Table Of ContentArchitecting the Future Enterprise
Architecting the Future Enterprise
Deborah J. Nightingale and Donna H. Rhodes
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic
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This book was set in ITC Stone Serif by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited, Hong Kong.
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data.
Nightingale, Deborah J.
Architecting the future enterprise / Deborah J. Nightingale and Donna H. Rhodes.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-262-02882-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Business enterprises. I. Rhodes,
Donna H. II. Title.
HD2351.N54 2015
658 — dc23
2014029656
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface vii
1 Why Architecting Matters 1
2 The ARIES Framework 11
3 Understanding the Enterprise Landscape 27
4 Performing Stakeholder Analysis 41
5 Capturing the Current Architecture 55
6 Creating a Holistic Vision of the Future 71
7 Generating Alternative Architectures 83
8 Deciding on the Future Architecture 99
9 Developing the Implementation Plan 111
10 LM Devices Case Study 125
11 Seven Architecting Imperatives 139
Appendix A: Architecting Case Study: ISSA, a Business Unit of I-Software
Systems 147
Appendix B: Architecting Case Study: Allan Design Group 161
Notes 171
Index 177
Preface
In this ever-changing world, enterprises of all shapes and sizes are under constant
pressure to innovate and transform in order to stay viable. Architecting the Future
Enterprise is about creating the “ blueprint” for what the enterprise will look like
in the future, after a transformation vision is realized.
Our Motivation
The subject of this book is a framework for undertaking a significant endeavor
in order to evolve an existing enterprise, or to design a new one. Our ARIES
framework has its origins in our prior experiences and in our research on enter-
prises as systems. We have personally led enterprise transformation efforts and
served in industry leadership positions in enterprises undergoing major change.
We have researched and observed underlying theory and applied enterprise
transformation.
More than a decade ago, we decided that there was a significant gap in the
existing enterprise transformation theory and practice. This gap was the failure
to adequately apply architecting as the initial phase in the transformation life-
cycle. We recognize the accomplishments and continuing progress in the devel-
opment of enterprise architecture frameworks, yet we concluded and continue
to believe that these are insufficient. This motivated us to undertake a significant
research endeavor in our ongoing research program at the Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology.
Existing architecture frameworks are highly useful in what we would call the
design phase. Our work is targeted upstream from that phase, in the early
concept phase. Just as systems, hardware, and software engineering found the
need to establish architecting as a unique activity within engineering, enterprises
require the same. Modern enterprises are increasingly complex and intercon-
nected. Architecting is necessary to make the “ (re)engineering of enterprises”
tractable.
viii Preface
Influences
Our work has been influenced by many insightful publications and individuals
too numerous to identify individually. A number of key thinkers in the areas of
systems and enterprises have had a powerful impact on how we think about
enterprises, and on why we believe architecting is so important to the field of
enterprise science. We include notes throughout the book to highlight some
individuals, books, and papers.
Many colleagues in industry and government have helped shape our under-
standing of enterprises and the challenges that must be overcome. They are
individuals we have worked with in our respective industry careers, in our educa-
tion and research careers, and through our involvement in professional societies.
These include partners in other research programs around the world, as well as
the executives we have worked with — and learned from— in education settings,
in research, and in consulting engagements. Our work has been influenced by
numerous colleagues in the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) and the Inter-
national Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE).
At MIT, many colleagues and students have influenced our work on enter-
prises. These include (but are not limited to) colleagues from the Engineering
Systems Division, the Lean Advancement (formerly Aerospace) Initiative, the
Sociotechnical Systems Research Center, and the Systems Engineering Advance-
ment Research Initiative.
Organization of This Book
The eleven chapters of our book tell a story, from start to finish, about architect-
ing the future enterprise. In chapter 1, we describe the motivation for our work,
and how we believe it adds to the already significant body of knowledge on the
art and practice of transforming an enterprise. In chapter 2, we present the ARIES
(Architecting Innovative Enterprise Strategy) framework, including our ten –
enterprise element model and our architecting process model.
The next three chapters concern enterprises as they presently exist. Chapters
3 and 4 focus on the larger ecosystem of an enterprise and on stakeholder value—
today and for the future. In chapter 5, we outline an approach for capturing an
understanding of the current enterprise, as relevant to the enterprise ’ s strategic
imperatives for change.
Creating a holistic vision for the future enterprise is the subject of chapter 6.
We discuss the use of vivid descriptions, stakeholder vignettes, and narratives
told through the various lenses of our ten-element model.
Preface ix
Chapter 7 covers our approach to generating concepts and developing alter-
native architectures— in other words, discovering what is possible for a future
architecture. Chapter 8, on the process and techniques for evaluating these pos-
sible architectures, focuses on the difficult decision of choosing the future
architecture.
In chapter 9, we present a technique for checking alignment in the future
architecture. We discuss implementation planning as well as communicating the
new architecture to stakeholders.
Chapter 10 tells the story of a recent enterprise architecting project. While
every architecting endeavor is unique, this chapter provides a sense of how the
ARIES framework is used in real-world practice to produce a blueprint for the
future.
Chapter 11 presents our seven architecting imperatives: the fundamentals we
believe should be part of every enterprise transformation project, regardless of
the specific framework or techniques used.
Throughout the book we incorporate examples from many of the enterprise
architecting projects we have been involved in. At the end of chapters 3 through
9, we include suggested exercises and questions for consideration, which you
can apply to your enterprise to enhance your understanding of the material in
the book. Finally, two appendixes are included at the end of the book, to provide
executive summaries of two additional architecting projects.
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the many graduate students who have partici-
pated in our classes and research programs, too numerous to call out individu-
ally. They have had a major role in what we have achieved and in shaping the
material presented in this book. Many of their contributions made through
graduate thesis work are referenced within.
We would also like to sincerely acknowledge the colleagues who spent time
reviewing our materials and providing invaluable input and suggestions for
improvement. In particular, we would like to acknowledge Mark Prendergast
for his creative graphics and help in developing other materials over the past
several years.
We also extend a special thanks to our former doctoral student, Caroline
Lamb, who worked with us in the early stages of organizing our materials for
the book.
Finally, we would like to thank our family and friends for their encourage-
ment and patience throughout this process.
Description:Every enterprise evolves continuously, driven by changing needs or new opportunities. Most often this happens gradually, with small adjustments to strategy, organization, processes, or infrastructure. But sometimes enterprises need to go beyond minor fixes and transform themselves, in response to a
