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

Strategic Initiatives
These are outcome measures that identify when a strategic initiative has successfully
met a strategic goal. Outcome goals define when an enterprise is accomplishing its mission.

Linking Enterprise Architecture and Business Planning
As is reflected in the design of the EA framework, strategy creates business
requirements and technology supports solutions for meeting those requirements. EA
documents three primary issues at the business level:

Supporting Strategic Goals
Touch points between strategic initiatives and business activities need to be clearly
documented. Not all business activities are strategic, and it is important to distinguish in the
EA documentation between those that directly link to strategic initiatives and those that are
provide general support functions for the enterprise.

Documentation of Business Activities.
Documenting the creation and delivery of business products and services is important
in supporting Business Process Improvement (BPI) and Business Process Reengineering
(BPR) projects, and in documenting business activities to show inputs, outputs, outcomes and
other elements of influence regarding each business process. It’s also important to identify
how business processes are linked to one another.

Identifying Supporting Technologies
Analyzing business requirements and activities can reveal critical supporting
technologies (e.g. marketing activities require sales trend analysis data, and a manufacturing
process requires various types of resources including raw materials, facilities, labor, computer,
data and/or robotics). EA helps to identify and document these supporting technologies.

Linking Enterprise Architecture and Technology Planning
Technology is a type of resource that enables information and other resource flows to
support the creation and delivery of business products and services, which in turn enables the
achievement of strategic goals. It is important that technology not drive business and strategy
planning, especially in resource-constrained enterprises, where the expense of duplicative
non-strategic technologies cannot be afforded. Bottom-up planning (e.g. where technology is
the catalyst for change) is a viable use of EA; however, it’s not the normal process for resource
implementation. It’s more important for the enterprise to understand its primary directions and
priorities, plan necessary business activities, and then identify the supporting resources,
including IT.

QUIZ 3. Question and Answer
1. What are some of the areas of value that are generated by an EA program?
2. What are some of the risks associated with implementing an EA program?
3. How does EA help an enterprise to view its strategic direction/goals?
4. How does EA help an enterprise to view its business services?
5. How does EA help an enterprise to view technology resources?

Reading Assignment. Danforth Manufacturing Company Scene 2: Considering an EA
Program

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