Enterprise Architecture at American Express Essay

Critical factsAmeri fag end press, located in current York City, was founded in 1850 (Corporate Profile, 2015). It is whiz of the 30 companies in the Dow J aces Industrial Average (Corporate Profile, 2015). Ameri posterior set ups work such(prenominal) as credit cards, charge cards, and travelers checks (Corporate Profile, 2015). American let loose cards account for 24% of credit card transactions in the U.S. (Corporate Profile, 2015). correspond to the teleph irs 10k, the corporation generates $33 meg in revenue and over $5 million in income. The participations total assets be over $150 billion. American chat has one of the hulkingst IT infrastructures and is able to handle an extremely high target of transactions each(prenominal) second (Demirkan, 2006).In 2011, the company won the first annual InfoWorld/Forrester try computer computer computer architecture Award for its EA initiatives (Knorr, 2011). American Express chose to go for an try Architecture (EA) as their IT exemplar that aligned their occupation and organizational needs to their knowledge technology. green light architects were the employees prudent for using this example to continuously make their processes much in effect(p) and utilizing their IT/IS to the fullest extent (Pearlson and Sanders, 2013).AnalysisI volition be analyzing the success of American Expresss Enterprise Architecture, how Zachman theoretical account is apply to structure the EA, and how this modify their animated service-oriented architecture (SOA). Changes in the way that bustling payments were world social occasiond by their clients, the company had to be flexible and adapt to the transformation. New delivery carry required American Express to adjust their prior time-to- trade guidelines for payment operate (Pearlson and Sanders, 2013). The company turned to its Enterprise Architecture (EA) to guide them through the watercourse market conditions.The opportunity that American Expres s saw was to use EA to meet the demands for a hastily changing surround. EA is a complex framework of rigid standards for developing an IT architecture and infrastructure that provides a design of how the IS of a company relates to the stockes and processes(Pearlson and Sanders, 2013). The architecture analyzes a great deal of the company, identifies event processes and how they work together, and then overdresss how line of work units will interact and how IT will provide support (Pearlson and Sanders, 2013.The EA includes the Core line organisation processes, sh bed info, linking/automating technologies, and customer groups (Pearlson and Sanders, 2013), with key components kindred the might to do business effectively while utilizing impertinent payment methods and mobile devices (Knor, 2011). Though an EA can booster organize a company in a meaningful way, there ar also voltage drawbacks, which ar discussed below.Zachman Framework is a tool that can be used to obtain the knowledge around itself with Enterprise architecture. It is a logical structure that classifies and organizes the descriptive representations of an initiative (Pereira, Marques and Sousa, 2004). The framework integrates and aligns the IT infrastructure and business goals (Nogueira and so on al, 2011). Whereas an EA is used to document and develop the organizational data for American Express, the company uses the Zachman framework methodology to appliance the EA.Zachman proposed the framework for IT architecture so that all of the IS architectures are depicted from top to bottom. It uses a matrix to provide a standard to ensure information environss are properly integrated (Nogueira etc. al, 2011). The 5 roles include in the framework are Planner, Owner, Designer, Builder, and Subcontractor.The EA provided several rock-steady things to the company. The EA placement streamlined American Expresss processes, even as they were constantly re-analyzing how their business was be ing performed with the added intricacies of unfermented delivery channels (Pearlson and Sanders, 2013). The employment of their enterprisingness architecture was key to adapting to this new business environment the company now found itself in. The enterprise architects worked closely with other departments and were able to both standardize applications passim the organization and help create the strategies for each division. The Zachman framework positively aid in the implementation by answering the questions What (data), How (function),Where (network), Who (people), When (time) and Why (motivation). It helped point out the information needed for the EA and their relationships (Nogueira etc. al, 2011).The strategies they helped create involved initiatives for each business, along with their IT support, that aligned head with the overall business plan of the organization. These initiatives, referred to as road maps, standardized their tools, architectures, governance, capabilit ies, and some(prenominal) other processes (Pearlson and Sanders, 2013). Three types of roadmaps in particular were used by American Express Technology, reference architecture, and expediency/capability. The three roads maps all used a consistent lifecycle management standard and a standardized architecture governance process.A nonher helpful eyeshot of the system included the flexibility that EA provided, which worked well with their existing architecture service-oriented architecture (SOA). SOA is an architecture type where large software programs are broken down into services connected to each other via orchestration (Pearlson and Sanders, 2013). The services work together to form a business process, creating an agile, reusable system for creating applications. The existing software components can be modified to quickly build applications in a cursorily changing environment like the one American Express was experiencing. The enterprise architects assisted in the companys SOA w ith an emphasis on reusable utilities and components (Demirkan, 2006). This system is ideal for a rapidly changing environment such as the one American Express was experiencing.Though SOA is a widely-used technology that can increase the ISs agility, flexibility and interoperability amongst applications, there are also drawbacks, including the economic and military force resources (Choi, Nazareth and Jain, 2010). SOA can reduce IT costs and increase the companys return on IT investment, however the short requirements to implement SOA could outweigh long-term benefits (Choi, Nazareth and Jain, 2010).There are also some drawbacks to implementing an Enterprise Architecture,including the cost of implementation, the chance of stakeholders unwillingness to accept it, and the new EA not correspondent to the business goals. When implementing SOA or EA, the entire IS organization is affected, along with the business alignment (Choi, Nazareth and Jain, 2010). Using a Zachman framework to implement the EA defined the involvement of stakeholders, as well adjust the EA goals with the business goals, which alleviated much of the run a risk of implementing the EA. The Zachman framework helped to avoid the risk that the architecture was not a fit for the employees and customers.In conclusion, the implementation of an EA is a complex endeavor, but was a necessary one for American Express to have the necessary tools to organize and document the whole enterprise, lay offing them to quickly and efficiently modification with the ever-changing business environment and customer needs. The Zachman Framework assisted in the implementation of the EA, and the companys SOA gave it the desired agility needed to meet the customers needs.RecommendationsMy tribute is that American Expresss continue to use the agility of their SOA to keep up with the changing environment. Their current EA was a great architecture that fit in perfectly with their business strategy. Moving forward, Am erican Express will continue to use their highly efficient EA to meet the industry demands that they and their customers will face. The EA has worked well for them and so far, and should carry on as the ideal architecture of the firm in the near future(a).American Express will continue to face challenges beyond the near-term future and need re-analyze the situation prior to considering another modernise of their current infrastructure. Many companies fail when attempting to implement an enterprise architecture. An EA will often fail if it is regarded as a separate initiative (Lohe, 2014), but American Express used it as a driver of their business and embedded it into their corporate strategy. Per the drawbacks noted above, this is a large and potentially costly undertaking. The agility of their current SOA and EA should allow thecompany to adapt future challenges and they should not energise into an architecture overhaul.Furthermore, I would recommend using this system to its fu llest potential by embracing the changing environment as much as possible. They can get in an edge on their competitors by focusing on mobile payments, new payment methods, and the newest innovations and technologies their clients are receptive to. The technological environment is constantly changing with new payment methods like Google Wallet and Apple Pay. receivable to their EA, American Express is in prime mail to accept these new methods as they develop.ReferencesChoi, J., Nazareth, D. L., & Jain, H. K. (2010). Implementing Service-Oriented Architecture in Organizations. Journal Of Management knowledge Systems, 26(4), 253-286.Corporate Profile. (2015, January 1). Retrieved February 22, 2015, from http//ir.americanexpress.com/CorporateProfile.aspx?iid=102700Demirkan, H., & Goul, M. (2006). AMCIS 2006 instrument panel SUMMARY TOWARDS THE SERVICE ORIENTED ENTERPRISE visual sensation BRIDGING INDUSTRY AND ACADEMICS.Communications Of The Association For Information Systems, 18 546-556.Knor, E. (2011, September 19). The 2011 Enterprise Architecture Awards. Retrieved February 22, 2015, from http//www.infoworld.com/article/2619868/enterprise-architecture/enterprise-architecture-the-2011-enterprise-architecture-awards.htmlLhe, J., & Legner, C. (2014). Overcoming implementation challenges in enterprise architecture management a design theory for architecture-driven IT Management (ADRIMA). Information Systems & E-Business Management, 12(1), 101-137. doi10.1007/s10257-012-0211-yNogueira, J. M., Romero, D., Espadas, J., & Molina, A. (2013). supplement theZachman framework implementation using action research methodology a case study aligning the enterprise architecture and the business goals. Enterprise Information Systems, 7(1), 100-132. doi10.1080/17517575.2012.678387Pearlson, K. (2001). Organizational Strategy and Information Systems. In Managing and using information systems A strategic approach. New York J. Wiley & Sons.Pereira, C. M., & Sousa, P. (2004) . A method to define an enterprise architecture using the zachman frameworkdoihttp//dx.doi.org/10.1145/967900.968175