After you defined your EA, what do you do with it.

1. Evolving into an Actionable Architecture Environment

4. This has fostered a dramatic growth in EA, which is emerging as a key enabler for action. A comprehensive EA assists in understanding the relationships of systems, data, and resources -- to the broader business goals. The next evolution, an “Actionable Architecture”, takes this enterprise information and makes it useable, helping to understand its context, and how to use this knowledge to improve flexibility and responsiveness.

7. New advancements in tools and methodologies, such as visualization and Web publishing, provide improved IT analysis and communication. A repository acts as a central place where data is stored and maintained. It includes information about business processes, data and systems (including data elements, processes, inputs, outputs and interrelationships). Most importantly, the repository forms an integrated strategic information-base that supports traceability of data down to the technical or source level. Using a central repository shifts emphasis away from architecture and information ownership by a few IT resources - to - broad information sharing throughout the enterprise. This can take place via the Web, spreadsheets, or XML, and is generated from the same repository of data. Published information can be packaged and disseminated to different user groups for analysis and action.

10. Driving this trend is the rise of architecture standards and methods, including Frameworks and Reference Models. These standards enable interoperability, communications, and collaboration at the enterprise level. Frameworks are a key part of any EA environment. They offer a commonly accepted classification system for EA and provide a systematic, comprehensive checklist of the resources, systems, processes, and internal and external factors that contribute to strategies and operations. Frameworks

17. Standards also enable a smoother transition to emerging technologies. For example, the adoption of Web Services as an IT technology. SOAs enable the evolution from tightly coupled applications to network-based functionality.

21. Now days, CIOs, CTOs, and CAOs must show how their existing and proposed IT infrastructure costs are justified through business cases. As we seek to meet regulatory requirements or improve agility during changing market conditions, an enterprise blueprint gives the information needed to analyze major systems development projects and infrastructure upgrades.

23. In many cases, this information can be visualized to show relationship maps, dashboards, scorecards and graphs. The underlying repository ties this information directly to the IT infrastructure, making it easy to trace relationships back to the original source. This bottom-up/top-down integrated approach ensures a smooth line of communication and collaboration.

25. Architecture information can be tailored to address many different user perspectives, but all drawn from the same source. Publishing this information - whether on the Web or in simple paper reports - becomes a key part of the collaboration process and fosters feedback from various stakeholder groups, whether they are within or outside IT.

27. Two standards, the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) and the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) are key to the success of the migration of knowledge. Developed by the BPMI.org, BPMN brings together best practices from the modeling industry to offer an easier way to develop Business Process models. It offers a standard representation that shows higher-level processes by merging elements across a wide variety of process semantics into a single notation. BPMN consists of one diagram, the Business Process diagram. It is designed to be easy to understand and use, thus providing the ability to model complex processes.

31. Business Process modeling and EA can both be used as part of a compliance program. The architectures help identify and measure risk areas and determine if mitigation procedures are in place. Business Process simulation can be carried out using the gathered data to examine how potential changes at different points affect other areas. Simulation helps measure risks and predicts the cost of failed processes, thus enabling quantification of different potential risk scenarios. These predictions may highlight the need for additional IT investments, demonstrate inefficient or redundant applications or indicate where processes should be re-engineered. The key to making sound decisions based on business process simulation is the integrity of the original data gathered in the central repository.

33. It also helps IT - from executives to technicians - understand the context of decisions.

39. The ability to respond to the ever increasing demand for increased efficiency and operational excellence is a key success factor for any organization. Actionable Architecture gives a complete view of data, applications, and business architectures, across all organizational entities. Decision makers are provided with the right information, at the right time, in the right format, and at the right place, to be able to decide on the right response to emerging technologies as well as changing political, resource, and economic conditions. Strategic decisions are now based on an aligned view of assets, needs, and constraints -- and will therefore lead to sustainable success as we move forward.