FinCorp Case Study: Implementing Enterprise Architecture Solutions

This report presents a case study of FinCorp, a mid-size financial company, focusing on the implementation of Enterprise Architecture (EA). It explores the concepts of data and information architecture, emphasizing how a newly implemented EA system is the optimal choice for FinCorp. The report details the benefits of specialized software tools in supporting business continuity plans within the EA context, highlighting the role of audit and compliance standards in informed decision-making among stakeholders. Furthermore, it examines how the new tool contributes to achieving the original objectives of the EA initiative, specifically improving business and IT alignment. The analysis covers various aspects, including data management, IT infrastructure, risk and disaster management, and the facilitation of strategic decision-making. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of EA for organizations, particularly in aligning business and IT, supporting business continuity, and ensuring effective IT governance. This document is a valuable resource for students looking for information on enterprise architecture implementation and business development strategies.

INDIVIDUAL REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIM BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Concept of data and information architecture and ways in which newly implemented EA is the
best option for FinCorp................................................................................................................1
Ways in which new installed specialized software tool for enterprise architecture would
support continuity plans in the context of EA.............................................................................2
Role of audit and compliance standards in EA and ways in which newly implemented software
tool would facilitate informed decision-making among business stakeholders in FinCorp........3
Ways in which newly installed tool would contribute to achieving the original objectives of
the EA initiative to improve business and IT alignment.............................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REREFENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Enterprise Architecture is a kind of proper and well- defined practise with the help of
which practise for enterprise IT design can be conducted. Enterprise Architecture is majorly used
for maintenance of alignment between business concerns and IT (Hansen and Hacks, 2017). EA
practises are majorly used by organizations so that these practises can guide designing and
planning process of IT capabilities of an organization in order to meet and fulfil desired
objectives of the organization. There are various kinds of EA enterprise software’s that can be
used by organizations that can further help a business in continuity plans in the context of EA.
This report will focus on a case study of FinCorp mid-size financial company and will lay
emphasis upon information and data architecture concept, ways in which EA can be
implemented within FinCorp, ways in which EA system can be installed within the organization,
role of audit and compliance standards in EA and its contribution in achieving objectives of the
company.
MAIM BODY
Concept of data and information architecture and ways in which newly implemented EA is the
best option for FinCorp
Data architecture can be defined as collection, storage and data movement within an
organization whereas information architecture helps in interpreting individual data points into a
meaningful and usable information. Data architecture is a component of information architecture
and is majorly concerned with using and designing a data in a well- defined and structured
manner so that it can be used in by the organization in an appropriate manner (Hinkelmann and
et. al., 2016). It further helps in providing a support to the organization so that they can achieve
their objectives in a proper and appropriate manner. It includes data modelling, design, and
development to support business process needs in an appropriate manner. It is one of the best
ways though which business organizations can manage their information assets and all the other
IT capabilities. Data and information architecture is one of the main factor which is required by
organizations to be focused on as data and information architecture helps companies to combine
their resources into structure so that information can be captured, shared, analysed, utilized, and
governed within an enterprise with reliability, transparency and confidence.
Enterprise architecture is a kind of a process by which organizations organize and
standardize their IT infrastructure in such a manner that it aligns with their business goals
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(Pucihar and et. al., 2018). There are various kinds of tools and software’s that can be used by
organizations for bringing adjustments and transparency within their business activities as per the
changing circumstances of the business. It further helps in supporting digital transformation,
transparency in IT infrastructure, IT growth, modernisation of IT as per their needs and
requirements. The newly implemented EA is one of the best options for Fincorp because of
various kinds of reasons. It will help the organization to manage their complexity and constant
changes also would also help their business to align it towards a common goal. It will further
help in enhancing their IT alignments as per the needs of the business so that further
transparency within IT investments as per the organizational requirements can be increased. It
will also work as a collaborative and communication interface (Shanks and et. al., 2018). It will
also help FinCorp to guide organization’s business requirements with IT technology in a proper
manner. It will further help the organization in bringing improvement within their overall
structure, increase transparency and will also reduce overall cost or expenditure that
organizations do on their IT technologies.
Ways in which new installed specialized software tool for enterprise architecture would support
continuity plans in the context of EA
A business can be viewed as a kind of system that comprises of a set of processes. It is
further made up of series of task. Business Continuity plan can be defined as a kind of process
which is involved in creation of system of prevention and recovery of all kinds of potential
threats to a company. This plan helps in ensuring that both personnel and assets are protected and
are able to function quickly in any kind of situation. Implementation of new EA software tool
involved can help a business in in matching their IT resources with each task in each process as
per the need’s ad requirements of the business. It would further help business in matching all of
their personal resources (including IT resources) with each and every task. Continuity plan
requires a holistic approach in which several technologies and organizational aspects are
considered (Safari, Faraji and Majidian, 2016). Implementation of enterprise architecture helps in
supporting the organization with a holistic information security risk approach. The new software
will map all the business continuity requirements so that the developed plan can be placed in
response efficiently to any disruptive business event. The main continuity plan for FinCorp is to
reduce growing problem and non- transparency of IT can be reduced. This will further help them
to increase alignment of IT with business. New implemented EA software will majorly help
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FinCorp to enhance their risk and disaster management associated with non- transparency within
IT technology. It will further provide an ability to FinCorp to prioritize their investment as per
their needs and requirements. Enterprise Architecture helps companies to make it easier to
evaluate their existing architecture with their pre- defined pre- defined goals. It establishes a
process of evaluation of IT technology and provides a comprehensive view of IT architecture and
business units associated with the business related to IT (Dang and Pekkola, 2017). New
implemented software will also provide a benchmarking framework so that obtained
results can be compared with their organizational standards. The main continuity plan of the
business addresses four main areas withy the help of the newly implemented EA software: first is
interruption of IT services, reducing excessive usage of third-party products, reduce disruption in
the workplace. Out of all EA software would majorly support the continuity plan with the help of
its EA life-cycle. New implemented EA software tool will have its own set of vision as per the
need as requirement of the business. The as per the requirements baseline of the architecture is
set which helps in driving business goals and strategies in order to attract more opportunities to
for growth and development of a business. EA implementation also helps in development of a
disaster and mitigation plan which will further helps in increasing effective relationship between
IT technologies and business and lastly it is continuously governed and monitored so that
business can grow effectively.
Role of audit and compliance standards in EA and ways in which newly implemented software
tool would facilitate informed decision-making among business stakeholders in FinCorp
The main role of audit is to check whether all the enterprise architecture principles and
processes are well-defined and meet the current needs of the organizations and are aligned with
whole-of-government enterprise approach (Lange, Mendling and Recker, 2016). Role of audit in
EA are: to check whether there is adequate governance structure in place that supports planning
and decision making related to EA. There is an effective implementation and development
process in place in order to maintain alignment between business need and their IT
infrastructure. Another role of Audit is to check and evaluate EA software tool performance and
analyse whether they are as per the expected outcomes and benefits of the organization of not.
Role of compliance standards in EA helps in explaining ability of enterprise with the help of new
Enterprise architecture software so that organization can react to changing environment of
business. It also helps in checking whether business applies all kinds of laws and regulations that
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they are required to follow. Compliance standards in enterprise architecture also helps in
evaluating organization’s internal plans, policies, and standards, organization’s internal practices
and other kinds of public standards (Foorthuis and et. al., 2016). EA compliance standards have
both internal and external aspects: internal EA compliance refers to ensuring that investments
that are conformant with EA and its policies and guidelines, whereas, External EA compliance
conformant with the business objectives and strategies. It further helps in ensuring that
organization moves towards their target objectives by complying with EA standards and
practises.
Enterprise Architecture helps in managing investment issues within an organization,
increases transparency in usage of IT infrastructure within an organization. The newly
implemented EA software tool would facilitate informed decision-making among business
stakeholders in FinCorp in many different ways such as: It helps in building awareness actively.
It helps in identifying all kinds of architectural issues faced by the organization with their main
issues and problems. It will help the stakeholders to gain an understanding of live abstract lines
and situations which further helps them in providing support to their decision making. It helps in
developing an investment portfolio which includes all the ongoing projects of the company so
that decision making related to investment can be done appropriately and trust can be developed
(Jallow and et. al., 2017). It also helps in illustrating real and man problems faced by the
organization and also helps in identifying various kinds of solution to it.
Ways in which newly installed tool would contribute to achieving the original objectives of the
EA initiative to improve business and IT alignment
Enterprise Architecture can help an organization to propose a solution so that business can be
aligned with the problem associated with IT technology. EA facilitates information system
planning and also helps in bringing improvement within business and IT technology. EA closely
maintain business strategies with EA methodologies so that decision making can be enhanced
and original objectives of the organizations can be achieved. EA initiatives also help in
documenting organizational business strategy, strategic vision, goals and objective so that this
information can be further used enhancing relationship between IT alignments and business in a
proper and effective manner. EA initiatives also help in developing business strategies which is
purely based upon EA efforts and its perspectives (Vargas and et. al., 2016). Enterprise
architecture software tools are extremely important for FinCorp in prioritizing business
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objectives as per their needs and requirements. It provides a big picture of IT and business
alignment to the stakeholders so that they can take required and effective decisions which is
fruitful for the organization. It fastens the decision- making process of organizational
stakeholders so that long- term desired objectives can be achieved. It can also increase
productivity and creativity of an organization so that their pre- defined objectives can be
achieved in an appropriate manner (Yildiran, Kilic and Sennaroglu, 2018). Effective use of EA
software will also support all the business process activities with further helps in managing
information storage and retrieval in support of the enterprise objectives. It further leads to bring
automation within business processes to bring improvement and enhancement within their
efficiency so that all the risk associated with business process can be reduced. This can help a
business organization to achieve their desired objectives.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been identified that Enterprise architecture is one of the
main factors which is required by an organization to focus on. As it helps them in many ways
such as building relationship between business and IT technologies. Proper and effective
implementation of EA software tool helps an organization to support their business continuity
plan. It has been analysed that both audit and compliance standards of enterprise architecture are
important as both of them helps in implementing EA software with the business in such a manner
that it can support decision making done by business stakeholders of an organization. With the
help of the software organization can bring improvement within their alignment between
business and IT so that original desired objectives of an organization can be achieved in a proper
and appropriate manner.
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REREFENCES
Books and Journals
Dang, D.D. and Pekkola, S., 2017. Systematic Literature Review on Enterprise Architecture in
the Public Sector. Electronic Journal of e-Government. 15(2).
Foorthuis, R., and et. al., 2016. A theory building study of enterprise architecture practices and
benefits. Information Systems Frontiers.s 18(3). pp.541-564.
Hansen, P. and Hacks, S., 2017. Continuous delivery for enterprise architecture
maintenance. Full-scale Software Engineering/The Art of Software Testing. 56.
Hinkelmann, Kand et. al., 2016. A new paradigm for the continuous alignment of business and
IT: Combining enterprise architecture modelling and enterprise ontology. Computers in
Industry. 79. pp.77-86.
Jallow, A.K., and et. al., 2017. An enterprise architecture framework for electronic requirements
information management. International Journal of Information Management. 37(5).
pp.455-472.
Lange, M., Mendling, J. and Recker, J., 2016. An empirical analysis of the factors and measures
of Enterprise Architecture Management success. European Journal of Information
Systems. 25(5). pp.411-431.
Pucihar, A., and et. al., 2018. Managing Complexity of Digital Transformation with Enterprise
Architecture.
Safari, H., Faraji, Z. and Majidian, S., 2016. Identifying and evaluating enterprise architecture
risks using FMEA and fuzzy VIKOR. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing. 27(2).
pp.475-486.
Shanks, G., and et. al., 2018. Achieving benefits with enterprise architecture. The Journal of
Strategic Information Systems. 27(2). pp.139-156.
Vargas, A., and et. al., 2016. Towards the development of the framework for inter sensing
enterprise architecture. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing. 27(1). pp.55-72.
Yildiran, P., Kilic, H.S. and Sennaroglu, B., 2018. Collaborative system approach for enterprise
engineering and enterprise architecture: a literature review. In Enhancing Competitive
Advantage With Dynamic Management and Engineering (pp. 138-216). IGI Global.
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