Connect your process maps into one architecture
In your words: “We have hundreds of process maps but no map of how the organisation fits together”
- Enterprise process architecture
- Connected process maps
- Organisational navigability
Individual processes have been mapped, sometimes many times over, by different teams using different tools. What is missing is the layer above them: the connections between processes, owners, systems, information, risks and controls that would let anyone see how the organisation actually fits together.
A connecting layer of processes, owners, systems, information, risks and controls turns a folder of maps into an architecture.
Cross-functional questions, from ownership to change impact to regulatory obligation, are answered from one structure, and the maps you already have do more work.
A navigable enterprise process architecture connects the maps that already exist into one structure, so a process, a document, a system or a control can be selected and its relationships understood in either direction. In practical terms, that means starting from what has already been mapped rather than mapping everything again from scratch.
- One connected structure linking existing process maps instead of hundreds of disconnected diagrams
- The ability to start from a process, document, system or control and see everything it relates to
- A foundation for process governance that does not depend on someone remembering which map is current
- Faster, better-evidenced change-impact and ownership decisions
- A structure that supports digitalisation and automation instead of being bypassed by them
- How many separate process maps currently exist, and who could tell you that number with confidence?
- If a system changed tomorrow, how would you find every process map that depends on it?
- Do your process maps connect to each other, or does each one stop at its own boundary?
- Who is responsible for keeping the relationships between processes up to date, not just the processes themselves?
- If you picked one document or system today, could you trace every process that touches it?
Enterprise architecture applies architecture principles and practices to guide organizations through the business, information, process, and technology changes necessary to execute their strategies.
Wikipedia: Enterprise architecture
Enterprise Architecture (EA) identifies IT systems, applications, and processes and how the parts fit together.
Ardoq: What is Enterprise Architecture (EA)?