#1: Enterprise Architecture gives us a holistic understanding
It all starts with an overview.
As a portfolio manager, you need a comprehensive framework to make informed decisions about which projects to include in your portfolio.
Luckily, EA can help you with an overview of your organisation’s business processes, information systems, and technology infrastructure. You’ll get insights that span people and systems, allowing you to navigate the complex amalgam of business and IT stakeholders, identify existing systems, and align them with important business objectives.
This holistic approach has some clear benefits. By connecting business objectives with IT infrastructure, EA provides a shared understanding across stakeholders and departments. And, if there’s one thing you know as a portfolio manager, it’s that informed decision are the best decisions. We’ll go more into the benefits of this shared understanding later.
#2: Enterprise Architecture streamlines the portfolio
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.
Redundancies and overlaps will hinder your organisation’s project portfolio, so the sooner you are aware of them, the better. EA can help by identifying projects and applications with similar objectives, duplicate functionality, or overlapping resources.
Through the comprehensive model that we mentioned earlier, EA demonstrates and visualises the connections and dependencies within your portfolio. You’ll be able to build a web of interconnections, ensuring that your portfolio is optimised and devoid of unnecessary redundancies.
#3: Enterprise Architecture enhances communication and collaboration
Communication is key.
Effective collaboration between you and your IT teams is vital for successful portfolio management, but this requires everyone to understand each other. EA acts as a facilitator, enabling you to understand the IT architecture and its support for business processes without having to dive into the technical details.
At the same time, EA helps IT teams to grasp the goals and objectives of the portfolio. They will be able to align their efforts with the organisation’s strategic objectives, as we’ll discuss in the next part. In other words: EA makes sure that communication flows smoothly, in both directions. This common language is established through tools like business glossaries and data dictionaries.
#4: Enterprise Architecture helps you align decisions with strategic goals
Keep your eyes on the prize.
As a portfolio manager, aligning projects with the organisation’s strategic goals is one of your key objectives. EA gives you the tools to do so. While strategic goals are generally determined before embarking on the EA exercise, the model that it creates can still be linked to these goals.
Generally, business owners will push to get their particular project through, even though your budget is limited. By monitoring the “why” of each project and explicitly connecting this to the previously agreed upon strategic goals, you’ll be able to justify your decisions to business owners much more easily. But that’s not all: EA’s focus on objective data empowers you to present empirically and data-driven arguments, making it easier to convince executives and the board of the strategic value of your choices.
#5: Enterprise Architecture supports mitigating various risks
Prevention is the best cure.
It should come as no surprise that every project carries inherent risks. However, EA can help you to identify and mitigate the potential risks associated with projects in the portfolio. It allows for early risk identification by uncovering dependencies in its model, such as which processes rely on a specific application intended for replacement. By understanding the system’s (technical) risks, including where critical customer master data is located, you can take proactive measures to address them.
However, these technical dependencies and vulnerabilities are just one of many possible risks. EA lets you assess and manage all kinds of risks effectively, minimising potential disruptions and ensuring project success. We’ll go more in depth on the different risks in a next blog post, so make sure to stay tuned!
A key to success
In short, EA is an important key to success as a portfolio manager. It equips you with the tools and insights to make informed decisions, align your portfolio with strategic goals, streamline operations, enhance collaboration, and mitigate risks.
By providing a holistic understanding of your organisation’s business processes, IT infrastructure, and dependencies, EA empowers you to navigate the complexities and identify the best initiatives for your portfolio. It also fosters effective communication and collaboration with IT teams, ensuring a shared understanding and efficient resource allocation. With EA as your guide, you can confidently steer your portfolio towards greater outcomes and achieve success in today’s dynamic business landscape.
