How EA Maturity Helps Organisations Propels in their Digital Journey

Most Enterprise Architecture (EA) initiatives are typically motivated through major changes in the IT or technology department and it does not start off from the day-to-day business situation. It may be sparked by the arrival of new management or the need to transform the strategy that is a major part of the IT landscape.

These organisations expect the architects to bring about pivotal changes without giving them proper initiation. Some architects cannot even find the right organisational foundation to begin shaping the IT landscape the way it is expected to.

To solve this, Enterprise Architects need a clear and convincing plan to:

• Grow the EA maturity in the context of policies, influence areas and evaluation
• Set up an EA function in the organisation in a logical way and sustain it
• Shape the organisation’s IT and business capabilities
• Establish the right enablers for EA management

Measuring Your EA Maturity

Figure 1: Digital EA Maturity Assessments Levels

The EA Maturity level of your organisation can be categorised through a Maturity Model.

Maturity models are a method of determining the level of maturity of functional domains as depicted in figure 1. They identify the many phases of maturity that an organisation evolves through. As a result, they can be utilised as a guideline for incrementally improving a functional domain in a balanced manner.

The maturity and the constraints of the EA practise is a major measure of its effectiveness. Organisations must recognise their degree of maturity, identify their limitations, set attainable goals, and gradually remove the constraints to success.

The objectives of measuring the organisation’s EA maturity are to:

• Understand where people see gaps in the current knowledge and practice of EA
• Identify the areas of improvement that needed more focus
• Measure maturity in terms of both business impact of EA and EA activities
• Clear up the organisational goals and assess the required capabilities before mapping to the maturity model
• Evaluate EA team maturity to identify the skill gaps

Flexibility and multi-dimensional views are associated with EA maturity in the era of continuous transformation. A higher level of EA maturity will result in better strategy alignment and more successful business change.

Continuously Improve Your EA Practice

Gartner® believes that by having the right EA maturity model and when used as part of the organisation’s regular assessment of the EA practice, it can continuously identify opportunities for improvements.

EA maturity can assist the EA practice through the developmental phases. Through EA maturity, organisations can receive technological guidance. EA has concentrated on technological architecture, assisting with challenges including decreasing complexity, simplifying underlying technologies, and directing development decisions.

The ability to be able to develop the right EA maturity models will lead to a greater digital capability for the organisations and path a clear transformation roadmap. The model will assist organisations in identifying the right element and the right time to adopt the most relevant technologies for the business within digital transformation initiatives.

The digital transformation journey will be much clearer since the organisational needs are taken into consideration and all possible opportunities are identified. Every organisation should consider taking this ‘health check’ to ensure the success of all digital initiatives are aligned towards realizing digitally connected enterprise model.

ATD Consulting assist clients to establish their connected Digital Enterprise Architecture as a culture through Digital EA Assessments. The clients will be equipped with the necessary capabilities and competencies to continuously driving digital transformation within the organisation.