My previous two blog posts talked about enterprise architecture and how there is a close relationship between the concept of stacking and the principles behind EA. In this post i want to reflect upon the various advantages i can think of when the stacking is done right within an enterprise.
As we all know by now that there are 5 very important layers that essentially play a role of a backbone for an Enterprise. These layers if planned strategically and in compliance with the companies policies can result in an architecture that is strong, organized, and can sustain any adversities over the years both inside and outside. This is similar to building a house, making sure that the foundations are laid down, a strong foundation means a strong home, then the pillars are added for the support system, the walls and insulation for the protection of the house from the outside harsh climates while keeping the heat/ cold to not escape from the house, having windows and various different outlets for the interaction with the outside world, and then the roof on top to make sure that the house is closed from all ends in order to protect it from outside forces.
You must be thinking why i am giving you this analogy. My thought behind this analogy is to compare the amount of work that went into constructing a house to building a self sustained, organized, efficient architecture within an organization layer by layer. By having a well thought through strategic plan that focuses on the five different architectural layers stacked on top of each other, an EA can ensure a sustained enterprise. The advantages of a well planned stack are:
As we all know by now that there are 5 very important layers that essentially play a role of a backbone for an Enterprise. These layers if planned strategically and in compliance with the companies policies can result in an architecture that is strong, organized, and can sustain any adversities over the years both inside and outside. This is similar to building a house, making sure that the foundations are laid down, a strong foundation means a strong home, then the pillars are added for the support system, the walls and insulation for the protection of the house from the outside harsh climates while keeping the heat/ cold to not escape from the house, having windows and various different outlets for the interaction with the outside world, and then the roof on top to make sure that the house is closed from all ends in order to protect it from outside forces.
You must be thinking why i am giving you this analogy. My thought behind this analogy is to compare the amount of work that went into constructing a house to building a self sustained, organized, efficient architecture within an organization layer by layer. By having a well thought through strategic plan that focuses on the five different architectural layers stacked on top of each other, an EA can ensure a sustained enterprise. The advantages of a well planned stack are:
- Low maintenance cost - there will be low cost in the long run, since the layers were designed keeping in mind all the dependencies they will have with internal and external entities.
- Well connected - the layers within the organization will be well connected, as they are interdependent on each other. They will have a close knit network.
- Improved communications - because of the closed knit network in place, there will be open communications between these different layers, that will help keep everyone in the organization on the same page, and the same view/ goals will flow from the top of the layer till the bottom
- Efficiency/ Higher Productivity: The open communication channel will increase the efficiency within the various sub orgs within the enterprise.
- Identifying Gaps: with the layers all planned and laid out in a compliant, consistent manner, it will be easy to identify the gaps (if any) and work on them in a well organized and efficient manner.
- Secured
These are some of the few advantages that i can think of from the top of my head by involving the concept of stacking within the enterprise. That is also the reason why i believe that EA and concepts of stacking have a very close relationship with each other.
