An architectural approach to digital transformation needs to address two main aspects. There is the ability to support the various capabilities and initiatives within the organisation, and the enterprise architecture management capability consisting of the maintenance and administration of enterprise architecture. Some organisations focus exclusively on a framework and the creation of a model, to the detriment of providing support for other needs and roles in the enterprise.

The emphasis of enterprise architecture should be on outcomes and the views required by non-architects. It is important that enterprise architecture embodies the principles of triple-loop learning and caters for “decide what is right,” “doing the right things,” and “doing things right.” Organisations should look to develop current and future architectures expressing this information through views in ways that all stakeholders can quickly and easily assimilate and assess. These architectures can be used to provide views in the language that stakeholders are most comfortable with, be that a humble pie chart, roadmap, or dashboard.

The approach should provide the essential views for the communication, interpretation, and implementation of value drivers throughout the organisation and enable the transformation to a service-centric IT environment. This can be achieved through the creation of a number of interconnected architectural views, with the various models breaking the enterprise down into manageable areas and different levels of abstraction, usually including strategic, conceptual, logical, and technical.

Organisations are becoming more reliant on technology to facilitate decision-making and transformation, placing greater emphasis on better understanding the many components that make up the business. The creation of views defining business information and processes gives a much-improved insight into how the business operates, enabling effective utilisation of organisational assets, resources, and people through the ability to make better-informed decisions, which in turn improves efficiency.