Redesign Enterprise

Architecture to Support
Distributed Decision Making
and Digital Product Strategy
A roadmap for enterprise architecture leaders

© 2023 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. CM_GTS_2462951
Is your enterprise architecture team EA Practices Are Responding to Change
built to support a distributed,
product-led, digital enterprise?
In the current landscape, where distributed and decentralized decision making
has become the norm, organizations are actively pursuing greater agility, Cause Effect Effect Effect
resilience and growth. Given the economic challenges, rapid transformations
and talent scarcity, enterprise architecture (EA) receives a clear message:
Volatility

To thrive in a project- and product-oriented digital enterprise, EA leaders

must reassess their value proposition and redesign their activities, Uncertainty Continuous
management approaches and staffing strategies. business and
EA practices EA team structure
change to meet changes to
operating model
variable demand provide flexibility
However, the challenge is twofold. EA leaders must understand and support the Complexity change
architecture needs of diverse and rapidly moving product teams. They require
more flexible EA services and operating models to support the variable and
Ambiguity
varied demands of the digital enterprise.

EA, as a discipline, is undergoing significant changes. Therefore, leaders must

prioritize the development of high-priority architecture skills and competencies
to keep up with the pace of change.

Source: Gartner

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How do you revitalize EA’s value 5 Steps to Create a Flexible EA Team Structure
proposition and guide digital
transformation?
It is essential to reevaluate and redefine the value proposition and purpose
of the EA function. This involves enabling distributed product and fusion teams to Business Make the business
make well-informed decisions that align with architectural principles. Additionally, Case
case for a flexible EA
EA must orchestrate shared resources to facilitate agile and resilient business and team structure
technology transformations.
Build a portfolio
Bench Service of services
To adapt to these evolving needs, it is necessary to recalibrate the services Management Offering
Flexible EA
and operating model provided by EA and develop creative resource Team Structure Construct a resource
management strategies, including the provision of flexible services and bench staffing plan

operating models. This can involve offering specialized business services Acquire resource
through mechanisms like resource benches to meet demand and exploring bench forecasting
competencies
ways to leverage distributed architecture talent pools more effectively.
Demand Staffing
Furthermore, EA leaders must reassess and prioritize the skills and Manage and monitor
Management Plan
the resource bench
competencies required for effective architectural support and establish initiatives
to upskill and cross-skill their existing teams to meet the evolving demands of the
organization.
Source: Gartner

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Some of the top questions of the recalibration of the EA
function initiative are:

1  ow do you define a new vision,

H
charter and operating model for EA? 2  ow do you build a flexible
H
and skilled EA team to support
distributed decision making?
3  ow do you engage stakeholders
H
to align strategy and execution?

The 4 stages to redesign and recalibrate EA

To foster sustainable business growth and enhance resilience in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex
and ambiguous (VUCA) world, it is necessary to strategically redefine the EA function. This involves
repositioning the function’s strategy, operating model, services, talent and stakeholder relationships
to enable a responsive digital business strategy. The aim is to bridge the gap between strategy
formulation and execution across distributed stakeholders and fusion teams. Additionally, the EA
function must provide architectural guardrails to mitigate critical business and operational risks.

Redesign the Enterprise Modernize and Improve Cultivate Stakeholder Articulate Enterprise
Architecture Role Enterprise Architecture Skills Relationships Architecture Value

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 Redesign the Enterprise Modernize and Improve Cultivate Stakeholder Articulate Enterprise
Architecture Role Enterprise Architecture Skills Relationships Architecture Value

Redesign the enterprise architecture role

Craft an EA model responsive to business priorities.

Actions to take: Sample of associated Gartner resources

• Research: 5 Steps to Create a Flexible Team

  
Structure That Enables Enterprise Architecture
Define EA value proposition, Reprioritize EA effort around Define how business architects, Value Delivery
operating model and staffing a portfolio of services and a product and solution architects,
to support distributed, product- flexible EA team resourcing and platform architects fit • Expert inquiry: Engage with an expert to discuss
oriented digital business. model. within this model. how to build a portfolio of EA services
• Phone consultation: Draft an action plan and
agreement on next steps
• Tool: Use Gartner’s IT Score for Enterprise
Architecture Tool to assess key strengths
and weaknesses

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 Redesign the Enterprise Modernize and Improve Cultivate Stakeholder Articulate Enterprise
Architecture Role Enterprise Architecture Skills Relationships Architecture Value

Modernize and improve enterprise architecture skills

Attract, retain and develop a world-class EA team.

Actions to take: Sample of associated Gartner resources

• Research: 7 Causes of Strategy Execution Failure

  
and How to Prevent Them
Reevaluate EA roles to allow Improve and modernize EA Understand the right mix
enterprise architects to shape skills to help orchestrate of skills, competencies and • Expert inquiry: Speak with an expert to understand
strategy, guide distributed resources and foster nimble behaviors to build an effective how to build the EA talent strategy
teams and modernize the and resilient change by EA function. • Phone consultation: Review business, product,
digital foundations. distributed product teams. solution and platform architect job descriptions
• Tool: Leverage Competency Model for Enterprise
Architecture Talent Management

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 Redesign the Enterprise Modernize and Improve Cultivate Stakeholder Articulate Enterprise
Architecture Role Enterprise Architecture Skills Relationships Architecture Value

Cultivate stakeholder relationships

From business leaders to distributed delivery partners

Actions to take: Sample of associated Gartner resources

• Research: 3 Top Practices for Enterprise Architects

  
to Engage Business Executives
Communicate with and Craft engagement methods for Define stakeholder
persuade diverse audiences EA to use to guide and enable relationships and engagement • Expert inquiry: Discuss what stakeholder
and enable effective distributed stakeholders. methods for business, solution relationships are needed for an effective EA function
architectural collaboration. and platform architects. • Tool: Ignition Guide to Building Architecture
Communities of Practice

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 Redesign the Enterprise Modernize and Improve Cultivate Stakeholder Articulate Enterprise
Architecture Role Enterprise Architecture Skills Relationships Architecture Value

Articulate enterprise architecture value

Build and market a set of EA services.

Actions to take: Sample of associated Gartner resources

• Research: Customize EA Metrics to Capture

  
and Communicate the Value of EA
Build and market a set Develop outcome-based Build an EA brand positioning
of EA services that helps narratives, metrics and to best communicate EA • Expert inquiry: Identify key internal stakeholder
stakeholders deliver against scorecards focused on target business value. personas and internal customers
those outcomes. audience needs. • Tool: Ignition Guide to Creating a Marketing Plan
for Enterprise Architecture

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Who needs to be involved?
The most successful companies establish cross-functional teams for their modernization initiatives.
We have outlined the recommended functions to involve and their roles to ensure the best success
in hitting the milestones.

CIO
The CIO creates a collaborative working structure with
the CEA, with clear responsibilities for each role to
achieve the goal of operationalizing the EA activities
across the organization.

Application leaders Data and analytics leaders Infrastructure and operations Security and risk management
Application development and integration EA teams work with data and analytics leaders leaders
teams rely on EA to define and leaders to ensure that data and EA leaders influence and drive Security, risk and compliance concerns
communicate common standards and information are relevant, accessible and technological planning, and platform are pervasive. EA and security leaders
policies and provide guidelines to drive consumable by architects, developers architects must work with infrastructure must collaborate to protect key assets
distributed decision making. and engineers across the enterprise. and operations leaders to design the without sacrificing usability.
digital foundations.

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Client success story:

How Gartner Helped Establish Capability-Based Investment Planning


Mission-critical priority How Gartner helped Mission accomplished
Gartner experts and advisors have had Gartner experts and advisors were critical Gartner experts and advisors were
450+ distinct interactions with Gartner in providing strategic input to clients able to unearth a best practice from
clients between June 2022 and May 2023 linking business and IT capabilities to a manufacturing client for investment
regarding the value proposition of EA in business outcomes and key results, which prioritization based on business
a federated, distributed or democratized informed investment planning and decision architecture deliverables.
enterprise, supported by a variety of client prioritization. Gartner helped make strategic This best practice has been able to help
case studies consolidated through Gartner execution quicker and more efficient. clients across every industry in many ways,
researchers. including:
• Identify, evaluate and prioritize
opportunities by value, complexity
and time.
• Align its five-year technology roadmap
to its business strategy and business
capabilities.
• Improve the ROI and business value
for IT investments.

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Actionable, objective insight
Position your organization for success. Explore these additional
complimentary resources and tools for enterprise architecture leaders:

eBook Research Webinar Research

2023 Leadership Vision for Enterprise Architecture Function 5 Steps to Architect Your 8 Steps to Select and Obtain
Enterprise Architecture Primer for 2023 Enterprise Operating Model Value From Enterprise
Discover four opportunities to drive digital Enable growth and resilience in a project- Understand business and operating Architecture Tools
era hypergrowth. and product-oriented digital enterprise. models and how they fit together. Identify and assess what data you need
and how to use it to deliver value.

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