Good Process Architecture is critical for large enterprises where multiple teams are responsible for developing processes and delivering projects against those processes. Too often process development work is done in isolation and is done by different business units or teams such as SEPG/process groups, project management and engineering teams. It is not uncommon to find overlapping roles and procedures for performing similar work. The consumers of process information such as project managers and others who tailor or specialized generic process content require the process information to be in a structure and format that supports ease of tailoring and process dissemination. The process architecture lays out how the content will be developed and organized - typically involving process layers, re-usable components, methodologies integration, specialization of processes and tailoring guidelines.

The Process Architecture is typically developed for the entire organization to speed up process development and integration by developing and deploying methodologies; and by identifying and distributing best practices across the enterprise. The central theme of Process Architecture is to enable the creation of a centralized process repository based on existing internal processes as well as support integration of industry best practices. The process architecture is designed to both meet long-term and short-term objectives of the entire organization. It provides a context for all process development and improvement activities and helps formulate a process round-trip framework that benefits the entire organization. For organizations pursuing CMMI, the structure and content sources of Organizational Set of Standard Processes (OSSP) is key part of the Architecture. It also includes integration of organization policies, tailoring guidelines, methodologies, etc. as well as providing mapping to the practices of CMMI or other quality/IT control framework.

It is highly recommended to have a good Process Road Map before developing the Process Architecture. Our team of senior process consultants performs several rounds of interview with the process and related groups. The process architecture is not designed for use by a specific process authoring tool such as IRIS Process Author; however, such tools enable the benefits of enterprise process architecture in a more cost effective way and assist in improving ongoing concurrent process development and management tasks.

Inputs

Interviews with Stakeholders
Review of Existing Process Documentations
Review of related tools and management systems   

Outputs

Process Architecture Document
Process Architecture presentation 

Typical Duration

4-6 weeks

Typical Effort

10 – 15 days