Defining the current state architecture is a critical component of implementing a successful enterprise architecture program. It should be understood by architects, however, that documenting the current state architecture provides little measurable value to the organization as a whole. Instead, architects should focus their efforts on defining the current state architecture in relation to the future state to identify and address any gaps in business processes and functions. Understanding where the business wants to be and where the business currently allows the organization to develop programs to address these gaps. Following the aforementioned process allows the program to provide immediate business value in the form of future state architecture initiatives. Being able to provide value quickly can have a direct impact on an EA program’s ability to get executive stakeholder buy-in for the EA program.
A common pitfall in current state architecture is that architects focus solely on documentation. While documenting the current state is effective in defining current business processes, functions, applications etc. however, in many cases the documentation is underutilized providing very little value to the business. To ensure architects do not over document the current architecture, architects should take an iterative approach to their documentation efforts. Doing so allows the architects to focus on the future state and enables architects to define the scope of the documentation effort in relation to the future state. A key benefit to this approach is that it enhances business agility by addressing business priorities first. One such example is in the form of application reuse. Future state architectures take into account the need for designing an architecture where applications can be reused. Current state architectures simply identify which applications capture what business functions. Being able to identify the gaps in design without going into too much detail is critical in not getting bogged down in the details of the current state.
There are several components that should be analyzed when documenting current state architecture (James, 2005):
- Identify high-level business processes – Identifying high-level business processes allows the organization to define business processes in relation to the organizational strategy.
- Selectively decompose to granular business functions – As the business processes and functions are defined, the organization should then try to find the areas where the function and/or processes can be performed by a single application.
- Select a business function – The organization should then identify all applications that perform this function.
Completing the above three objectives allow the organization to identify the current state architecture without going too far in depth. These objectives also allow the organization to concurrently develop a future state architecture that eliminates redundancies in the organization through the EA process.
Additional Readings:
https://pragmaticarchitect.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/how-to-build-a-roadmap-define-current-state/
References:
James, G. A. (2006). Just Enough Current-State Architecture. Gartner.
James, G. A. (2005). Use Enterprise Architecture to Control Overlapping
Applications. Gartner.
EA 872 