Outcome-driven architecture requires intelligent data integration

Image by Ian Wakefield from PixabayThe need for business agility is prompting a move to outcome-driven architecture. 

It is now the leading edge of enterprise architecture practice. Forrester's Gordon Barnett, in an interview with TechTarget, says that 3-5% of their clients are adopting this approach, while 40-45% see EA as a way of configuring their business capabilities, and 50% still see it as primarily a technology function. A capability is what you can do. An outcome is what you have done. So how do you architect for achievement?

You must enable the business to measure what it is achieving, in real time. The business dashboard is a key component of outcome-driven architecture.

When you drive a car, you don't have a team of mechanics calculating your speed and putting it on your dashboard. Nor should you have a team of statisticians calculating KPIs for your business dashboard. You need automated data collection and presentation. This requires data integration backed by analysis and transformation algorithms developed by statisticians and data scientists. Increasingly, it uses AI. 

Intelligent data integration is a cornerstone of outcome-driven architecture for business agility.