Segment Architecture Approach
This strategy adopt the wisdom from the traditional city planning []. A city establish their master plan in the beginning and evolve the city continuously and incrementally in different city segment based on business and population demand. For example: The City of Washington DC was planed in 1870 by Mr. Len font in 1870. The city outlines the city without great detail. It is a high level and notional plan. It has been the guideline of the city. CEA take the same strategy as shown in the following figure:
Figure 4 : CEA strategy
• Establish a holistic, high level and notional enterprise master plan similar the city plan or the constitution of a country to contain the enterprise as a whole;
• Identify the line of business from the holistic enterprise plan;
• Adopt the common foundation and building blocks from the same line of business to enable agility
• Segment Architecture to deliver architecture value in time of business need with segment architecture
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Business requirement
The Define Business and Information Requirements process step includes an analysis of the "as is" business and information environment and identifies business improvement opportunities to help fulfill the strategic improvement opportunities identified in process step 2. Within this process step, the architect works with the business owners and SMEs to translate the segment's goals and performance objectives defined in process step 2 into an actionable and realistic target business and data architectures expressed within business functions and business processes and information requirements. These artifacts are vetted and confirmed with business owners and SMEs to ensure they support the strategic intent and performance architecture developed in the prior step. Critical inputs to this process step include the common/mission services maturity levels and the strategic intent defined in process step 2. This matrix does not assess service-component-level (SRM) services but general business-level services or capabilities required by business processes, including their security / privacy requirements. Service component assessment occurs in process step 4. Throughout this step, the term "service" refers to the high-level end services delivered to stakeholders and customers, such as recreation reservations and permits. These services can encompass several SRM service domains, types and components. The intent of process step 3 is to determine adjustments that are necessary to the segment's business and information environment to fulfill the performance architecture (e.g. outcomes and target measures), including effective delivery of common/mission services.The key to success for this process step is to analyze and document the business and information requirements to the lowest level of detail necessary to form actionable recommendations. It is also important that the information and business analysis provides a synchronized and cohesive set of recommendations that guide the segment architecture findings and recommendations.
Note that suggested analytical techniques are included for activities within the methodology to better define what is core for a complete segment architecture in the form of descriptive (not prescriptive) guidance on how to accomplish the analysis. The suggested analytical techniques provide guidance as to what outputs are core for defining a complete segment architecture.
For more detail please reference to FSAM
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Segment Target Architecture
LEA suggest that Enterprise architecture framework is three dimensional instead of two dimensional. The Zachman framework is a two dimensional framework base on the level of architecture detail. LEA suggest to add the architecture layer dimension base on the traditional four layer EA model which consist of the business, data, application and technology. This is to say that planners, owner, designers, builder and contractor must associate business with solution.
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Segment Architecture
Segment architecture is the practical aspect of EA. It is a architecture plan with the detail to support gap analysis for the purpose of transition planning.The segment architecture is not only for architecture optimization but also a process to minimize redundant effort.
It is a continuous effort.
4.8 Segment Architecture to implement EA
Segment architecture is the EA effort based on business need to close the business performance gap. Instead of tradition big-bang approach, CEA consist of the initial EA and the segment architecture where the initial EA identify the holistic environment and the segment architecture implement EA based on business need. It is an continuous and incremental Enterprise Architecture effort to provide common services in the segment areas and contribute the services to enterprise wide demand.
Segment Architecture is a subset of enterprise architecture. It is a effort to architect for the right organization at the right area in the right time to deliver EA value. The segment architecture is initiated to close business performance gaps by designing the executable target architecture, identify exiting environment, analyze architecture gaps, prepare the transition plan, make investment decision and initiates projects. It is analogy to a segment of a city.
Figure 10: The Segment Architecture
Segment architecture is business driven rather than engineering driven Segment architecture is business driven to close the business performance gap rather than engineering driven to design the same line of architecture in a “bird of the same feather approach”. A segment is an area of enterprise which is mapped based on enterprise performance gaps. In analogy to city planning, a city government improve an area of the city based on business and population growth rather than base on the engineering category of roads, water or sewer.
Segment is not the LOB architecture or the reference architecture.
Segment architecture can be easily confused with LOB architecture or reference architecture from the engineering aspect which does not help much in the effort to integrate the power of business and engineering.
Segment architecture must align to the enterprise master plan. The risk of segment architecture is to create larger stove pipe without a holistic enterprise environment. It is the paradox of holistic and compartmentalization. Enterprise architecture is a holistic architecture approach to look at the whole. On the hand, EA must also provide continuous and incremental value to business stakeholder to integrate the power of business and engineering.
Segment architecture is executable, it elaborate the notional enterprise architecture in know the business, align the segment target architecture, leverage on agility architecture, conduct gap analysis, plan for transition and implement the segment architecture to establish the common services. On the other hand, the enterprise target architecture is not executable, it only provide the high level and notional architecture direction.
To deliver holitic architecture to right area in time of need.
A subset of Enterprise Architecture As a executable subset of the enterprise architecture, segment architecture aligns to the principle of enterprise architecture and flow the enterprise architecture standards to be a part the holistic enterprise architecture.
Segment is initiated from business consideration. It usually contains many line of business rather the similar line of business. Segment Architecture elaborate the enterprise architecture for common needs in the area of business weakness. The analogy is the small bird also have the same function a large bird do. A segment contains many lines of business rather than the same line of business. It is a mater of large universe and small universe.
Do not confuse with reference architecture or LOB architecture. It is initiated from the business aspect rather than from engineering aspect. For example: A city would not build all the roads in the city without thinking about the area of need. It is not the engineering effort to design the same category of architecture.
Do not confuse with solution architecture
Segment Architecture Approach :
.Continuos strategic planning to identify business peformance gaps.
.Identify segment area base on business performance gaps.
.Idenfity stakeholders.
.Survey existing enviroment in the segment area.
.Comprehend the holistic enterprise architecture.
.Design the segment target architecture base on the holistic plan.
.Conduct architecture gap analysis.
.Prepare transition plan.
.Capital investment management.
.Initiate projects.
.Projectlife cycle managment.
.Modernization.
.Architecture performance assessment.
Pleas read the Segment Architecture Section for more detail. ^ TOP
The model and framework
Traditional EA approach prepare transition plan by the whole. For example the Federal Enterprise Architecture framework :
However, the author has encoutered difficulty in several EA project to in planning transition by the whole. Enterprsie architecture is large, and it is unrealistic to conduct gap analysis between existing and target architecture design. A important engineering priciple is to divide and conquer. LEA suggest that :
Target architecture must be planned as a whole but implemented by pieces. It is an effort to divide and conquer the complex target architecture plan based on the LEA framework as shown in the following figure :
The target architecture can be implemented in a segment approch by the four rows and six column in the framework. The OMB segment architecture further detail the categories in the OMB FEA practice guide.
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