Technology spending is increasing in the United States and globally. Gartner projects a 6.2% increase in 2021 to $3.9 trillion dollars in technology spending, driven by an 8.8% increase in spending on enterprise software. Companies are automating development, business processes and manual elements of jobs as part of their business optimization initiatives, but how do you ensure that you are truly optimizing and getting the best value out of your technology? How do you ensure there are no technology redundancies or gaps in your technology capabilities? Business Architecture can help you prepare use cases for new technology and ensure you get the most value out of your new tools.
Optimize Technology Stacks by aligning Business with IT
Before investing in new technology, you must determine what capabilities you can replace or automate. Business Architecture helps you better understand your organization’s capabilities and value chains, so you can trace business value to the tools you are considering and identify gaps to address. Automation technology is often implemented to carrying out a function more efficiently, but if new efficiency isn’t aligned to and creating business value, efficiency doesn’t matter.
Customization is Key to Value
Organizations often buy new technologies but can’t customize them effectively. If you do not optimally customize new technology to meet your organization’s goals, capabilities and regulatory requirements, you are not receiving the most value. Business Architecture maps your unique capabilities and needs so you can optimally customize new tools to achieve business value.
Understand Use Cases First
Organizations also tend to buy technology first, then find Use Cases for it. Is your team prepared to develop or implement Use Cases before deciding which technology to buy? Business Architecture helps you identify gaps in your capabilities, create the Use Case and align it to your value streams before selecting the technology to buy. You create the use case by looking at your Business Architecture first, which helps you avoid buying technology without understanding how to effectively use it or if it is the right fit for your needs.
You must have a solid Business Architecture and understanding of your business model before you bring in a systems integrator or technology vendor like Appian, Pega or Salesforce. To get the most out of your technology spend, your teams must understand the Business Architecture, how the new technology aligns to business value and how to customize it to meet your specific needs before you decide how to proceed down the technology path.
Watch our on-demand webinar, Business Architecture: Gain the Clarity Needed for Successful Transformations, where xScion’s CTO Mason Chaudhry and Business Process Management expert Ivan Blinov explain how Business Architecture can help you understand how to optimize your technology stack to deliver efficient, effective solutions to your customers.
