Start asking the Right Questions from your EA Solution

Many EA solutions have been developed over the years, and it may surprise you that many are still following the approach of loading data and then generating a flurry of reports, with often only a few columns different or the sorting parameters different. This just promotes what can be called “report sprawl.”

It is important to have valuable reports, and this leads us to the precursor activity that starts by “Asking the Right Questions.” Modern EA tools need to be data driven, and using strategic questions enables executives and planning teams helps guide the data collection activities by understanding what data is required to answer the questions. Being data driven is a key differentiator that helps elevate successful EA teams because they anticipate the questions, or even better, they have the questions built into their EA tool. In a survey of over 300 executives, 45 questions were the most common across the survey participants, and are now part of an EA Accelerator configuration from Software AG Government Solutions. Not only do these questions present the right questions, they drill-down into the details to see the data that answers the questions. Using a layered construct enables organizations to develop their own questions and give them to the appropriate users. This enables easier accessibility for executives to ask their questions from the platform rather than people, and they get the immediate benefit and insight to make better decisions for the future.