Please read this scenario prior to answering the question
Your role is that of a consultant to the Lead Enterprise Architect to an international supplier of
engineering services and automated manufacturing systems. It has three manufacturing plants
where it assembles both standard and customized products for industrial production
automation. Each of these plants has been operating its own planning and production
scheduling systems, as well as applications and control systems that drive the automated
production line.
The Enterprise Architecture department has been operating for several years and has mature,
well-developed architecture governance and development processes that are based on the
TOGAF Standard. The CIO sponsors the Enterprise Architecture.
During a recent management meeting, a senior Vice-President highlighted an interview where
a competitor company's CIO is reported as saying that their production efficiency had been
improved by replacing multiple planning and scheduling systems with a common Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) system located in a central data center. Some discussion followed,
with the CIO responding that the situations are not comparable, and the current architecture is
already optimized.
In response, the Architecture Board approved a Request for Architecture Work covering the
investigations to determine if such an architecture transformation would lead to improvements
in efficiency. You have been assigned to support the architecture team working on this project.
A well-known concern of the plant managers is about the security and reliability of driving their
planning and production scheduling from a remote centralized system. Any chosen system
would also need to support the current supply chain network consisting of local partners at
each of the plants.
Refer to the scenario
You have been asked to explain how you will initiate the architecture project.
Based on the TOGAF Standard, which of the following is the best answer?
The best answer is C. You would hold a series of interviews at each of the manufacturing plants using the business scenarios technique. This will allow you to understand the systems and integrations with local partners. You would use stakeholder analysis to identify key players in the engagement, and to understand their concerns. You will then identify and document the key high-level stakeholder requirements for the architecture. You will then generate high level definitions of the baseline and target architectures.
Establish the architecture project
Identify stakeholders, concerns, and business requirements
Confirm and elaborate business goals, business drivers, and constraints
Evaluate business capabilities
Assess readiness for business transformation
Define scope
Confirm and elaborate Architecture Principles, including business principles
Develop Architecture Vision
Define the Target Architecture value propositions and KPIs
Identify the business transformation risks and mitigation activities
Secure stakeholder and sponsor approval
The other answers are not the best approach for architecture development, because:
Answer A focuses on researching vendor literature and conducting briefings with vendors, which is not the best way to understand the business needs and the current situation of the enterprise. Answer A also defines a preliminary Architecture Vision without involving the stakeholders or validating the requirements, which may lead to misalignment and lack of consensus.
Answer B conducts a pilot project that will enable vendors to demonstrate potential solutions, which is premature and costly at this stage of the architecture project. Answer B also does not address the stakeholder concerns or the current systems and integrations, which may result in gaps and risks. Answer B also develops the requirements after the pilot project, which may not reflect the actual business needs and goals.
Answer D develops baseline and target architectures for each of the manufacturing plants, which may not consider the enterprise-wide perspective and the potential benefits of a common ERP system. Answer D also does not involve the stakeholders or address their concerns, which may result in resistance and conflict. Answer D also does not define the business case or the performance metrics, which are essential for demonstrating the value and feasibility of the architecture.
Currently there are no comments in this discussion, be the first to comment!