Enterprise Architecture

Enterprise architecture provides a strategic blueprint for aligning technology investments with business objectives. It helps organisations understand how their technology landscape supports business goals, identify gaps and redundancies, and create a coherent architecture that enables digital transformation.

What is Enterprise Architecture?

Enterprise architecture is a discipline that creates a comprehensive view of an organisation's technology landscape, showing how business capabilities, applications, data, and infrastructure work together to support business objectives.

Unlike solution architecture, which focuses on individual systems, enterprise architecture takes a holistic view, considering the entire technology ecosystem.

Business architecture alignment
Application portfolio rationalization
Technology standardization
Integration strategy

Problems

Problems Enterprise Architecture Addresses

Many organisations struggle with technology complexity, duplication, and misalignment with business objectives. Enterprise architecture helps address these challenges:

Technology silos and integration challenges
Unclear technology strategy
Redundant systems and increased costs
Compliance and governance gaps

Typical Outcomes

Clear Technology Roadmap

Strategic plan showing how technology investments align with business objectives

Reduced Complexity

Identification of opportunities to consolidate and simplify the technology landscape

Improved Decision-Making

Better-informed decisions about technology investments with clear understanding of costs and benefits

When Organisations Need Enterprise Architecture

Enterprise architecture is particularly valuable in these situations:

Digital transformation programmes
Merger or acquisition integration
Cost reduction initiatives
Regulatory compliance requirements
Technology modernisation

Financial services organisations, including banks, insurance companies, and payment providers, benefit from enterprise architecture as it helps them demonstrate regulatory compliance and ensure technology investments align with business objectives.

When

How Enterprise Architecture Relates to Other Services

Solution Architecture

Enterprise architecture defines the standards and principles that guide solution architecture

Architecture Governance

Enterprise architecture establishes the frameworks that governance processes use to evaluate decisions

Technology Strategy

Enterprise architecture provides the current state assessment that informs technology roadmaps

Cohesive Architecture's Approach

Practical & Actionable

We focus on creating practical, actionable architectures that organisations can use to guide technology decisions. We avoid creating documentation for its own sake, instead focusing on models and frameworks that support decision-making.

Collaborative & Strategic

We work collaboratively with stakeholders across business and technology functions, ensuring that enterprise architecture reflects business objectives and is understood and adopted by delivery teams.