Sparx Services CE: EAM as knowledge hub

In a self-critical statement Hannes Lischka remarks that "making people happy" as the goal of his EAM strategy is probably formulated too generally. However, since he sees EAM as the "supreme discipline in IT management" following Professor Florian Matthes from the Technical University of Munich, he focuses on the people involved: "My goal is to combine EAM with the New Work approach. For me, it’s all about dealing with EAM and the associated topics in a human way in order to be able to really succeed with it". In addition, in view of the increasing complexity, EAM can also be used to strengthen resilience, i.e. the ability to react quickly and flexibly to unexpected events (e.g. the introduction of the new European data protection regulation).

Enterprise Architect is also a very popular tool for Lischka in the EAM environment to model and better understand problems. The platform offers many methods as well as the important central database and has recently made a significant step towards the management level through the joint venture with Prolaborate.

Peter Lieber, founder of Sparx Services CE: "We are delighted that Dr. Hannes Lischka has dedicated himself entirely to the topic of EAM and is also using Enterprise Architect. In the complex EAM environment, the right tools as well as profound knowledge of methods and modelling languages are the central starting points for success in addition to people".

Connect EAM with New Work

The New Work concept goes back to Frithjof H. Bergmann and aims to give people more freedom of action, especially in their jobs. "Independence, freedom and participation in community are the central values in this new paradigm. Especially in the digital change it is most important to give work a meaningful change", says Lischka.

With regard to the benefits of EAM in companies, Lischka understands this to mean, for example, promoting cooperation on projects. To this end, jointly defined terms are important in order to facilitate the discussion with different participants. Radical transparency helps to get straight to the point: "The key to connecting people and products is simplicity and radical transparency!“ The EAM specialist considers DevOps belly shops to be useful for the developers, which on the one hand offer many degrees of freedom and on the other hand also provide help.

Only from the skilful combination of all these prerequisites could courageous innovative products be created, which also bring considerable advantages for the users.

Thinking in long periods of time

In his 20 years of IT experience, Lischka has recognised that the greatest benefit is achieved when a culture of authenticity, empathy and mindfulness prevails in the company. To achieve this, it should be clear to everyone involved that EAM is a discipline that must be large and long-term. After all, the entire life cycle of applications is at stake, and this requires ambitious goals and visions. "Today, very few enterprise architects can tell you what the total cost of an application really is or what the quality of the application is like. The following questions, for example, should be answered: Does the application still serve its purpose? When does the application need to be redesigned or even replaced?" It therefore makes sense to start an in-depth evaluation halfway through the life of an application in order to plan a successor in good time.

EAM as knowledge hub

Since EAM is becoming the data and knowledge hub ("single point of truth") in companies, it is important to get an overview of the existing portfolio step by step. Lischka recommends starting with a simple list of applications and then slowly expanding this into a portfolio with the qualitative characteristics of the artifacts. A further step towards better use of existing resources is the identification of "shared services". Topics such as document, content and identity management or single sign-on solutions are popular. "For me, a common understanding as well as the observation of the spread of these shared applications shows very well the maturity of a company with regard to EAM."

Ultimately, Lischka calls for the courage to always do things differently from the way they have been done up to now: "With the spirit of New Work and an understanding of EAM adapted to the company, it will be possible to achieve success with the "supreme discipline in IT management" and generate great benefits for all those involved."

The five success factors in the introduction of EAM

• Acting courageously and responsibly with confidence
• Putting people at the centre
• Allow open discussion and participation
• (EAM) goals pursuing consciously
• Thinking in long periods of time

Meet Sparx Services Central Europe in Vienna:
24 September, Vienna, EuroPLAZA – New software trends: Agility, Safe 5.0
Dr. Horst Kargl talks about agile modelling
https://www.xing.com/events/software-trends-agility-safe-5-0-3063179

8 October, Vienna, House of Engineers – Business and ITSM, Service Integration & AI Forum
Orsolya Nemeth talks about "Cross-team collaboration: developing projects digitally with Enterprise Architecture Management
https://www.xing.com/events/business-itsm-service-integration-ki-forum-3063315

About Dr. Hannes Lischka

Raised in Vienna, Hannes Lischka enjoyed an academic education in business informatics. His career, which has now spanned 20 years, has taken him through almost the entire IT management spectrum, with the focus since 2007 on Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM). In recent years, he has realized that sustainable success is not so much the result of technocratic processes as of the people involved. Since then he has been building his bridges between EAM and New Work.