Segment Architecture
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.
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The Segment Architecture
The Segment Architecture FrameworkSegment Architecture is a continuous EA operation to provide detail the Enterprise Architecture based business demand.
1.0 LEA (EA 2.0) is an incremental and continuous architecture effort.
LEA, the EA 2.0, suggest the incremental solution where the target architecture serves only as a high level master plan rather than as the blueprint to design the entire enterprise. The Segment Architecture elaborate the high level target architecture in an incremental and continuous approach based on business performance gaps. It align to the high level enterprsie architecture plan and comply to the enterprsie standard to address enterprise business performance gaps.
The Target Enterprise architecture plan, which is the fundamental plan of the enterprise, is anology to the city plan as shown in the following figure; A segment architecture is partial architecture development based on business performance gaps similar to a segment in a city. It is a devide and conquer approach. A segment architecture is defined based business need rather than an categorization effort with the same line of business. A segment architecture, base on business need, contains more than one line of business.
1.1 Continuous architecture by governance and compliance
EA 2.0 is a continuous architecture development effort where the enterprise adopt new architecture standards due to rapid technology evolution. To keep up the new architecture standards, business segments in the enterprise continue to modernize their segment architecture via compliance review processes.
1.2 Incremental architecture development by segment architecture
EA 2.0 is an incremental architecture development effort via segment architecture. It is incrementally initiated to elaborate the enterprise target architecture to close business performance gaps.
2. Enterprise Target Architecture is a high level master plan
At the initial stage of EA, in instead making heavy investment to design the entire enterprise blueprint, it is more practical to establish the enterprise master plan which is similar to a master plan in city planning. The master target architecture plan do not requires significant effort of time and resources. The EA Target Architecture plan is developed based on the enterprise mission and direction and serve as the guide and the framework for the enterprise. LEA is a continuous architecture effort to elaborate the target architecture design . It can be for the development for a new segment or the modernization of an old segment.
2.1 Enterprise Target Architecture must be holistic
The Enterprise Target Architecture plan must be holistic to cover every aspect of Enterprise Architecture at the high level. LEA suggest to use enterprise architecture framework as to assure that enterprise target architecture is comprehensive to describe the high level architecture in each area
2.2 Enterprise Target Architecture describe the connectivity
The enterprise target architecture must describe the relation and connectivity between architecture components in different areas of the framework. The relation and connectivity serve as the context to relate and integrate segment architecture.
2.3 Analogy to a city plan
In the analogy of City planning, the target architecture is similar to the master city plan and the city is developed incrementally by different segment in the city. For example : The city of Washington DC was planed Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant on the year of 1800, it has been the master plan of Washington DC since then. Instead of taking Nero’s approach to design and build the city in a “Big Bang” approach, the city of Washington DC is developed in a segment architecture approach base on business need.
2.4 FEAPMO Segment Architecture has not explicitly address the concept of high level target architecture.
US OMB FEAPMO has initiated the Segment Architecture without clearly pointing out the concept of Enterprise Target Architecture is a master plan rather than the enterprise blueprint where the segment architecture is the continuous effort to elaborate the enterprise architecture based on the master plan. Fail to do so has caused significant confusion in the EA community of what is Segment Architecture. Without the concept of Target Architecture as the master plan, the Segment Architecture can be interpreted as a federated Enterprise Architecture effort, or as the LOB architecture pattern. With the concept of enterprise target architecture as the master plan, it is easy to understand that segment architecture is a divide and conquer approach to develop EA by enterprise segments driven by business performance gaps under the guide of the target enterprise architecture master plan. Describe the high level target enterprise architecture with EA framework.
3. Segment Architecture
1. A segment architecture is the engineering approach to divide and conquer a large system into a manageable scope for architecture design and making transition is reasonable time.
2. A segment architecture compartmentalize the enterprise target architecture with string attached to align with the context requirements. This is a classical engineering technique. For example : The structure engineering technique of “Taking free body of a structure member”.
3. The scope of a segment architecture is defined to close business performance gaps, it is determined based on business and engineering judgment. It is an effort to design the architecture only in time of need and before the architecture design become obsolete. The business performance gap can be in one line of business or in many line of business. The key is manageability.
4. Segment architecture design contains detail information and serve as the blueprint to establish the enterprise segment.
5. Segment architecture is not a reference architecture pattern or LOB architecture pattern for reuse.
3.1 Segment architecture elaborate the master plan based on enterprise need.
Segment Architecture elaborate a segment of the enterprise target architecture plan based on enterprise performance gap as shown in the following figure.
3.2 Initiate segment architecture to close business performance gap.
Segment architecture is initiated to close business performance gap. It can be the performance gap in mission and business result, customer satisfaction result, Process and Activity result as shown in the FEAPMO performance reference model.
3.3 Segment Architecture complies to enterprise architectures standards and share enterprise wide common resources
Segment architectures are not independently initiated without the overall enterprise overall consideration and the enterprise have to make special effort to integrated many segments. Integration is not a concern Segment Architect because it is designed under the context of Enterprise Architecture to follow the enterprise architecture standards and share enterprise common foundation and building blocks. The keys is to follow Enterprise Architecture Standards.
4.0 The segment architecture design approach
The segment architecture adopt the classical and popular EA design framework To identify the subject areas as-is environment from the big picture and design the consolidated target subject area enterprise architecture base on standards in the reference model and the enterprise consideration of workload and performance requirement. They perform the gap analysis within the subject area and plan the transition from the as-is environment to the target architecture.
as shown in the following :
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