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Enterprise Architecture Mastery

Discover how to lead and shape the enterprise architectures of large, complex organizations — ensuring they are aligned with business strategy able to evolve and adapt in response to changing demands.
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Why this course?

Value-Driven and Stakeholder-Centric Enterprise Architecture is the backbone of successful digital transformations. 

This advanced-level course:

  • develops your ability to lead architectural work within your organisation, and will prepare you to think like a Chief Architect, helping you ​to advance your career into a Enterprise Architecture leadership role.

  • deeply explores the criticality of alignment between business and IT, and how Enterprise Architects can take the lead in achieving such alignment.

  • combines ideal/theoretical practices and pragmatic approaches to design and iteratively evolve a Minimum Viable EA for a complex enterprise.

  • balances traditional (e.g., Principles, Standards) and modern (e.g., Guardrails, Governance  as  Code) techniques to maximise impact.

  • approaches EA as a 'People & Change' discipline, focussed on leading stakeholders in exploring alternative Target Architectures & Roadmaps, and compare them in a way that facilitates constructive discussion.

  • positions EA as a Decision-Making Capability, giving participants the confidence to lead de-centralised high-quality architectural decisions.

  • critically analyses Architecture ​as a Capability and as a Profession, its relevancy in the context of agile businesses and fast evolving technology landscape, understanding why it fails in some organisations, and how to prevent common pitfalls.

  • discover any blind spots you may have in your capability, and how to address them.

This is an expert-led course, and you receive direct & honest feedback from an expert practitioner with 30+ hands-on years experience in the industry.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to demonstrates an advanced level of expertise and professionalism in Enterprise Architecture by being able to:

  • Establish or Transform an EA Practice that delivers business value, not documents

  • Lead a team to iteratively & collaboratively design the Target Architecture & Roadmap of a large & complex enterprise.

  • Pragmatically apply frameworks, methods and tools for designing & documenting an Enterprise Architecture.

  • Understand decision making as a cognitive (not purely rational) activity, and lead collaborative, de-centralised, and sustainable architectural decisions.

  • Lead the evaluation and assessment of complex architectures.

  • Manage performance of an EA practice.

  • Communicate architectures, including their value, to technical and business executives.

  • Lead Effective & Lean Architecture Governance, overseeing alignment of delivery portfolios without unnecessary rigidity or bureaucracy.

Content

  • Recall Fundamental concepts of Architecture, Architecting, and the role of the Architect (as covered in the EA Fundamentals course)

    • Definitions, Goals, Benefits 

    • Architecture Viewpoints and Views

    • Role and Responsibilities of Solution, Domain, and Enterprise Architects

    • Identify, Understand, and Manage Stakeholders

    • Relate the Role of Architects to Other Stakeholders

    • Design fit-for-context and fit-for-purpose Architectures

  • An effective, efficient, and mature architecture capability can be a significant business asset

    • Why EA practices have a high failure rate?

    • Good Architecting needs Skilled & Competent Individuals, Teams, and Organisations

    • Characteristics of High Performing EA Teams

    • Architecting Skills Taxonomy

    • Beyond Technical Skills: Architectural Unicorns and Pioneers

    • Develop Critical Interpersonal Skills for Architectural Impact

    • Managing & Growing Capability Maturity of Architecture and Architecting

  • Enable participants to [select > tailor > deploy] appropriate ideas, frameworks, techniques, and tools to design fit-for-context enterprise architectures that deliver business value

    • EA as a Product to achieve Business / IT Alignment: ​ EA Succeeds when seeks Business Outcomes, not Deliverables

      • Customers and Other Stakeholders

      • Problem Statement

      • Develop and Present a Business Case

      • Baseline, Target, and Gap Analysis

      • Architecting Outputs

        • Architecture Vision & Value Proposition

        • Architecture Principles, Standards, and Guardrails

        • Realistic Target Architectures and realisable Roadmaps

      • Quality Characteristics

    • Achieving Business / IT Alignment: Key Models, Artefacts, and Techniques

      • Business Architecture Essentials

      • Application Architecture Essentials

      • Information Architecture Essentials
      • Technology Architecture Essentials

      • Capability-based investment planning

    • Frameworks for Architectural Transformation: Proven Techniques and Practices to Simplify, Rationalize, and Modernize IT

      • Digital Innovation

      • Digital Transformation 

      • Application & Data Rationalisation & Simplification

      • Technology Standardisation & Modernisation

    • Architecture Repository & Toolset​

  • How to integrate strategic goals with streamlined execution, ensuring value creation without excessive bureaucracy. 

    • Enterprise Architecture Roles & Responsibilities

    • Options for EA Operating & Funding Models

    • Formal Architecture Governance: from Architecture Board, to Design Authority, to Architecture Advice Forum

    • Architecting in the era of Agile Organisations & Socio-Technical Systems

      • Conway's Law

      • Designing and managing a fit-for-context architecting operating model

      • From accountability to facilitation and stewardship

      • Architecting for Function, Quality, and Uncertainty: Just Enough Architecting

      • Stakeholder-Driven, Decision-Centric Architecting

      • Lean & Effective engagement models with Product / Project Teams for evolutionary architectures

      • Engaging-with & supporting delivery teams

      • Opportunities and Challenges of Enterprise Platforms

    • Just-in Time, Lean Governance

      • Architecture Assurance

      • Architectural Reviews: approach and success factors

      • Proven Techniques & Templates

  • Architecturally Significant Decisions can be the hardest to make and most expensive to change 

    • Decision Making as a Cognitive Process

    • The Decision-Centric approach to Architecting: Plan --> Decide --> Communicate --> Assure --> Implement

    • Power, Influence, and Bias in Decision Making

    • Vertical vs. Horizontal Architectural Optimisation

    • Dealing with Inevitability of Incorrect Architectural Decisions

  • Every business has some debt: Understand & Leverage Technical Debt for Architectural Advantage

    • Causes (internal & external), Symptoms,  and Consequences

    • Cost (and Value!) of Debt

    • A Theory of Architectural Technical Debt

    • Documentation

    • Remediation

  • Documenting Architecture, and keeping it up-to-date, can be a significant (and unaffordable) effort

    • Cost & Benefits of Architecture Documentation

    • Choosing WHAT to Communicate

    • Choosing HOW to Communicate

    • Qualities of EA Products

    • Argumentation Model

    • The Power of Narrative

    • The Science of Persuasion

    • Team and Personal Branding

  • A strategic target & roadmap provides a clear vision and direction to achieve business objectives. It helps organizations align their technology investments with their overall strategy.

    • From Vision to Roadmap

    • Meta Model and Data for Architecture Planning

    • The Architecture Roadmap Playbook: how to Develop Ambitious and Realisable Target Architectures & Roadmaps

    • Qualities of Target Architectures & Roadmaps

  • A strategic target & roadmap provides a clear vision and direction to achieve business objectives. It helps organizations align their technology investments with their overall strategy.

    • Platforms as enablers for Business & Architectural Agility

    • Types of Platforms

    • Cost, Risks, and Benefits of Enterprise Platforms

    • Understanding the socio-technical aspects

  • Communicate Architecture Progress and Success

    • Measuring EA Performance & Value as a basis for Conversation

    • Diagnostics

    • Measuring Activities

    • Measuring Progress

    • Measuring Value

    • Communicating  back to Stakeholders

  • Fast-evolving Technologies Impacting Architectures and Architecting

    • Platforms & Frameworks

      • Cloud

      • Monolithic vs Distributed Architectures (e.g., Microservices​​)

      • Artificial Intelligence

      • Data

    • Leveraging LLMs and AI agents for better and faster architecting (now and in the future)

      • Definitions

      • Architecture as Code

      • Architecting Prompts & Tools

      • Architectural Governance and Alignment with AI 

    • Digital Ethics

      • Integrate Sustainability and Ethical Values in Architecture

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    Summary of Topics Covered and Key Takeaways

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Notes:

  • Throughout the course, the content is supported and complemented by real-world examples, and hands-on activities based on a case study.

  • The context of the course is typically adapted to the needs of participants.

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Target Audience

  • This course is ideal for professionals with some experience in enterprise architecture wanting to take their  abilities to the next level; it is primarily aimed at early-career enterprise architects aspiring to progress onto senior and executive architectural leadership roles.

  • ​This course is also suitable for professionals working in digital transformation and software archtecture, and seeking to broaden their knowledge or begin their certification journey in enterprise architecture

    • Lead Domain (Application / Technical / Information / Security) Architects

    • Lead Solution Architects

    • Product / Program Portfolio Managers

    • IT, business, and digital transformation professionals aiming to enhance their architectural thinking

Prerequisites

You should have completed the Enterprise Architecture Fundamentals course or have practical hands-on experience as an Enterprise Architect.

Duration and Format

  • This course is typically delivered over 3 full consecutive days, and can be combined with the Enterprise Architecture Fundamentals course.

  • The content and its structure can be tailored to meet the needs and level of  experience of participant groups.

  • The course is also offered as a 4-day residential course (inclusive of accommodation and half board) in Italian locations; this gives participants the opportunity to visit places of historical and cultural interest.

Price and Schedule

  • For pricing & schedule details, please enquire below

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Enquire or Register interest

Course / Workshop / Free Taster Session
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