“If-Then” Metaphors to Connect Dots Between Business Strategy and Architecture

Digital strategy management is both a system and a process to deal with dynamic and iterative planning and execution continuum. Business Architecture helps to find common identity and dictates common rules and behaviors.

Given the complexity and uncertainty of the digital business world and given the challenges of hyper-connected and interdependent dynamic ecosystems, Business Strategy nowadays is dynamic planning with a lot of moving parts to help the organization reach a well-defined vision. Unclear strategy perhaps misleads the business in the wrong direction. 

Business Architecture is a communication facilitation and strategy enabling tool which brings a systematic understanding of enterprise relationships, ecosystems, market dynamics, and the connections between related business functions. Here is a set of “If-Then” metaphors to connect dots between business strategy and architecture.

If business strategy is light, then Business Architecture is like a solar panel to keep it focused and valuable: Business strategy diagnoses problems, sets guidelines, and takes actions to achieve strategic goals. Then Business Architecture keeps focus and in fact, strategy execution is a key part of any meaningful Business Architecture exercise. It provides an invaluable framework to bridge silos and take a holistic approach to strategy management. In practice, rather than architecting a frozen enterprise blueprint in a “command and control,” contemporary business architecture framework facilitates open communication, and it is a critical body that bridges the gap between what is required and how it is implemented, enforcing information analysis, technical rigor, and business alignment.

Nowadays there are so many things going on, with so many distractions or disruptions, and business has limited resources and talent, the toughest part of the strategy is the trade-offs. Business Architecture is considered as successful only if it can reduce complexity and enable maximum reuse of assets, eliminating the costly re-inventing of the wheel. It’s like a solar panel to laser focus on the top priority of the business. Close the gaps between strategy and execution. Enable everyone in the organization to be resourceful for getting things done by managing the enterprise knowledge effectively. Facilitate collaborative culture to enable strategy execution. Establish enterprise agility in adapting to change by taking advantage of technology evolution.

If strategy is a kite, then business architecture is like the string to keep it control, but not restrict its journey to reach the destination: Businesses all need some sort of strategy since anything is easier to steer once in motion, like to go kiting, much of the joy comes from the journey, not the destination, The road to somewhere can be arrived at by many different routes. Business Architecture is like the string to keep it control, but be flexible, take diverse routes and have some fun. The key is to give direction and set boundaries but not at the cost of restricting creativity and inspiration. Many of today's Business Architecture can play an important role in helping managers analyze business choices in a holistic manner, which accounts for business agility, indirect sources of value and cost, and technical compatibility.

Every strategy is unique and cohesive. There must be different approaches, flexibility, and the possibility for dynamic planning. Business management needs to do the checking: Is it a strategy that is focused on sensitive opportunities? Or is it a way to weave together defined strategic initiatives, or all of the above. You have to find out what to start with that makes sense. But you don't have to absolutely stick to one line. Business Architecture helps to orchestrate the interrelationship between people and process, and bridge the multitude of viewpoints in order to make effective decisions or figure out alternatives to solve problems. At the end of the day, it's important to outline the strategic intent and frame the good strategy to be understandable and implementable.

If business strategy is a map, then Business Architecture is GPS, not just about better version, but about modernization, integration, automation, or optimization, with mechanism to manage risks: Digital strategy crafts upon how, in an interconnected world where everything talks to everything, where values, behaviors, and expectations are shifting all the time. It’s like a map to point from here (current state) to there (future state). Business Architecture is like a GPS, to navigate, bridge, facilitate, establish, and encompasses change activities in times of relative status quo remains, to ensure business robust (able to withstand adverse conditions); resilient (able to recover quickly from adverse and unpreventable conditions);

In essence, Business Architecture is like a GPS for the organization to implement a good strategy, which includes a few key steps such as: problem diagnosis (current state), set up policy/guideline (gap/impact analysis to define where and how), cohesive actions (Change Management), and future state. It also plays as an effective tool for modernization, integration, automation, optimization, reducing risks, and improving rewards, of all scales of organizational change to ensure that strategic efforts deliver to expectations and results are comparable, predictable and repeatable.

Digital strategy management is both a system and a process to deal with dynamic and iterative planning and execution continuum. Business Architecture helps to find common identity and dictates common rules and behaviors. Enterprise Architects will decide what concepts need to be captured and how to frame the diverse views via multidimensional lenses in order to understand the essence of the business and improve business strategy management success rate.

Posted in: EA,IT Strategy/Roadmap,metaphors