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CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY
T3 CAMPUS
Department of Information Technology ITEC 75 – System Integration and Architecture 1

Week 5-6: The Value and Risk of Creating an Enterprise Architecture
Objectives: After the completion of the unit, the students will be able to:
 Learn the potential value of the Enterprise Architecture
 Learn the risks associated with implementing an Enterprise Architecture
 Learn an approach for measuring the costs and benefits of an Enterprise Architecture
Program
 Learn how Enterprise Architecture helps integrate strategy, business and technology

There is both value and risk associated with the establishment of an Enterprise
Architecture program in an enterprise. On the value side, Enterprise Architecture has the
unique capability to bring together views of strategy, business, and technology that allow an
enterprise to see itself in current and future operating states. Enterprise Architecture also
supports the modeling of different future operating scenarios, which may help the enterprise
survive (or thrive) as it responds to changes in the internal and external operating environment,
some of which can be unexpected. Additionally, an Enterprise Architecture program
establishes an integrated set of IT resource planning, decision-making, and implementation
processes that can better identify and resolve performance gaps across the enterprise.

Home Architecture Analogy: A set of comprehensive blueprints for building a home takes an
architect a fair amount of time and money to create. Without them though, any construction
that occurs is an uncoordinated activity, and the home that results may not function properly.

On the risk side, creating an Enterprise Architecture for an entire enterprise can be
time-consuming, costly, and disruptive to business services. Also, developing detailed EA
documentation that covers strategy, business and technology within each area of the
enterprise can be time consuming and costly. Hiring and/or training architects and supporting
analysts is one element of the cost. Another cost element is the time it takes line of business
managers and support staff away from their normal work. Finally, the cost of Enterprise
Architecture documentation tools and online repositories has to be factored in as well. Further,
there is the risk that the EA will not be used by stakeholders if they do not buy-in to the concept
of Enterprise Architecture or its perceived value.

On the value side, Enterprise Architecture in its ability to promote enterprise-wide
thinking about resource utilization. Enterprise Architecture replaces the systems-level
approaches to IT resource development that have characterized the last several decades, and
has left many enterprises with stovepipe and/or duplicative IT resources. Enterprise
Architecture promotes the development of more efficient enterprise-wide common operating
environments for business and technology, within which more capable and flexible business
services and systems can be hosted. This in turn makes an enterprise more agile and able to
respond to internal and external drivers of change, which promotes greater levels of
competitiveness in the marketplace.

The benefits should outweigh the costs of doing an Enterprise Architecture, or the
program should not be established. In the Case Study example, if an Enterprise Architecture
program helps DMC’s executives find a combined solution to two sets of business and
technology requirements, then a significant amount of money can be saved. Multiply this by
several of these situations each year, and the Enterprise Architecture program may very well
pay for itself. Further, Enterprise Architecture helps to identify existing duplication in functional
capability, which can generate additional savings. Finally, Enterprise Architecture
documentation helps to identify current and future performance gaps that may not be
otherwise realized, which enables the enterprise to be more proactive and cost-efficient in
addressing solutions.

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