Lecture 6A - EA as a Strategy

Question 1

What are resources?

Answer 1

Things such as hardware, software licenses, people, data etc.

Interesting resources are VRIN

Question 2

What does VRIN stand for?

Answer 2

• Valuable
• Rare
• In-imitable
• Non-substitutable

Question 3

What are competences?

Answer 3

The ability to use resources

• > Having sufficient knowledge and skills to do a task
• > Know-how or skill

Question 4

What are capabilities?

Answer 4

Capacity * ability

• Capacity refers to how much a firm has, ability to a persons that can do it
• A feature or a process that can be developed or improved
• “How can we get done what we need to get done”?
• Counting capabilities may be regarded as assessing business processes

Question 5

What are the columns in Archimate?

Answer 5

1. Passive structure -> Represent resources, and then the input or output of behavior.
2. Behavior -> Represent capabilities
3. Active structure -> Represents resources

Question 6

What are the rows in Archimate?

Answer 6

You have six layers in three rows. Two layers per row.

1. Business layer - Divided in services on top and processes as second
2. Application layer - Divided in services on top and processes as second
3. Technology Layer (Infrastructure) - Divided in services on top and processes as second

Question 7

What is the alignment process in maturity stage 1?

Answer 7

Enterprise Strategy -> local initiatives -> Local IT-solutions -> EA? (Is not really there, it is the overall portfolio)

There is no link between EA and Strategy

Question 8

What is the value of EA in stage 1?

Answer 8

• Creating insight and oversight in the portfolio of applications and IT competences.
• Supports the learning, reuse and co-development of systems

Question 9

What is the alignment process in maturity stage 2?

Answer 9

Enterprise Strategy -> Local initiatives -> Local IT-Solutions.

Enterprise strategy tries cost-reduction through EA.

EA puts constraints on local IT-solutions

Question 10

What is the value of EA in stage 2?

Answer 10

Efficiency gain

Question 11

What is a mis-understanding in stage 2?

Answer 11

• Shared systems is not shared info.

- There can still be different data and process definitions.

Question 12

What is the alignment process in maturity stage 3?

Answer 12

Strategy (choice of operating model) -> EA -> Shared Processes & Data -> Local implementation -> Strategy

Question 13

What is the alignment process in maturity stage 4?

Answer 13

Strategy (Exploit the core) -> EA (modules + Integration standards) -> IT offerings (Modules + Seamless connection) -> Evolutionary developments

Question 14

What are the business components in Stage 5 - the dynamic enterprise (for linking enterprises)?

Answer 14

1. Business rules (How to conduct business of the component)
2. Business process
3. Data
4. Interfaces
5. Security
6. Rules for coupling

Question 15

How is the spending on IT investments throughout the stages?

Answer 15

• There is an increase in spending on shared data (11 to 18%)
• There is an increase in spending on shared infrastructure from stage 1 to stage 2, then it decreases again
• There is a big increase in spending on shared applications (18% to 34%)
• There is a big decrease in spending on local applications (36% to 15%)
• Total IT cost in business modularity will increase above 100%.