7 Key Enterprise Architecture Metrics

Enterprise Architecture is still an emerging field. There are not many

organizations today that are effectively measuring their EA program with
metrics. Here are a few metrics that might work:

1. IT Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) as a Percentage

of Revenue
One of EA's value propositions is reducing costs by leveraging common
solutions and rationalizing processes, technology and data.
This metric is key to the business value achieved by the IT stack. It has
appeal to business stakeholders and allows IT costs to be compared with
industry or regional averages.
Example: The total cost of ownership of IT is 4.8% of revenue.

2. Total Cost Savings (TCS)

Often EA is able to achieve cost savings by:
- retiring a legacy system
- consolidating licensing
- introducing common shared services
- rationalizing infrastructure investment

etc...
If the EA team can deliver cost savings on a regular basis Total Cost
Savings is a meaningful metric for EA.
Example: EA initiatives saved the organization 5.2 million dollars this
quarter.

3. Percentage Of Spend That's Strategic (PSTS)

The EA team assesses all projects and designates them as tactical or strategic.
The percentage of the total IT spend that was considered strategic can then be
calculated using project budget information.
PSTS is a good predictor of the long term heath and efficiency of IT.
However, it may be of little interest to the business.
Example: 47% of project spending went to strategic projects this quarter.

4. Common Services Compliance Rate (CSCR)

Enterprise Architecture often defines common services such as ESB, BPM,
Infrastructure platforms etc... The CSCR measures the percentage of new
projects that are fully compliant with the common service roadmap.

Example: 67% of projects complied with EA's common service strategy this
year.

5. Architectural Due Diligence Rate (ADDR)

The percentage of projects that are fully compliant with the EA
governanceprocess. A EA governance process involves steps such as updating
EA blueprints, architectural reviews and macro design.
ADDR is a good metric for reporting violations of the EA process. It is often
helpful to report ADDR by business unit, technology silo or project manager
to highlight problem areas.
Example: 78% of operations department projects complied with EA
governance but only 12% of sales department projects were in compliance.

6. Sunset Technology (ST)

Percentage of the technology stack that is considered sunset by EA. Measures
IT's ability to introduce strategic technology and retire legacy systems.
Example: At the end of the year 54% of production systems were deemed
sunset technologies. This compares with 62% last year.

7. Business Specific

Manage EA with specific metrics aligned with your business strategy and
goals. Examples include:
- reducing time to market for launching new products
- reducing human error rates
- speeding up order delivery
- reducing IT costs
- reducing severity and frequency of security incidents
Example: average time to market for introducing a new product decreased
from 5.8 months last year to 4.9 months this year.
Significant and measurable business goals that require EA support make good
EA metrics.