Enterprise Architecture

In my presentation at LeanIX’s Virtual EA Connect Day, I discussed the incredible role of enterprise architecture (EA) in helping organizations faster realize the benefits of digital business models. Even before COVID-19 and this current period of accelerated modernization, it was clear for most organizations that EA was instrumental in mastering digitalization and making the shift to new employee experiences, stronger efficiency and risk control, and innovative technology-based work processes. 

Ernst & Young’s Amy Fenstermacher spoke last month at LeanIX’s EA Connect Day on the subject of how enterprise architecture (EA) can take a greater role in leading business and digital transformations. An EA who has spent more than a decade helping clients from the public sector modernize their capabilities, Amy knows exactly how difficult it is to prove the discipline's return on investments. In her view, this is partly due to the fact EA focuses on the future and is so often steeped in theoretical concerns that occasionally fail to make long-lasting, fundamental changes to enterprises.

Reinventing an ERP architecture is an enormous undertaking that presents numerous challenges for any organization. The complexity of such a project is exacerbated in the age of digital transformation. Companies are adopting and developing new technologies to get a competitive edge, while at the same time migrating services to the cloud and striving to maintain business as usual in the face of everchanging customer demands. With SAP S/4HANA, however, it’s not a matter of if enterprises will have to change over, but when.

2020 is making CIOs and enterprise architects (EAs) in the manufacturing industry more determined than ever to unlock the benefits of Industry 4.0. But while intelligent automation and IoT-enabled machinery are the precursors to more efficient and controllable production lines, manufacturers must be equipped with superior ways of updating legacy technologies in order to implement digital services at scale and manage each with regularity.

Over 1,700 experts in the fields of enterprise architecture (EA) and IT management registered for LeanIX’s virtual EA Connect Day, held May 20, 2020. The conference marked the largest of its kind with attendees from all over the world coming together as a community to hear our featured speakers who spanned the globe. 

Enterprise architects and solution architects at any level understand the importance of visualization. With businesses and their operating technologies moving faster than ever, taking a step back to better understand processes and data flows aids in revealing redundancies, mitigating risks, and identifying growth opportunities. It’s also an essential piece of the puzzle in communicating technical issues to non-technical business leaders. That’s why we’re so excited to bring architecture modeling capabilities to a whole new level.

We’ve all heard the old adage, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” However, during times as turbulent as these, it can be difficult for individuals to know where to begin. The COVID-19 pandemic has been an extreme challenge for all of humanity, business, and the global economy. In this blog, we will discuss how enterprise architects can play a small part in the resistance by supporting business continuity.

The unusual times we’re in have called for unusual ways to keep a business running. With the COVID-19 pandemic bringing businesses to a standstill, the Government of Yukon turned to LeanIX to keep their services operational.

With so much noise surrounding digital transformation and the increasing complexity of IT, it’s easy for technology leaders to go astray in their search for best-fit vendors. For enterprise architecture (EA) tools, a growing industry with a diverse range of software providers, the selection process can be particularly confusing. That is what makes independent peer reviews invaluable.

Yesterday’s Enterprise Architecture is no longer enough for competitive digital businesses. Digital transformation enabled by cloud technology has emphatically disrupted what our profession does—or, at least, what we’ve spent the past decade thinking it did—and requires us to again explore and adopt new methodologies and tools to manage IT.