Enterprise architecture programmes frequently struggle with scope confusion, misaligned stakeholder expectations, and poor traceability between business requirements and delivery plans. This paper presents a building block approach — distinguishing Business Building Blocks (capabilities) from Solution Building Blocks (systems and technologies) — developed and validated on a multi-project transformation programme at a rapidly expanding South African telecoms company. The result was dramatically improved communication between sponsors, stakeholders, programme managers, and development teams, and a shared, navigable picture of what would be delivered, when, and in what sequence.
Enhancing Enterprise Architecture Models with Cost, Quality and Risk Dimensions
Enterprise architecture models are typically rich in structural detail but silent on cost, quality, and risk — the very dimensions that drive executive decision-making. This 2003 presentation by Graham McLeod, delivered at the University of Cape Town, explores how EA models can be extended with these critical dimensions using a knowledge repository approach, enabling architects and business managers to assess current and future scenarios with a fuller picture of the implications of their decisions.