Marx Maturity Assessment Guide - Step 6: Enterprise Architecture Implementation

Throughout this guide, we are going to discuss key components, steps for implementation, and best approaches. Implementing Enterprise Architecture (EA) is critical for achieving organisational maturity. This is Step 6 of the guide, as well as the last step to the series, and it builds upon the knowledge and insights shared in our previous steps. To fully grasp the content of this article, please read our previous ones. You can do so here. 

Key Components OF Enterprise Architecture Implementation

Throughout this first section, we will examine the implementation process, including its key components.

Governance Structure

Creating a well-defined governance structure where you establish clear roles, responsibilities, accountability, and decision-making is crucial to implementing EA successfully. This ensures everything is efficient and aligns with business objectives and IT initiatives, providing a framework for accountability and compliance. 

Technology Selection & Deployment

To select and deploy the correct technology, you need to look into;

• Business Requirements

When going into your comprehensive analysis, you need to understand the objectives, needs, and identify any requirements. 

• Existing Technology

Assess your current technology, meaning look into your IT gaps, compatibility, and areas for improvements. 

• Criteria

Develop criteria based on your business requirements, cost, and scalability. When doing so, include several considerations for things such as your security, support, and compliance. After you've finished, go through and ensure everything you have done lines up with the EA strategy. 

• Research

Take some time to do some research on current solutions and technologies in the market, evaluating vendors based on their support, reputation, and offerings. Finally, request proposals and information. 

• Testing

For your proof of concept, select a list of technologies and conduct pilot tests where you can evaluate the performance, user acceptance, and compatibility. 

• Final Selection

Once you have completed all of the previous steps, it's time to make your final decision! Take all of the information you've gathered and researched to select the technology which best meets your needs and goals. This may involve including stakeholders in the final selection process. 

• Process Integration 

Standardise your business process.

You can do this by mapping out your business process and identifying those which are critical to your business's goals and objectives. 

Key Frameworks

EA frameworks, such as the open group architecture framework, provide a structured methodology, leading to the best practices and processes for integration. This means you need to select an appropriate framework, adapt the framework to fit your business needs best, develop a clear vision of the future state of the process and systems, integrate a roadmap utilising the guidelines from the framework, and monitor progress when needed.

Change Management

When making a change management plan, you need to assess the impact of change, define your objectives and goals, develop an appropriate change management model, create a detailed action plan, allocate necessary resources such as your budget, and conduct risk management.

Performance Measurement  

Monitor the implementation process by defining key performance indicators (KPIs), using metrics to assess how effective the EA implementation process has been. Once you have monitored and evaluated, create a conclusion on whether you need to adjust your strategies. 

Best Practices 

Going into best practices, below is a list discussing what you need to be aware of and what you can consider throughout your implementation process; 

Flexibility

Ensure you are flexible throughout, allowing yourself to adapt to any plans when necessary, as circumstances may change over time. 

Document Everything

From start to finish, document the entire process, from the decisions to changes to the actual processes. Ensuring your document allows you to evaluate where errors may have occurred, use it in the future, and limit confusion within your team or yourself. 

Expertise

Make sure you leverage levels of expertise, both internal and external, from consultants to allow them to guide you through the implementation process. 

Prioritise Value

When researching and evaluating, focus on what will have the most value to the business, basing your decisions on this. 

Engage Support

Involve stakeholders to support you and your decisions, allowing their input and ensuring buy-in support. 

EA implementation is great for achieving organisational maturity; by ensuring you're following a structured approach, businesses can ensure that their IT infrastructure is supportive and drives success. To sustain the benefits of EA implementation, you need to evaluate and optimise it continuously. 

This article concludes are 6-step Maturity Assessment Guide, in which we have gone through everything from the criteria, methods, development, and more. If you are struggling, we can help you every step of the way, ensuring everything has surpassed your expectations. To discover more about how we can help you, click the link here. 

If you'd like to read our previous guides, click on the guide you'd like to read below; 

Level Up Your Architecture Game. How To Lift-Up Your Enterprise Architecture Quality: Step By Step 

Marx Architecture Maturity Assessment Guide - Step 1: Deciding Assessment Criteria For Your Architecture Review

Marx Architecture Maturity Assessment Guide - Step 2: Assessment Methods & The Architecture Maturity Model

Marx Architecture Maturity Assessment Guide - Step 3: Conducting Your Enterprise Architecture Assessment

Marx Architecture Maturity Assessment Guide - Step 4: Carrying Our Enterprise Architecture Analysis

Marx Architecture Maturity Assessment Guide - Step 5: Developing An Enterprise With Marx Maturity Assessment