Enterprise Architecture Quarter

Enterprise Architecture Quarter (hereinafter, the Quarter) is the third of four lectures of Portfolio Quadrivium (hereinafter, the Quadrivium):

• The Quarter is designed to introduce its learners to enterprise design, or, in other words, to concepts related to creating architecture for achieving enterprise goals; and
• The Quadrivium examines concepts of administering various types of enterprises known as enterprise administration as a whole.

The Quadrivium is the first of seven modules of Septem Artes Administrativi, which is a course designed to introduce its learners to general concepts in business administration, management, and organizational behavior.

Lecture outline

The predecessor lecture is Feasibility Study Quarter.

Portfolio design is the enterprise design of the enterprise portfolio. This lecture concentrates on enterprise architecture because this architecture is the main outcome from this design.

Concepts

1. Enterprise architecture. A composition of the interrelated businesses, process assets, enterprise factors, and personnel that together are known as an enterprise.
   • Enterprise. An undertaking to create something and/or develop somebody, which takes some level of enterprise effort. In other words, an enterprise is one or more businesses unified in one system. An enterprise can also refer to an organizational unit, organization, or collection of organizations that share knowledge bases and other enterprise resources.
   • Sector. The market that a startup companies product or service fits into. Examples include: consumer technology, cleantech, biotech, and enterprise technology. Venture Capitalists tend to have experience investing in specific related sectors and thus tend not to invest outside of their area of expertise.
2. Enterprise business. The actual or potential practice of making enterprise's profit by engaging in commerce.
   • Business. (1) An individual's regular occupation, profession, or trade; (2) The practice of making one's profit by engaging in commerce.
   • Departmentalization. The basis by which jobs in an enterprise are grouped together.
3. Startup business (or, simply, startup). A business in its search of its business model or its ways of making money.
   • Startup. A startup company is a company in the early stages of operations. Startups are usually seeking to solve a problem of fill a need, but there is no hard-and-fast rule for what makes a startup. A company is considered a startup until they stop referring to themselves as a startup.
4. Operational business. Any business, which business model generates revenue.
5. Portfolio engineering. The application of scientific principles to designing and/or modifying of the enterprise portfolio.
   • Engineering. The application of scientific principles to practical ends.
   • Market engineering. The application of scientific principles to segmenting and/or development of the market.
6. Segmentation. Division into separate parts or sections. In enterprise administration, division of the broad market into separate sectors in order to establish one single business strategy for every of selected segments.
7. Information system. A structured, interacting, complex of persons, machines, and procedures designed to produce information which is collected from both internal and external sources for use as a basis for decision-making in specific contract/procurement actions.
   • Management information system (MIS)
   • Knowledge management system.
8. Innovation. Taking change ideas and turning them into new products, product features, production methods, pricing strategies, and ways of enterprise administration.
   • Sustaining innovation. Small and incremental changes in established products rather than dramatic breakthroughs.
   • Disruptive innovation (or disruption). Innovations in products or processes that radically change existing markets including an industry's rules of the game.
9. Exit strategy. A business strategy that seeks to withdraw an enterprise out of a particular business at the lowest cost and biggest gain. With regard to startup businesses, this is how their founders get rich. An exit strategy is the method by which an investor and/or entrepreneur intends to "exit" their investment in a company. Commons options are an IPO or buyout from another company. Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists often develop an exit strategy while the startup business is still growing.
   • Buyout. A common exit strategy. The purchase of a company's shares that gives the purchaser controlling interest in the company.
   • Liquidation. The process of dissolving a company by selling off all of its assets (making them liquid).
   • IPO. Initial public offering. The first time shares of stock in a company are offered on a securities exchange or to the general public. At this point, a private company turns into a public company (and is no longer a startup).
   • Harvesting. Exiting a venture when an entrepreneur hopes to capitalize financially on the investment in the future.

Roles

1. Data architect. A practitioner of the subset of enterprise architecture that helps to discover, analyze, design, and manage enterprise data.
2. Knowledge engineer. A professional engaged in the science of discovery, analysis, design, and implementation of knowledge management systems.
3. Enterprise architect. A practitioner of enterprise architecture.

Instruments

1. BCG matrix. A strategy tool that guides resource allocation decisions on the basis of market share and growth rate of strategic business units.
   • Strategic business unit. A single independent business of an organization that formulates its own competitive strategy.

Results

1. Enterprise portfolio. A collection of all businesses in which a particular enterprise is.
   • Portfolio. A range of investments held by a legal entity, an individual or organization.

Practices

The successor lecture is Iterative Development Quarter.