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Integrate Enterprise Architecture

Management and Business
Process Management
With an out-of-the-box integration solution for LeanIX and Signavio

Application Signavio Process

HR Management Application
Application

New Employee Process Process

Check HR App
HR

QA
IT

P New Employee Process

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Integrate Enterprise Architecture
Management and Business
Process Management

CONTENT

P2 Introduction

P2 Process management for a successful

strategic IT alignment

P2 BPM and EAM complement one another

P3 Signavio and LeanIX integration ties

enterprise architecture more closely to
business objectives

P5 How does the integration work?

P6 About LeanIX and Signavio

Introduction architecture in ways that better support business) and
Business growth is fraught with pitfalls. When product business process managers (who ensure processes are
lines become increasingly complex and organizational optimally executed and utilized with the right resources).
structures change, tasks are likely to be completed
in duplicate or, even worse, missed altogether. In particular, through improved connectivity between the
Responsibilities within teams cannot be entirely defined two disciplines of Enterprise Architecture Management
if companies fail to standardize procedures for recurring (EAM) and Business Process Management (BPM), IT teams
corporate processes. Such environments also make it promote the goals of their business while likewise helping
especially difficult for employees to realize the extent of business teams identify available technological support.
their roles inside a company—an obstacle thus limiting
their potential to contribute to its success. BPM and EAM complement one another
A successful BPM initiative requires information from
Process management for a successful other views such as business capabilities, IT components,
strategic IT alignment data, and other relevant KPIs to design, optimize, and
Sustainable approaches to the alignment of business automate processes for better business results. A similar
functions and IT operations require an integration of the approach is also valid for EAM, which needs to have an
very tools already helping employees in many workplaces understanding of the business context to translate the
connect to one another, and their business. There is business strategy into IT strategy and plan architectural
perhaps no better way of doing so than by sharing the changes. Getting better clarity of the business is often
foremost tools of enterprise architects (who align IT assessed through BPM artifacts and metrics (see Figure 1).

Figure 1
Complementary Processes

Source: LeanIX GmBH

EA and BPM complement each other at an architectural level to support business goals. While BPM focuses on business process architecture, EA leverages
underlying architectural types such as business capabilities architecture, application architecture, and software technology architecture to strengthen
business process management, and vice versa.

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Both fields complement one another and in turn, augment effectiveness too, as seen in Table 1.

Table 1
Benefits of BPM and EAM

BPM BENEFITS EA BENEFITS

• Apply architectural considerations to BPM solution delivery, • Use business processes for enterprise architectural analysis
enable re-use and IT governance and blueprint design

• Provide corporate-approved templates and blueprints to • Analyze business processes to verify optimal IT infrastructure
govern and facilitate BPM business process design implementation (applications, processes, and IT components)

• Optimize and deploy process models for maximized • Examine the impact of utilizing processes across silos in an
business outcome enterprise

• Publish updated processes for corporate re-use and IT • Validate against other corporate solution delivery
governance approaches

Source: Combining Business Process Management and Enterprise Architecture for Better Business Outcomes, IBM, March 2011

Signavio and LeanIX integration ties enterprise Integration with the LeanIX Enterprise Architecture
architecture more closely to business objectives Suite and Signavio Process Manager enables closer
IT support for corporate processes is crucial in enabling ties between enterprise architects and business
businesses to detect improvements or the effects stakeholders (see Figure 2). If applications are
of changes in their environment. It’s necessary to decommissioned, this requires an understanding of the
associate IT applications with corporate processes to process and its effects both in IT and in the business
identify how well (and how extensively) a process is departments—all of which are essential in executing
enabled by the company’s IT department. Detailed IT use cases critical to an enterprise’s overall health, such
applications, for example, allow technological risks to as technology risk management.
be assigned directly to a process.

Figure 2
Signavio Process Manager

Source: Signavio

Signavio Process Manager associates IT applications with business processes. LeanIX applications are provided in the Signavio Glossary for
modeling purposes.

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Whether using Signavio or LeanIX, the integration application portfolio management to hand. LeanIX
allows business and IT personnel to use the tools of offers user-friendly editing functions and shareable
their choice while maintaining one shared view of the reporting to evaluate IT application portfolios from
company’s processes and all available IT support. All multiple dimensions efficiently. The derived insights can
of which ensures each operates in a unified language be applied directly to reinforce processes in LeanIX
with more effective collaboration. (see Figure 3). Furthermore, in addition to assessments
of criticality and suitability, LeanIX applications can
Process transparency and well-defined IT applications be assigned a lifecycle and a successor system to
are conducive for minimizing all manners of risk to guarantee business continuation.
ensure enterprise architects have the most current

Figure 3
Signavio Diagrams Stored in LeanIX

Source: LeanIX GmBH

LeanIX visualizes the relationship between IT applications

and processes. Images of process diagrams and links to
Signavio diagrams are stored within the LeanIX Process Fact
Sheet document.

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How does the integration work? data to connect to the Signavio workspace in LeanIX
Connecting BPM and EAM benefits organizations and update your data by synchronizing all available
of all shapes and sizes. Easy-to-configure and with information. If you already have processes stored in
synchronously linked data, LeanIX users can take Signavio, and IT applications associated with them,
advantage of Signavio’s next-gen technology to these are transferred to the LeanIX repository (and vice
redirect fully realized company processes back to their versa). IT applications in LeanIX are made available in
IT inventory and enrich its content (see Table 2). the Signavio workspace.

Pre-existing access to both Signavio and LeanIX is

all that’s required to take advantage of the features
listed in the table above. Simply use your Signavio user

Table 2
Summary of Features

• All-in-one Business Transformation • Intuitive platform for managing

Suite with next-gen process mining IT portfolios to make data-driven
and Live Insights analysis

• Collaborative capabilities for end- • Enterprise architecture and

to-end transparency and customer application portfolio management
excellence strategies to quickly see application
redundancies and lifecycle
• QuickModel Editor for speed,
efficiency, and business impact • Collaboration across the enterprise
to ensure business needs are
• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) reflected in IT initiatives
accessibility to optimize business
processes and drive intelligent • Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for
advantage optimizing business process and
agility

Source: LeanIX GmBH

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Here’s how the Signavio-LeanIX integration works. The results of integrating business process modeling,
mining, and enterprise architecture will enable
1. The Signavio integration automatically creates all enterprise architects to better strategically align their IT
Process Fact Sheets in LeanIX. architecture landscape. Key benefits include:

2. Applications captured in LeanIX can be linked to • Consistency of managed information across two
processes in LeanIX. different application types.

3. Once a process is linked to an application, its • Reduced costs of manual data management.
definition is displayed directly on the Fact Sheet.
• Improved alignment of process and IT systems
4. The documents section allows you to jump directly to across silos.
the Signavio process.
• Greater transparency when decommissioning
5. In Signavio, you can include LeanIX applications from processes and systems to minimize errors.
the dictionary to your process definition.
Learn more about how to integrate the Signavio Business
6. Process documentation updates are automatically Transformation Suite and LeanIX Enterprise Architecture
shown in LeanIX. Suite by reading the documentation.

7. The Process Fact Sheet is also automatically updated.

8. LeanIX and Signavio reporting allows you to display

the relationship between processes and applications.

9. By adapting the view, you can directly relate your

processes to data classification and other aspects.

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About LeanIX About Signavio
LeanIX offers a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Over 1 million users in more than 1,300 organizations
application for driving Enterprise Architecture and worldwide rely on Signavio’s unique solution to make
Cloud Governance, enabling companies to accelerate process and intelligence part of their DNA. The Signavio
their IT transformation. From on-premises to cloud Business Transformation suite enables mid-size and
native and microservices, architecture teams using large organizations to effectively mine, model, monitor,
LeanIX have the power to strategically support their manage, and maintain their business processes. Its
business and take decisions faster. More than 270 intelligent decision-making tools address digital
global brands including Volkswagen, Adidas, Bosch, transformation and process imperatives, operational
DHL, Santander, Atlassian, and Zalando rely on LeanIX excellence and customer-centricity, placing them
to improve transparency, visibility, and drive real- at the heart of the world’s leading organizations.
time efficiencies. LeanIX addresses IT’s critical need Headquartered in Berlin, with offices in the US, UK, France,
to ensure high-quality, real-time data is accessible Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore and Australia,
to stakeholders whenever needed. Use cases include Signavio is well placed to deliver local services on a global
Cloud Governance, Application Portfolio Management, scale. For more information, visit www.signavio.com.
and Technology Risk Management. LeanIX was
founded in 2012 by Jörg Beyer and André Christ. The
company is headquartered in Bonn, Germany, with U.S.
headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, and an office in
Hyderabad, India.

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Accelerating Data-Driven Digital Transformation

www.leanix.net

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