Issue #16 [June 05-June 09]
Enterprise Master Plan: Not a Playground for Snakes and Ladders
Last week, we introduced different business planning terms. This week, we will introduce the Enterprise Master Plan concept, the first step in strategic planning and orientation towards enterprise governance. The Enterprise Master Plan is the master key that guides an enterprise towards the organizational operational process workflow. Its implementation represents the project/service/consulting project opportunity that enables business effectiveness whilst utilizing technology innovation. The Enterprise Master Plan is the strategic abstraction of the philosophy in practice. The PERA Master plan is one of the basic requirements for any successful enterprise architecture program implementation.
Enterprise Master Plan Concept
The Enterprise Master Plan is the most important recipe for any successful enterprise implementation. Therefore, this concept is the fundamental prerequisite for any enterprise leadership thought. The following table simplifies the steps of enterprise master planning:
The following diagram depicts the concepts of the Enterprise Master Plan:
The diagram represents the PERA Master Plan in an easy and digestive fashion. This master plan provides actual nutrients that ensure a healthy growth for your enterprise.
Enterprise Master Planning Process: Learn the Grammar of Strategic Planning
The Enterprise Master Planning Process is the foundation for any enterprise integration program. It helps us identify economically opportunistic strategic planning and consulting areas. It emphasizes the planning process within any enterprise as an iterative cycle, as shown in the following diagram:
The PERA master plan helps your enterprise follow the evolution cycle based on lessons learnt from different enterprise implementations and provides a solid portfolio foundation for your enterprise.
Master planning benefits
The PERA Master Plan is the basis of the Enterprise Master Planning Process. It rightly says: “Every program of an enterprise integration or systems engineering project should start with the preparation of a master plan outlining the specifications of the proposed program or project, its schedule, its benefits, its risks, etc.” [PERA]
In the current enterprise domain, players concentrate on various strategic planning concepts to guide the industry towards a successful future, similar to making a baby learn walking with a walker. They do so using the PERA Master plan, the right planning method, and the Enterprise Master plan.
“The Master Plan is that document which gives Enterprise Management the fullest possible details of the proposed project's potential benefits, risks, costs, schedule, and specifications just before major project funding must be instituted for program detailed development and final completion. Thus, management has the chance for major study of the potentials of the proposed program with minimal necessary expenditures and the maximum possible confidence of the projections of the study before making the necessary decision to go ahead or halting the project or program.” [PERA]
The following diagram shows five different windows fitted with different futurescope for a visionary architecture:
The Enterprise Master Plan can be considered the miracle capsule to complete strategic planning and the enterprise governance process within your enterprise. We will elaborate on these perspectives in future discussions. The enterprise master plan helps us understand the ‘To Be’ state of enterprise architecture on the basis of the ‘Was’ and ‘As is’ states, while considering the features and economic benefits of the ‘Should Be’ and ‘Could Be’ states. The Enterprise Master Plan, therefore, acts as a visionary tool, helping enterprise leaders work on the right enterprise strategic landscape.
Conclusion
This week, we have strengthened our preliminary knowledge on building the foundation for enterprise strategic planning. In the next issue, we will throw open the secret windows to the beauty of the Enterprise Master Plan concept.
References
- PERA AND GERAM--ENTERPRISE REFERENCE ARCHITECTURES IN ENTERPRISE INTEGRATION by Theodore J. Williams, Institute for Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies, Purdue University and Hong Li, Senior Consultant, Claremont Technology Group, Inc
- [PERA] A HANDBOOK ON MASTER PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION FOR ENTERPRISE INTEGRATION PROGRAMS Based On The Purdue Enterprise Reference Architecture and the Purdue Methodology Purdue Laboratory for Applied Industrial Control Edited by Theodore J. Williams, Gary A. Rathwell, Hong Li. February 2001 (Revised from July 1999 PERA website version)
- http://www.pera.net
