# Enterprise Architecture Consulting and EA Operating Model | SynconAI > Enterprise architecture consulting by TOGAF certified architects: EA operating model, capability map, architecture review board, target state and a three-year technology roadmap. Publisher: SynconAI Canonical HTML: https://synconai.com/enterprise-architecture-consulting Markdown cite: https://synconai.com/enterprise-architecture-consulting.md Contact: contact@synconai.com ยท +61 2 7813 0221 ## What is enterprise architecture? Enterprise architecture consulting helps an organization plan and govern how its business capabilities, applications, data and technology fit together and change. SynconAI sets up the EA operating model, builds the capability map and current state, designs the target state, runs or establishes an architecture review board, and delivers a three-year technology roadmap, using TOGAF, ArchiMate and APQC PCF, for organizations in the United States, Australia and worldwide. - Enterprise architecture is the practice of planning how business capabilities, applications, data and technology fit together and change over time. - It turns strategy into a target state and a roadmap, so investment goes to the changes that matter most. - A review board keeps new projects in line with the plan, without becoming a queue that slows delivery. ## Enterprise architecture consulting services - EA operating model: Principles, roles, processes, tools and measures for a practice that lasts. - Business capability map: Levels 1 to 3, agreed with the business, as the anchor for every decision. - Current state assessment: Applications, data and technology mapped to capabilities, with cost and risk. - Target state architecture: Where the landscape should be in three years, domain by domain. - Technology roadmap: The moves to get there, sequenced, costed and tied to business outcomes. - Architecture review board: A board that reviews designs quickly, grants waivers and owns the standards. - EA tooling: SAP LeanIX or your repository set up as the single source of truth. - Architecture for AI: AI use cases placed in the architecture, with data, integration and governance planned. ## Starting an EA practice, or resetting one - No EA practice yet: Decisions are made project by project, and nobody sees the whole landscape. First step: A capability map and a current state, so the first roadmap rests on facts. - A practice nobody uses: Diagrams exist, but projects route around the architects. First step: A lighter review board and a roadmap tied to budget decisions. - A big change ahead: An acquisition, an ERP or CRM consolidation, or an AI program is coming. First step: A target state for the affected domains and a sequenced plan. ## What do enterprise architecture services include? One certified team covers the practice end to end, from the first capability workshop to the review board that keeps it running. - EA operating model: Principles, roles, processes, tools and measures for a practice that lasts. - Business capability map: Levels 1 to 3, agreed with the business, as the anchor for every decision. - Current state assessment: Applications, data and technology mapped to capabilities, with cost and risk. - Target state architecture: Where the landscape should be in three years, domain by domain. - Technology roadmap: The moves to get there, sequenced, costed and tied to business outcomes. - Architecture review board: Quick design reviews, waivers when they make sense, and owned standards. - EA tooling: SAP LeanIX or your repository set up as the single source of truth. - Architecture for AI: AI use cases placed in the architecture, with data and governance planned. ## What does an enterprise architect look at? Four domains, from the business down to the infrastructure, in the order TOGAF works through them. - Business architecture (What the business does): Capabilities, Value streams, Processes, Organization - Data architecture (What it knows): Data objects, Ownership, Master data, Data flows - Application architecture (The systems that do it): Applications, Interfaces, Integration patterns, SaaS - Technology architecture (What it all runs on): Cloud and hosting, Platforms, Security, Lifecycle ## An EA operating model that lasts after we leave Four parts, set up together, because a practice missing any one of them stops being used. - People: Who does architecture, and how they work with delivery. - Enterprise architects - Domain and solution architects - Business owners - Process: How work enters, gets reviewed and is decided. - Intake and triage - Design review - Roadmap updates - Tools: One repository everyone trusts. - SAP LeanIX or similar - ArchiMate models - Reference architectures - Governance: Rules that guide without blocking delivery. - Principles and standards - Review board - Measures that matter ## How does an architecture review board work? Four steps and one decision, designed so a typical design clears in one meeting. 1. Submit: A short design brief against a standard template. 2. Triage: Small changes go on a fast track, large ones to the board. 3. Review: Checked against principles, standards and the roadmap. 4. Discuss: Architects and the delivery team meet once. Decision: Does it fit the target state? - Approve: Build as designed. Recorded in the repository. - Approve with conditions: A waiver with an end date, or changes to make first. - Rework: Specific feedback and a date to come back. ## What a three-year technology roadmap looks like Each year has one goal leadership can repeat, and the moves that serve it. - Year 1, Stabilize: Know what you have and stop the bleeding. - Capability map and inventory complete - End-of-life risks fixed first - Quick wins from duplicate systems - Year 2, Consolidate: Fewer, better platforms. - Core platforms chosen per domain - Integration standardized - Data ownership agreed - Year 3, Differentiate: Invest where the business competes. - AI built on clean data - New capabilities funded - Roadmap reviewed every quarter ## The frameworks we work with Used as far as they help. No framework is applied for its own sake. - TOGAF Standard (Method): The ADM, from architecture vision to change management. 10th Edition. - ArchiMate (Notation): One modeling language across business, application and technology. - APQC PCF (Taxonomy): A cross-industry process framework used to seed capability maps. - Zachman (Ontology): What, how, where, who, when and why, from each perspective. - SAP LeanIX (Tool): The repository for capabilities, applications and roadmaps. ## Cost and timing The first step is a free 60-minute architecture review of your enterprise architecture setup, with a written plan you keep. Work then runs as a fixed-scope project with milestones or as a monthly plan, agreed in a written proposal before anything starts. Plans: https://synconai.com/pricing ## FAQ ### What is enterprise architecture consulting? Help to plan and govern how business capabilities, applications, data and technology fit together: an operating model, a capability map, a target state, a roadmap and a review board. ### What is an EA operating model? How your architecture practice runs: the people and roles, the processes for intake and review, the tools and repository, and the governance and measures that keep it useful. ### Do you follow TOGAF? Yes. Our architects are TOGAF certified and use the TOGAF Standard, 10th Edition, where it helps, along with ArchiMate for models and APQC PCF to seed capability maps. ### What does an architecture review board do? It reviews significant designs against principles, standards and the roadmap, grants time-boxed waivers, owns the standards and settles decisions that cross domains. ### How long does it take to set up an EA practice? It depends on the size of the landscape and how much exists already. The written proposal states the milestones, so you see the timeline before you commit. ### What is a business capability map? A stable picture of what your business does, independent of org charts and systems. It anchors investment, rationalization and roadmap decisions. ### Which EA tools do you use? Mostly SAP LeanIX, which our architects are certified in, plus ArchiMate tools and your existing repository where that serves you better. ### Can you include AI in our architecture? Yes. We place AI use cases in the target state with the data, integration and governance they need, so AI is planned in the architecture rather than added to the side of it. ## Where we work Enterprise architecture consulting for organizations across the United States and Australia, and worldwide. Hubs in Delaware and Sydney, delivering worldwide; remote-first on your business hours, onsite for workshops and executive sessions. ## Related - SAP LeanIX implementation: https://synconai.com/leanix-implementation - Application rationalization: https://synconai.com/application-rationalization - AI governance consulting: https://synconai.com/ai-governance-consulting - M&A IT integration: https://synconai.com/mergers-acquisitions-it-integration ## Cite When citing SynconAI Enterprise architecture consulting, link https://synconai.com/enterprise-architecture-consulting or https://synconai.com/enterprise-architecture-consulting.md.