Defining Architecture and Engineering and its role in Business Operations
The role of Architecture and Engineering in Business Operations is to provide an architectural approach to business planning, analysis, management, monitoring, and modernization. This architectural approach treats Architecture and Engineering as a tool for documenting the logical and physical structure of a business / organization and that the architecture is used to document the way the components of the business are organized and integrated. Finally, the architecture documents how information technology has been applied to facilitate business operations and agility.
Components of the business are depicted in Figure 1: Key Building Blocks of a Business. As depicted, a business is composed of Functional Areas which are either a Business Line (operating unit) or a Business Area (non-operating unit). Also depicted is Capability, where Capabilities are outcomes consisting of large, grained activities performed by and germane to a Business Area / Line.
Capability is Architected with a focus on performance and cost so that one can see the net-present value for launching the Capability. Key elements of the underlying Services of each Capability are engineered to minimize risk and to assure that delivery is within cost and schedule. Note, in the case where the services are acquired, the service provider should provide blueprints (architecture and engineering data).
The U.S. Federal Government was instrumental in establishing an architectural approach to agency modernization. They did so through the Clinger Cohen Act of 1996 and in documents such as the Federal CIO Council’s “Practical Guide to Federal Enterprise Architecture”. While the focus of the act was on IT modernization, people realized the need to be more formal and systematic in their approaches to documenting both the business and the supporting IT. This included working definitions like the one provided in The Practical Guide. The Practical Guide asserted that the Architecture of an Agency is:
“A strategic information asset base, which defines the mission, the information and the technologies necessary to perform the mission, and the transitional processes for implementing new technologies in response to the changing mission needs”.
This definition also asserts that the architecture “includes baseline architecture, target architecture, and a sequencing plan”. Our definition builds on this one to emphasize the business and the idea that technologies are introduced in support of the capabilities and operating models. Our new working definition then, is:
Architecture and Engineering as applied to businesses, is a discipline resulting in a strategic information asset which defines a business including the mission and business models chosen to assure the delivery of value in the midst of changing market conditions and mission needs. The architecture includes Doctrine / Policy, Organizational information, Training, Materiel in the form of processes, roles, and information and technologies necessary to perform the mission, Leadership, Personnel / staffing, and Facilities that underpin the capabilities. These piece parts of the mission and architecture are referred to as the DOTMLPF.
Given the fact that the architecture addresses changing social and market conditions and given that the architecture covers both current and target states, it must include a time element so that executives can see the current state of the business by fiscal or calendar year and see that improvement or degradation is taking place over time.
Conclusion
Architecture is used in strategic planning and investment management, contract management, risk management, supplier management, and the maturation and optimization of business operations. The Architecture provides an integrated view of the information required for these disciplines. Therefore, the architecture is so central to business operations and why it serves as the heart and brain of the business. The above-mentioned structure is a precursor to understanding your business and getting down to the point where you can focus on processes and key performance indicators, which will be the subject of an upcoming article. In the meantime, think about the operating and non-operating units that comprise your business and the capabilities germane to each.
