Power and Utilities Sector to Embark on the EA Journey
Power and Utilities Sector to Embark on the EA Journey
Advances in digital technology and adoption of IT infrastructure are changing the power and utilities sector like never before. Traditional IT Software is forced to adapt to the changing business environment and needs by automation of controls and operations in interconnected processes. The next big technological transformation in the power and utilities sector is expected to be driven by Smart Grids, the future of electricity. Smart grid is an electricity network enabling a two-way flow of electricity and data with digital communications technology enabling to detect, react and pro-act to changes in usage. As the pace of smart grid deployments accelerates, the challenge of effective business analysis and strategy development in a disruptive market environment will place enormous demands and pressures on them to transform towards digital business.
Digital Enterprise Architecture Transform the Sector
Digital Enterprise Architecture (EA) increases the business flexibility as it brings standardisation along with innovation and a clear path to the digital transformation goals. It takes the siloed data and transforms it into an integrated network of resources which can be utilised across the organisation. Future power and utilities sector is going to be transformed towards data and information driven, this is due to the increased of the amount of data utilisation across the organisation. With the availability of the insight information, the sector is capable to improve existing service deliveries and offer new services to target business growth.
Digital EA can deliver better business-IT synergy, resource utilisation and speed to innovation by aligning all the business strategy, processes, and information assets. The discipline, methods, and tools offered by Digital EA are essential to realize digital transformation plan to achieve the future state of power and utilities sector. EA as the key enabler for successful digital transformation has taken root in many enterprises today including the power and utilities sector.
Digital EA can be applied in a number of different ways. It can be a standalone discipline or an integral part of an integrated project delivery lifecycle to achieve a greater understanding of the sector’s challenges and opportunities as well as working toward offering solutions for those challenges. It is, in short, an approach towards transforming the sector towards digital business.
Increasing the Speed of Adaptation with Pace Layered Architecture
Power and utilities sector is operating critical infrastructure and provide critical services to all people and society as a whole. They must, at least from an IT perspective to have a robust security, resilience, reliability, stability with innovation, agility, and speed of delivery. Digital EA offers an established methodology and discipline for meeting these critical needs. Gartner® believed that “Pace Layered Architecture” is a concept that suits best for the power and utilities sector. This concept is a strategy that can support organisations cultural change and innovation.
Figure 1: Pace Layered Architecture by Gartner
This strategy consists of different layers where each layer contains common characteristics related to speed of adaption and change as shown in Figure 1. System of Record is the legacy homegrown systems that support organisation’s business capabilities and manage the master data. When core capabilities do not change that much due to regulatory requirements, the pace of change will be affected. Systems of Differentiation is the application that enables the unique business processes for the organisation. Systems of Innovation is about new solutions or services that are built on demand to address new business requirements or opportunities and this layer is the fast track or fast line for innovation with a high rate of change, high pace of delivery and short project lifecycles. The Digital EA can support the power and utilities by balancing resilience, reliability and stability on the one side and deliver the required agility on the other side.
Digital EA has never been more important to the success of the power and utilities sector. As the pace of the transformation continues, organisations that have the ability to adapt and sustain their roles and responsibilities within this landscape are bound to be among the organisations that thrive. The sector must have a thorough understanding over its strategy and business objectives to be able to adapt to the never-ending changes.
ATD Consulting assist clients to establish their connected Digital Enterprise Architecture as a culture. The clients will be equipped with the necessary capabilities and competencies to continuously driving digital transformation within the organisation.
ATD Consulting offers TOGAF® 9 as a framework that will furnish the clients with a variety of tools, building blocks and resources that facilitate the design and process of Enterprise Architecture across four domains: Business, Data, Application and Technology. If you wish to know more about TOGAF®9, view course preview here.