Practical Enterprise Architecture

Update history:
2023-12-22:
  1. Added: Links to English Videos.
  2. Added: References include a new blog from Forrester.
  3. Added: Question and answer for establishing EA Office.
  4. Update: Some textual changes after including En videos.


I have made a presentation for "Practical Enterprise Architecture - Introducing CSVLOD EA Model". 

This post contains a link to the presentation (English) and the video session in (Arabic/English), plus some frequently asked questions on those sessions.

Target audience are: 
  1. Tech Leaders New to Enterprise Architecture.
  2. Enterprise Architects.
  3. CxO, CIO, CTO, CDO, EPMO, ITPMO.

💡I hope it is beneficial for someone out there.


The slides can be viewed/downloaded here

Arabic Video Series

English Video Series

Practical Enterprise Architecture - Part 1
Practical Enterprise Architecture - Part 2



Why is CSVLOD preferred over other EA frameworks (Based on the book author)?

You can either:
  1. Read the author published paper. Svyatoslav Kotusev (July 2016), "Enterprise Architecture Frameworks: The Fad of the Century". It is brief and answers this question.
  2. For a more detailed understanding, read Appendix A from the book "The Practice of Enterprise Architecture: A Modern Approach to Business and IT Alignment".

Why I'm recommending CSVLOD?

  1. A simple EA Model that is easy to understand, communicate and implement.
  2. Realistic & practical EA Model, based on empirical industry practice that I find aligned with my day-to-day activities.
  3. More adaptive to organization processes (Demand Planning, procurement, project management) where the architecture is considered supporting activities rather than a process/methodology.
  4. Promote the concept of “There is no-one-size-fits-all”:
    • Figure 17.2: The dependence of the structure on the size of an organization.
    • Figure 17.3: The dependence of the structure on the degree of decentralization.
    • Figure 17.9: The structure of Governance committees in different organizations.
  5. Introduced practical solutions to EA challenges:
    • Chapter 5: The Dialog Between Business and IT. This chapter solves one of the toughest challenges facing any EA practice, if the business strategy is not published, how can EA align to business?
    • Chapter 19: The Lifecycle of Enterprise Architecture Practice. This chapter introduces multiple practical ways to establish EA practice rather than the traditional way of starting with strategy, portfolio, goals, projects, ... etc
  6. Chapter 19: Introduces three types of productive EA consulting engagement.
  7. IMHO, this is the most practical EA that an organization without any consultancy services can start with.
  8. I'm not ignoring other frameworks, rather than using their artifacts or detailed templates if needed only. I'm not questioning their maturity level.

How to establish Enterprise Architecture practices in organizations?

  1. For a detailed walkthrough, read Chapter 19: "The Lifecycle of Enterprise Architecture Practice" from the book "The Practice of Enterprise Architecture: A Modern Approach to Business and IT Alignment".
  2. In my opinion: Start with a chronic problem (Pain point) that is facing everyone (The organization, division, department, unit).
  3. You have an idea to solve this problem, pick the best EA artifact that you can utilize to express your solution.
  4. After using two or three types of EA artifacts; make a presentation showing the benefits of EA to your organization as a whole, and link it to pain points or opportunities for improvement and new ideas.
  5. Involve management with external consultants on the best way to establish EA office, and get budgetary figures for consultation & implementation of 1st phase to have the framework.
  6. Build the team.
  7. Introduce modification to existing processes to incorporate EA artifact to serve a specific purpose.

References:


The Practice of Enterprise Architecture - 2nd Edition - Book Review

I would like to share my experience in reading "The Practice of Enterprise Architecture, A Modern Approach to Business and IT Alignment, 2nd Edition".

The intention of doing a book review is to provide: 
  1. Objective feedback for potential readers. 
  2. Constructive feedback for the authors.

( eBooks link, Amazon linkScribd ), below you will find links to my review.

Hope you enjoy it.


Video for the book review
The slides can be viewed/downloaded here


Solutions Architect's Handbook - 2nd Edition - Book Review

I have decided to add a new dimension to my channel. I would like to share my experience reading technical books. 

The intention of doing a book review is to provide: 
  1. Objective feedback for potential readers. 
  2. Constructive feedback for the authors.

I started this interest in the channel by reviewing the book "Solutions Architect's Handbook: Kick-start your career as a solutions architect by learning architecture design principles and strategies, 2nd Edition". ( Packt link, Amazon link ), below you will find links to my review.

Hope you enjoy it.


Video for the book review
The slides can be viewed/downloaded here
Templates mentioned in the video book review Solution Architecture Document (SAD) template (Based on the book - Chapter 18)

Client Assessment (Gathered from multiple book chapters)