Category: Architecture

Report: Part-I (Case Study)
Techco is a large steel manufacturing company established several decades ago. Historically, Techco
grew largely via mergers and acquisitions of smaller companies occupying adjacent or complementary
market niches and underwent a number of corporate restructurings. Presently, at the highest level
the company is split into two major divisions: Division Alpha and Division Beta. Both divisions are
governed from the lean central head office and report their quarterly financial indicators to top
business executives for their consideration. However, operationally these divisions represent
essentially independent businesses with non-overlapping suppliers, products, customers and markets.
Each division is managed by an appointed executive director reporting directly to C-level corporate
leadership. Divisions are free to set their own agendas, pursue their own competitive strategies and
make their own investment decisions, though major investments must seek approval at the corporate
level.
Division Alpha is an established and large-scale, but highly centralized manufacturing shop. It
specializes on fabricating a single line of products, which are distributed directly to a narrow circle of
wholesale customers over stable supply chain network arrangements. The division has a rather
conservative IT investment strategy intended primarily to achieve better automation of existing
operations and enable smooth, uninterrupted and efficient business processes. It has a central
division-wide IT department employing around 150-180 in-house specialists and also involving about
100-120 external contractors working on a full-time basis. The IT department is responsible for
providing necessary IT support across all activities of Division Alpha’s value chain, e.g. production,
warehousing, sales and delivery as well as various supporting activities including HR, finance and legal
services.
Division Beta has a more complex, dynamic and diversified business model. It offers three core lines
of products focused largely on different market segments and customer groups. These product lines
require substantially different manufacturing processes, distribution channels, sales approaches and
marketing campaigns. However, all products are fabricated from similar raw materials and
components procured from the same suppliers. Moreover, customer bases of these products also
partially overlap, and the department’s leadership is planning to leverage cross-selling opportunities
more actively in the future. Organizationally, Division Beta is structured into three major units aligned
to its three product lines and an additional supporting unit providing shared division-wide services to
the main business, e.g. HR, finance, accounting and IT. Its IT department employs around 450-500 IT
staff qualified in different technologies used in the division’s IT landscape. To accommodate with the
quickly changing market conditions, Division Beta invests a significant share of its profits in new IT
systems and infrastructure. It has an aggressive IT investment strategy aimed at enabling innovative
ways of working.
Questions

1. How many architects does the Techco needs for each of the positions described above?
   Provide detailed explanation to justify the needs.
2. Discuss 5 (five) major general skills requirements for architecture positions in Techco
3. Describe five major roles that Design as EA Artifacts will play in Techco.
4. Discuss four reasons why outsourcing of EA practice is NOT a good option for Techco
5. Discuss the four types of governances committees that would be implement in Techco