BOOK REIVEW OF ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE AS

STRATEGY
Todays companies need to adopt the right kind of strategies in order to survive and
excel in the market to meet the growing competition. Hard work does not payoff but
smart work does . It is best advisable to create a solid foundation for your business to
obtain the best possible competitive advantage over others.
Taking into account companies like DELL, CEMEX, Wal-Mart etc their reasons for
success is that they have laid a strong foundation for their business execution , decided
what operations they are strong in and digitized them , completely transforming their IT
into a strong asset than a liability . These companies experience a quick market
integration, and get more value from their IT investments and naturally have higher
profitability establishing that digitization is the key to success. Firstly create an
execution plan for your business , making it a long sustainable process that gets
repeated every time , thus making it a profitable habit. Assign tasks that need to be
made routine and assess the quality of performance .Align your business capabilities
with your IT infrastructure to obtain the effective foundation . Build your foundation by
assessing the above tasks of operating model , enterprise architecture and IT
engagement model Todays Business Agility increasingly depends on a foundation for
execution because building a foundation is less risky and expensive than the alternative
.
Defining your operating model is the first step for creating the foundation for your
planned execution. Design your operating model in such a way that the company
operates key business processes in a structured format . With a vague , blurred
operating model your company will struggle to realize the business process integration .
First and foremost understand the two important steps of business process
standardization and integration. Business Process Standardization (BPS) ensures that
efficacy and solidarity of the manufacturing or operating process across the company.
This will bring measures and remedies to fallouts and miscalculations.
Integration can organize your activities into a single group , increase your customer
engagement and observe weak links in your company . Models of operation are
classified into Unification, Coordination, Replication, and Diversification.
Unification generalizes your business operations , provides unison among
organizational units and integrates the distribution channels eg . Dow group ,
Diversification by the companies will enable them to expand from a saturated market
eg . JM Family Enterprises (JMFE) , Replication will necessarily mean to acquire new
smaller units and replicate your policy towards their model eg. TD Banknorth and
Cordination means a bonded , structured relationship between companies in that
industry eg. Merrill LyncH . Apply the operating model at different organizational
levels to decentralize the operating autonomy as in the case of JOHNSON & JOHNSON,
keeping organizational behavior very simple .SCHNEIDER was the first company to
introduce vehicle tracking through satellite monitoring , easing the transportation
problems .
Enterprise architecture as strategy will formulate means to distinguish the business
architecture from the IT infrastructure to obtain a clear cut idea of the future . Outline
four important aspects of the Core business processes. 2. Shared data 3. Key

linking and automation technologies and finally 4. Key customers. And frame
them into an exploited architecture diagram .
Architecture models are defined for the business models as a part of case studies .
MetLife for coordination model , ING DIRECT for replication , Carlson Companies for
diversification, and Delta Air Lines for unification. They have an extensively diverse
process linkages including various aspects for operational pipeline , nervous system ,
seamless integration , channel assessment ,automation ,process sharing and customer
satisfaction .
Navigateing the stages of enterprise architecture maturity involving Business Silos,
Standardized Technology, Optimized Core, and Business Modularity. Companies traverse
these stages as they learn new organizational processes and change their IT investment
practices. Comparing the cases of Big Dig became the biggest public-works project in
U.S. history the process of architecture design becomes inevitable in the long run .
During the Business silos stage ,processes align a company's business unit, functional,
or geographic structures with the restructive constraints. Technology standardization has
helped giants like the Guardian Life Insurance, Johnson & Johnson, Carlson
Companies, Brady Corp., and Pfizer to cut down costs drastically and engage
favourable outcome . Citibank , Delta airlines , UPS and Nestle had a strong core
which enabled them to reduce , reuse and recycle their operations to obtain a better
clarity to escalate them to the next level . Modularizing the business essentially means
to reuse the operational modules , cut down excessive process displacements , create
reusable modules select customer oriented processes from a menu of options.
Cash In on the Learning. Eg. In the auto industry, Henry Ford was the first to realize the
potential of electric motors.Identify how your company can acquire unique business
benefits at each of the four stages of maturity by using various management practices
and roles. To aid in achieving these benefits , requires implementing different
management mechanisms at each stage to formalize organizational learning. Case study
of Schindler illustrates how the role of the CIO evolves as companies move through the
maturity stages. Increased IT Responsiveness, Improved Risk Management , Increased
Management Satisfaction , Enhanced Strategic Business Outcomes are the measures of
several important underlying implications of building the organization
Building the foundation of the execution takes one project at a time involves a third
discipline for creating the foundation for execution: the IT engagement model. The IT
engagement model has three ingredients: IT governance, project management, and
linkages connecting the two. A good engagement model enables a company to build its
foundation one project at a time. Case studies of Raytheon, SOSCO , Heineken and
Toyota Motor Marketing Europe (TMME) illustrate the different ingredients of the
model.
Using enterprise architecture to guide outsourcing can contribute to enterprise
architecture maturity but warn that outsourcing success is far from guaranteed. To
improve the likelihood of success, use the operating model and enterprise architecture
to determine what and when to outsource and differentiate between three different
types of outsourcing-strategic partnerships, co sourcing alliances, and transaction
relationships. Analyzing the experiences of Campbell Soup Co. and the City of
Liverpool, understand that outsourcing can affect enterprise architecture, and vice

versa. A case study illustrates how Dow Chemical aggressively uses outsourcing-driven
by its enterprise architecture-to move to what it calls the "Federated Broker Model."
Penultimately exploit your foundation for profitable growth by the study of the case for
increased agility in companies that must compete in a global economy. Case studies of
UPS, 7-Eleven Japan, and MetLife illustrate the growth potential of different operating
models. A case study of CEMEX highlights the architectural challenges created by
acquisitions.
Finally take charge by adopting a specific leadership Agenda. Engage the key ideas with
manipulation of the symptoms of an ineffective foundation for execution. Ascertain , if
necessary a set of six steps for rethinking your foundation for execution. Formulate
leadership principles for building and leveraging a foundation for execution.