Lean Enterprise ArchitectureRoth & Wettach

Free to read, the whole table of contents

Chapters

The free look inside the book: all 32 chapters in seven parts, each with its opening epigraph and its learning objectives.

I

EA Foundation

Establishes the conceptual foundation for enterprise architecture, covering definitions, roles, communication, lean principles, and maturity assessment.

1

EA Foundation

Nobody was ever promoted for a beautiful diagram. They were promoted for the decision it made possible. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Explain what Enterprise Architecture and Enterprise Architecture Management are, and distinguish EAM from pure modeling or documentation activities.
  • Describe the six phases of the EA lifecycle and compare them with the TOGAF ADM.
  • Identify the four layers of the EA metamodel (Business, Data, Application, Technology) and explain how cross-layer relationships create value.
  • Apply the concept of planning levels (strategic, tactical, operational) to determine the appropriate granularity for different stakeholder groups.
  • Evaluate why Business-IT Alignment is the central goal of EA and how EAM connects to adjacent disciplines such as portfolio management and IT controlling.
2

Roles in Enterprise Architecture

Your title doesn't make you an architect. The size of the decisions people trust you with does. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Describe the nexialist profile of the enterprise architect and explain why holistic thinking is more important than deep specialization in a single domain.
  • Distinguish between enterprise architect, domain architect, solution architect, and application architect roles using scope, focus, and planning horizon.
  • Explain the Architect Elevator concept and why the ability to translate between strategic and technical audiences is a core skill.
  • Compare centralized, federated, and hybrid EA organizational models and identify which model fits a given organizational context.
  • Apply the AKV model (Aufgaben, Kompetenzen, Verantwortung) to define clear role boundaries for architecture functions.
3

EA Communication and Stakeholder Management

If your stakeholders need a glossary to survive your presentation, the presentation was for you, not for them. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Apply the Power-Interest Grid to segment EA stakeholders and define appropriate engagement strategies for each quadrant.
  • Explain the SCQA framework and the Pyramid Principle, and identify when to use each for structuring architecture messages.
  • Describe the purpose and structure of Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) and explain why they preserve decision context over time.
  • Design a stakeholder-specific communication approach that adapts the same architectural insight for different audiences (C-level, product owners, engineering teams).
  • Evaluate common failure patterns when introducing EAM and identify strategies to argue for EAM based on personal benefit for stakeholders.
4

Lean EAM

A complete model of a landscape nobody uses is not an achievement. It's a very thorough way of wasting a year. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Explain the seven success factors for Lean EAM and apply the "Nutzen durch Nutzung" (benefit through usage) principle to evaluate EAM activities.
  • Identify common failure modes of traditional EAM (over-documentation, analysis paralysis, misaligned incentives) and describe how Lean EAM addresses each.
  • Describe the three-speed model (Systems of Record, Differentiation, Innovation) and explain how governance should differ across these categories.
  • Design a Minimum Viable EA that delivers visible results within three months using the staged expansion approach.
5

EAM Maturity

A maturity model won't fix your architecture. It will just stop you from lying to yourself about how good it already is. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Describe Hanschke's five-level EAM maturity model (Initial, Building Up, Transparency, Planning, Steering) and explain what characterizes each level.
  • Compare Hanschke's EAM-specific maturity model with the CMMI framework and identify when to use each.
  • Analyze the five assessment dimensions (documentation, processes, organization, effectiveness, tool support) to conduct a structured maturity self-assessment.
  • Identify the critical success factors for each maturity level transition, particularly the Level 2 to Level 3 transition where EAM must prove its value.
II

Strategy & Transformation

Connects enterprise architecture to organizational change, covering transformation planning and change management.

6

Enterprise Transformation

A target state nobody revisits is not a plan, it is a souvenir. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Explain the relationship between business strategy and IT strategy, and describe the six steps of IT strategy development.
  • Apply gap analysis to compare As-Is and To-Be architecture states and identify missing capabilities, redundancies, and technical debt.
  • Compare the six legacy migration patterns (Retain, Wrap, Refactor, Rehost, Replatform, Retire) and evaluate which pattern fits a given application scenario.
  • Distinguish between OKRs and KPIs, and explain when each framework is appropriate for managing transformation versus operations.
  • Apply the eight-step MCDA method to evaluate competing architecture options using weighted criteria and structured scoring.
7

Change Management

Culture doesn't eat strategy for breakfast. It quietly ignores it until the strategy gives up. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Explain Beckhard's model (Current State, Transition State, Future State) and apply the Change Formula (D x V x F > R) to diagnose readiness for transformation.
  • Compare three classic change management models (Kuebler-Ross / Streich Change Curve, Kotter's 8-Step Model, St. Gallen Management Model) and identify which is best suited for a given situation.
  • Describe the seven phases of the Kuebler-Ross / Streich Change Curve and identify appropriate leadership responses for each phase.
  • Analyze how culture influences transformation success and evaluate why "culture eats strategy for breakfast" applies to architecture initiatives.
  • Design a change communication strategy that addresses different stakeholder groups using architecture narratives, visual storytelling, and active EA marketing.
III

Architecture Domains

Explores the six core architecture domains: business, capability, information, application landscape, data, and integration.

8

Business Architecture

Designing an IT landscape without understanding the business is just very confident guessing with a bigger budget. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Distinguish business architecture from enterprise architecture and explain their complementary roles
  • Describe the four key elements of business architecture: capabilities, value streams, organization, and information
  • Apply the Business Model Canvas to articulate how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value
  • Explain how Porter's Value Chain classifies activities into primary and support categories for investment prioritization
  • Identify the bidirectional relationship between business and IT alignment, including how Conway's Law shapes architecture decisions
9

Capability Mapping

A capability map answers the one question most leadership teams can't agree on: what does this company actually do? Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Apply the three-level capability hierarchy (L1 domains, L2 planning capabilities, L3 implementation capabilities) to structure a capability map
  • Evaluate capability definitions against quality criteria such as outcome orientation, stability, and abstraction consistency
  • Design a capability mapping workshop using the six-step creation process described in this chapter
  • Explain how capability maps link to processes, applications, and data to serve as the "Rosetta Stone" of business-IT alignment
  • Apply heatmap assessments to identify strategic priorities and investment needs across a capability landscape
10

Information Architecture

A knowledge base without information architecture is just a landfill with a search box. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Distinguish between EA-focused information architecture (business objects, CRUD matrices, data flows) and content-focused information architecture (navigation, labeling, metadata)
  • Apply CRUD matrices to identify data ownership, redundancy, and integration requirements across applications
  • Describe business object modeling using three granularity levels (core business objects, business objects, information objects)
  • Explain how taxonomies and controlled vocabularies support information findability and governance
  • Identify the key IA deliverables and their role in application landscape planning and integration design
11

Application Landscape Planning

You don't have 400 applications because you needed 400. You have them because retiring one was always someone else's problem. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Explain the application landscape planning (Bebauungsplanung) methodology and its three fundamental goals: business alignment, pain resolution, and IT readiness
  • Apply Hanschke's analysis patterns in the five categories this book abbreviates as RIOFT (Redundancies, Inconsistencies, Organizational responsibilities, Fulfillment of business requirements, Technical optimization) to assess the current application landscape
  • Describe the iterative process for designing a target landscape, from establishing business context to evaluating planning scenarios
  • Evaluate applications using the four-quadrant portfolio assessment framework (strategic, at risk, support, phase out)
  • Classify applications by criticality level (safety, mission, business critical, non-critical) and explain how RTO and RPO metrics guide resilience planning
  • Apply the TIME model (Tolerate, Invest, Migrate, Eliminate) to determine rationalization strategies for an application portfolio
  • Compare big bang and evolutionary migration strategies and explain how roadmaps bridge the gap between current and target landscapes
12

Data Architecture

Everyone wants to be data-driven. Almost nobody wants to agree on what 'customer' means. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Describe the three data architecture layers (conceptual, logical, physical) and explain which layers are the primary concern of enterprise architects
  • Explain the data governance role model (Data Trustee, Data Owner, Data Steward, Data Custodian) and its organizational implications
  • Explain the purpose of Master Data Management, the Golden Record concept, and the four MDM styles (registry, consolidation, coexistence, centralized)
  • Compare modern data architecture patterns: Data Warehouse, Data Lake, Data Lakehouse, Data Mesh, and Data Fabric
  • Apply the six data quality dimensions (accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, validity, uniqueness) to assess data health
  • Identify the architectural implications of AI workloads on data infrastructure, including vector databases, feature stores, and data lineage
  • Explain the EA-level role of data deletion and system decommissioning, including retention policies, decommissioning discipline, and verifiable deletion
13

Integration Architecture

Ten systems wired straight to each other need forty-five connections, and every one of them was somebody's quick fix. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Compare integration patterns (point-to-point, hub-and-spoke, event-driven, API-led, iPaaS) and evaluate their trade-offs for different scenarios
  • Explain API governance principles, including API-first design, lifecycle management, and the role of API gateways
  • Describe event-driven architecture patterns (event notification, event-carried state transfer, event sourcing, CQRS) and their use cases
  • Distinguish between integration scenarios (A2A, B2B, B2C, IoT) and identify appropriate patterns for each
  • Apply integration governance practices, including architecture review for new integrations and documentation in the EA repository
IV

Governance & Steering

Covers the governance mechanisms that make architecture decisions stick: compliance frameworks, portfolio management, and IT controlling.

14

Governance and Compliance

Governance built to say 'no' gets what it deserves: a company that stops asking. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Describe the five components of an EA governance framework: architecture foundation, processes, competency management, leadership structures, and metrics
  • Compare governance frameworks (TOGAF, COBIT, ITIL, SAFe) and explain how to compose elements pragmatically rather than adopting any framework wholesale
  • Identify the eight forms of technical debt and explain strategies for making debt visible and managing it systematically
  • Apply the Three Lines of Defense model to separate risk ownership, oversight, and assurance in an EA context
  • Evaluate EA organizational structures (centralized, decentralized, federated) and their trade-offs for governance effectiveness
15

Project Portfolio Management

The most important word in portfolio management is 'stop,' and it's the one nobody in the room wants to say. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Describe the role of enterprise architecture in portfolio decisions, including conformity assessment, impact analysis, and the "one in, one out" rule
  • Apply portfolio prioritization methods using weighted criteria such as strategic alignment, architecture fit, and cost-benefit
  • Compare weighted multi-criteria scoring with Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) and explain the strengths and limitations of each approach
  • Explain Lean Demand Management as the mechanism for evaluating new IT demands against the capability map and target landscape
  • Distinguish portfolio categories (strategic, mandatory, operational, innovation) and evaluate whether a portfolio maintains a healthy balance
16

IT Controlling

A dashboard full of IT costs with no link to business outcomes is just an expensive way to feel informed. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Explain TCO analysis and apply it to compare investment alternatives, including the shift from CapEx to OpEx in cloud environments
  • Apply the run/change/innovate model to categorize IT spending and identify the organization's capacity for strategic investment
  • Describe EAM-specific controlling metrics (Bebauungsplanfit, Standardisierungsgrad, Dokumentationsgrad) and their role in architectural steering
  • Compare chargeback and showback approaches for IT cost allocation and evaluate their organizational implications
  • Identify how enterprise architecture data transforms IT controlling from a purely financial exercise into a business-oriented steering instrument
V

Methods & Tools

Enterprise architecture does not happen in the abstract. It requires a shared language, a structured process, and the right instruments to turn strategic intent into operational reality. Part V introduces the methods, modeling languages, and tools that enterprise architects use in practice, not as an academic survey but as a working repertoire that practitioners reach for when they need to communicate complexity, govern decisions, and plan transformation.

17

TOGAF

Adopting TOGAF whole is the safest career decision and the slowest architecture decision available to you. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Describe the evolution of TOGAF from TAFIM through Version 9.2 to the modular Version 10 and explain the significance of the restructuring.
  • Explain the purpose, key inputs, key activities, and key outputs of each ADM phase and how Requirements Management connects to all phases.
  • Describe the components of the TOGAF Architecture Repository and explain how the Enterprise Continuum organizes reusable architecture assets.
  • Apply the concept of ADM tailoring to adapt the framework for different organizational sizes and maturity levels.
  • Evaluate TOGAF's strengths and limitations and explain how it relates to complementary frameworks such as Zachman, ArchiMate, and COBIT.
18

Zachman Framework

A 36-cell grid is a brilliant way to organize your thinking and a spectacular way to spend two years filling in boxes nobody reads. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Explain the origin of the Zachman Framework and the engineering analogy that inspired it.
  • Describe the 6x6 matrix structure, including all six perspectives and six interrogatives, and explain what each cell represents.
  • Apply the Zachman Framework as a completeness checklist for architecture documentation.
  • Distinguish between the Zachman Framework (taxonomy) and TOGAF (methodology) and explain how they complement each other.
  • Evaluate the framework's modern relevance and its limitations for day-to-day architecture practice.
19

ArchiMate

The point of ArchiMate was never a prettier diagram. It was to stop three teams meaning three different things by the same box. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Describe ArchiMate's layer structure (Business, Application, Technology) and explain how additional layers (Strategy, Implementation and Migration, Motivation) extend the core framework.
  • Identify the appropriate ArchiMate element types and relationship types for a given modeling scenario.
  • Distinguish between ArchiMate viewpoints based on purpose (Design, Decide, Inform), content, and scope.
  • Explain when to use ArchiMate versus domain-specific notations such as BPMN, UML, or C4.
  • Apply the cross-layer serving and realization relationships to trace from strategic goals to infrastructure components.
20

Process and Decision Modeling

Bury your pricing rules inside the process diagram and every price change becomes a modeling project. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Describe the core BPMN elements (events, activities, gateways, pools, lanes) and their roles in process modeling.
  • Compare BPMN and DMN and explain how they complement each other through the business rule task integration pattern.
  • Apply the three levels of BPMN modeling (descriptive, analytical, executable) and identify the appropriate level for enterprise architecture work.
  • Explain when to use decision tables with different hit policies (Unique, First, Collect) and how they support auditable business decisions.
  • Evaluate when BPMN is preferred over simple flowcharts based on the need for standardized semantics, maintainability, and collaboration.
21

Software and System Modeling

Systems are not confusing because the notation was too loose. They are confusing because nobody drew them at all. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Compare UML, SysML, and C4 in terms of purpose, formality, audience, and typical EA use cases.
  • Apply the four C4 model levels (Context, Container, Component, Code) and identify which level is appropriate for a given stakeholder and decision.
  • Identify the UML diagram types most relevant to enterprise architecture (component, deployment, sequence) and explain when each adds value.
  • Describe the architecture-as-code approach using tools such as Structurizr, PlantUML, and Mermaid, and explain its benefits for version control and review workflows.
22

EA Metamodels

Every organization already has a metamodel. Most just never wrote it down, which is why nobody agrees on what an 'application' is. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Explain the purpose of an EA metamodel and why making it explicit improves clarity and governance.
  • Compare the TOGAF Content Framework, Hanschke's four-layer metamodel, and BIZBOK in terms of scope, complexity, and practical applicability.
  • Design a minimal custom metamodel starting from core entities (applications, capabilities, processes, technologies) and extending based on actual stakeholder questions.
  • Describe how metamodel entities and relationships serve as the foundation for governance metrics, impact analysis, and portfolio management.
  • Identify common metamodel pitfalls (over-engineering, missing cross-layer relationships, treating the metamodel as static) and explain how to avoid them.
23

EA Visualizations

A good diagram makes its point before the reader decides to stop reading. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Identify the appropriate EA visualization type (landscape plan, portfolio graphic, lifecycle graphic, information flow graphic, roadmap) for a given stakeholder question and audience.
  • Describe the three variants of the Bebauungsplangrafik (business, technical, typical) and explain when to use each one.
  • Select visualizations by matching the question, audience, and required level of detail to the visualization type.
  • Evaluate the trade-offs between static diagrams and interactive dashboards for different communication contexts.
24

EA Tooling

You don't have a tooling gap. You have a discipline gap, and no license fixes that. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Compare the four EA tool categories (dedicated platforms, diagramming tools, architecture-as-code, lightweight approaches) and identify when each is appropriate.
  • Apply tool selection criteria (organization size, EA maturity, budget, deployment model) to recommend a tooling approach for a given organizational context.
  • Describe the role of architecture as code (Structurizr, PlantUML, Mermaid, policy-as-code, developer portals) in modern EA practice.
  • Distinguish between a CMDB and an EA repository in terms of purpose, content, and how they complement each other.
25

Synthesis: Methods and Tools in Practice

The best architects steal from every framework and pledge loyalty to none. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
VI

Technology & AI

Addresses the technology dimension of enterprise architecture, from strategy through operations and patterns, including AI fundamentals and practice.

26

Technology Strategy

Every technology decision is an organizational decision wearing a technical costume. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Explain the cybernetic enterprise concept and its intellectual lineage from Beer's Viable System Model through Agile and DevOps to Roth's Triad of Intelligence.
  • Compare the four technology delivery paradigms (Traditional IT, Agile, DevOps, Cybernetic) across scope, feedback mechanisms, and governance approaches.
  • Apply the five-step automation framework ("automate last") to evaluate technology initiatives.
  • Analyze the buy-versus-build decision using the four options (buy, compose, extend, build) and their alignment with strategic differentiation.
  • Describe the four domains of digital sovereignty (infrastructure, technology, data, application) and explain how DORA, NIS2, GDPR, and the Swiss DSG drive sovereignty as an architectural concern.
  • Describe how value streams, product-based delivery, and Team Topologies connect organizational structure to technology outcomes.
27

Technology Operations

Speed and safety were never a trade-off. That was the story slow organizations told themselves. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Describe the DORA four key metrics and explain how they measure both speed and stability of software delivery.
  • Compare the six operational models for production ownership (from "Ops Runs It" to SRE) and identify which model fits a given workload and organizational maturity.
  • Explain the platform engineering concept, including golden paths, the floating platform, and developer experience as a success metric.
  • Analyze cloud service models (IaaS, CaaS, PaaS, FaaS, SaaS), deployment strategies (Cloud Only, Cloud First, Cloud Smart), and the Cloud Foundation framework.
  • Apply the Cloud Operating Model's six capabilities and five lenses to assess an organization's cloud readiness.
28

Technology Patterns

There are no best practices, only trade-offs someone forgot to tell you about. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Describe the seven-layer defense-in-depth security model and explain the principles of Zero Trust Architecture.
  • Identify the six architecture patterns (layered, serverless, hybrid cloud, high availability, scale-out, microservices) and evaluate which pattern fits a given workload and organizational context.
  • Compare quality attributes (scalability, reliability, availability, security, maintainability) and explain the trade-offs between them.
  • Distinguish between Architecture Building Blocks (ABBs) and Solution Building Blocks (SBBs) and explain how they connect abstract requirements to concrete implementations.
  • Apply the Technology Radar concept to structure technology governance and innovation management decisions.
  • Explain OT/IT convergence and the role of ISA-95 in bridging operational and information technology.
29

AI Fundamentals

The model does not know when it is wrong, and that is now your architecture problem. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Explain the AI hierarchy (AI, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Generative AI) and describe how LLMs work at a conceptual level.
  • Identify the five key limitations of current LLMs and explain why human oversight remains essential.
  • Describe the EU AI Act's four risk tiers and their implications for enterprise AI governance.
  • Apply the five dimensions of responsible AI (fairness, transparency, accountability, privacy, safety) as design constraints for AI-enabled architectures.
  • Explain how AI components (models, inference endpoints, data pipelines, monitoring) extend the enterprise architecture metamodel.
30

AI Strategy: A Recipe, Not a Blueprint

AI was in your organization months before the steering committee held its first meeting. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Explain why AI strategies are typically developed after AI adoption has already begun, and why this is a structural pattern rather than a failure of leadership.
  • Identify the seven core ingredients of an effective enterprise AI strategy and understand how they interact.
  • Apply a structured lifecycle model to move from vision and ambition to an operational roadmap.
  • Distinguish between the three AI governance models (centralized, decentralized, and hybrid) and assess which fits a given organizational context.
  • Recognize the five most common AI strategy failure patterns and apply evidence-based countermeasures.
  • Define meaningful success metrics that connect AI investment to measurable business outcomes.
31

AI in Practice

The question was never whether AI can do the task. It's whether you'll notice when it does it wrong. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Describe the four levels of AI agent sophistication and the governance requirements that scale with each level.
  • Apply the human-AI work distribution matrix to classify tasks by who leads the work (human vs. AI) and whether the work itself is being transformed, and determine the appropriate collaboration mode.
  • Explain the RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) architecture and evaluate its three maturity levels (Naive, Standard, Advanced).
  • Evaluate AI tools for enterprise use based on the ten selection criteria, from privacy and compliance to vendor lock-in and ecosystem compatibility.
  • Identify concrete AI use cases in enterprise architecture practice and describe the human role that remains for each.
  • Explain the circular governance problem and argue why governance artifacts, compliance sign-off, and audit trails require human ownership.
  • Design AI adoption for resilience by identifying dependency risks and defining manual fallbacks for AI-assisted processes.
VII

Conclusion

Synthesizes the key themes and provides forward-looking guidance for enterprise architects.

32

Conclusion

Complexity, the path to the dark side it is. Complexity leads to waste. Waste leads to anger. Anger leads to suffering. Romano Roth & Dietmar Wettach
Learning objectives
  • Synthesize the key themes from the book into a coherent understanding of lean enterprise architecture.
  • Identify the next steps for applying EA concepts in your own organizational context.
  • Evaluate emerging trends (adaptive architecture, AI-augmented architecture, continuous architecture, sustainability) and their implications for the EA discipline.

Read the whole thing

All 32 chapters, close to 100 diagrams, a glossary and further reading curated by topic.

Get the book About the book

From USD 12.99, suggested USD 19.99. Pay what you think it is worth.