White is Director of Enterprise Architecture for Kyndryl.