Activity: Enterprise Planning
Businesses have their own planning processes. This generic view illustrates where IT architects can add value to these planning processes and decisions.
Work Breakdown Structure
Purpose
Generic IT planning and management processes are used to defined where UAM deliverables and IT architects add value to these processes. Specifically, the points where IT architects will improve decision makes due to their knowledge of the business (and technology) as represented in the IT architecture models and documentation.
Description

Businesses have their own planning processes and need to decide the best point to have an injection of recommendations from their enterprise and domain architects (and others). Architects can provide guidance and advice regarding business plans; for example, the size and scope of new strategies or business opportunities, and their impact on the enterprise’s IT environment. They can also identify opportunities for the application of IT to the advantage of the business. A partial view of this is shown below, illustrating the various planning steps and the milestone reviews where architecture guidance and advice would be beneficial.

Pre-project Planning Activities

This illustration is not prescriptive—enterprises will have their own planning processes, the point being that the proposed gates and related reviews may be applied within all enterprises where the illustrated types of reviews make sense. Many gates are shown and described. Use the ones that fit the organization’s processes, or combine them into single gates as desired.  

The steps shown in the figure refine the business requirement to the point where a good understanding of the business solution and business impacts are understood—to the point where a go or no-go decision is made whether or not to proceed. Each business artifact (or associated activity) is briefly described below, followed by the purpose for each gate and actions taken.

Illustrations
Roadmap
Usage
Usage GuidanceThese milestones may not exist as defined with your organization. The milestones that do exits should be mapped to the ones defined here, and the reviews and outcomes adapted and incorporated into your reviews. Often these activities and milestones are combined, and therefore only Gate 2 may exist. That is where the IT architect's input needs to happen.
Workflow

Activity diagram: Enterprise Planning Business Planning Business Need Gate 0 Gate 1 Business Opportunity Business Case Gate 2

Activity detail diagram: Enterprise Planning Business Manager Business Planning Business Need Business Opportunity Business Case Business Manager Business Goals Business Motivation Model Business Model Business Objective Business Strategy Business Vision Business Mission IT Strategy Business Planning Business Objective Business Strategy Business Vision Business Goals Business Motivation Model Business Model Business Mission Business Planning Business Objective Business Strategy Business Goals Business Need Business Need Business Need Business Need Business Opportunity Business Opportunity Business Opportunity Business Opportunity Business Case Business Case Business Case
Work Breakdown
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