Enterprise Architecture Quarter

Enterprise Architecture Quarter (hereinafter, the Quarter) is the third of four lectures of Project 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.

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.
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.
   • Engineering. The application of scientific principles to practical ends.
   • Market engineering.
6. Segmentation.
   • 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.
7. Core competency. An organization's major value-creating capability that determines its competitive weapons.
   • Competitive advantage. What sets an enterprise apart; its distinctive edge.
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. Context diagram. An analysis model that illustrates product scope by showing the system in its environment with the external entities (people and systems) that give to and receive from the system.
   • Context. The users, other systems and other features of the environment of the system that the system will interact with.
10. Exit strategy. This is how startup founders get rich. It's 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 VCs often develop an "exit strategy" while the company is still growing.
    • Exit strategy. A business strategy that seeks to withdraw an enterprise out of a particular business at the lowest cost and biggest gain.
    • 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.
11. Paradox theory. The theory that the key paradox in management is that there is no final status for an enterprise.

Roles

1. Data architect.
2. Knowledge engineer.
3. Entrepreneur. “An entrepreneur is an individual who accepts financial risks and undertakes new financial ventures. The word derives from the French “entre” (to enter) and “prendre” (to take), and in a general sense applies to any person starting a new project or trying a new opportunity.” (Source: wiseGEEK)
4. Intraprenuer. “Coined in the 1980s by management consultant Gifford Pinchot, intrapreneurs are used by companies that are in great need of new, innovative ideas. Today, instead of waiting until the company is in a bind, most companies try to create an environment where employees are free to explore ideas. If the idea looks profitable, the person behind it is given an opportunity to become an intrapreneur.” (Source: Investopedia) ‘Intrapreneurs’ hold many similar characteristics to ‘Entrepreneurs’ any may well leave their jobs to pursue a career as an entrepreneur. Companies seek out intrapreneurs to effect change within their organizations.
5. Lead investor. A venture capital firm or individual investor that organizes a specific round of funding for a company. The lead investor usually invests the most capital in that round. Also known as "leading the round."

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.
2. Scrum meeting. One of the following: story time, Sprint planning meeting, Sprint review meeting, Sprint retrospective, daily standup.
   • Sprint planning meeting. A working session held before the start of each sprint to reach a mutual consensus between the product owner's acceptance criteria and the amount of work the development team can realistically accomplish by the end of the sprint. The length of the sprint determines the length of the Sprint planning meeting, with two hours being equivalent to one week of the sprint. Using this formula, the Sprint planning meeting for a two-week sprint would last about four hours, although this can vary.
   • Daily standup. A brief communication and status-check session facilitated by the Scrum Master where Scrum teams share progress, report impediments, and make commitments for the current iteration or sprint. The Daily Scrum consists of a tightly focused conversation kept to a strict timeframe; the meeting is held at the same time, every day (ideally, in the morning), and in the same location. The Scrum task board serves as the focal point of the meeting. During the Daily scrum each team member answers three questions: (1) "What have I done since the last Scrum meeting? (i.e. yesterday)" (2) "What will I do before the next Scrum meeting? (i.e. today)" (3) "What prevents me from performing my work as efficiently as possible?"
   • Story time. A regular work session where items on the backlog are discussed, refined and estimated and the backlog is trimmed and prioritized.
   • Scrum of scrums. A meeting that is a scaling mechanism used to manage large projects involving Scrum multiple teams. A Scrum of Scrums is held to facilitate communication between teams that may have dependencies on one another. One member from each team attends the Scrum of Scrums to speak for the team—this could be the Scrum Master but may be any team member who can effectively relay information and handle questions or concerns for the team.
   • Sprint review meeting. A meeting that a Scrum team holds immediately following the completion of a sprint to review and demonstrate what the team has accomplished during the sprint. This meeting is attended by the product owner or customer, Scrum Master, Scrum team, and stakeholders. The Sprint review meeting is an informal meeting (no Powerpoint slides allowed). The length of the sprint determines the length of the Sprint review meeting, with one hour being equivalent to one week of the sprint. Using this formula, the Sprint planning meeting for a two-week sprint would last two hours, although this can vary.

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 Resource Planning Quarter.