Skip to main content
SAHM

This site uses cookies to improve your experience and analyze visits.

Accept all
Reject all (essential only)
Customize
Learn more about cookies
SAHM logo
  • Home
  • About
  • Pricing
  • Knowledge Hub
  • Support
  • Book a Meeting
  • Customer Portal
  • Employee Portal
  • Contact
Menu

Language

Services

Digital TransformationEnterprise ArchitectureNORA ComplianceEA Tool ImplementationPricing

Expertise

TOGAF FrameworkDGA NORAAvolution ABACUSIT Strategy

Company

About UsContact Us

Resources

Schedule ConsultationRequest DemoCustomer SupportSubmit Ticket

Legal

Privacy PolicyTerms of ServiceCookie PolicyAccessibilitySecurity Policy

Get in touch

info@sahm.sa+966 53 113 0434

2023 - 2026 © SAHM Information Technology. All Rights Reserved. | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Back to NORA

National Enterprise Architecture Methodology

Seven integrated stages that run from scoping the development cycle through to managing enterprise architecture requirements, supported by the EA principles, the national reference models, the EA content metamodel, and EA governance.

The seven stages

Where this page sits in NORA: Section II — National Enterprise Architecture Methodology.

Scope
Current state
Future trends
Future state
Gap analysis
Roadmap
Requirements

In brief

  • Seven integrated stages, from defining the scope of the EA development cycle to managing its requirements.
  • Four supporting elements: EA principles, the national reference models, the EA content metamodel, and EA governance.
  • Applied across all six EA domains within a single integrated development cycle.
  • A continuous practice. It does not end when the roadmap is published, and requirements management runs alongside every stage.

Stage details

Each stage builds on the one before it and applies across all six domains. The methodology is a continuous practice that does not stop when the roadmap is delivered.

1. Defining the Scope of the Enterprise Architecture Development Cycle

Set the scope of the EA development cycle in line with the entity strategic directions, by identifying the domains, viewpoints, and level of detail to be covered. The stage draws on the business strategy, the digital transformation strategy, and the initial requirements of business stakeholders as primary inputs, and produces the development cycle charter as its main output.

2. Diagnosing the Current State

Document, understand, and evaluate the current state of the EA components, and gather the information needed to grasp the existing components that the development cycle will affect. The sharper the current state diagnosis, the better the future state design that follows. The stage produces a current state document for every domain within scope.

3. Identifying and Studying Future Trends

Agree on the future development trends for the EA domains by reviewing available information sources, local and global experiences, benchmark practices, and the relevant national requirements. The stage outputs an approved list of future trends per domain.

4. Designing the Future State

Build the initial picture of the future components for each EA domain, align them with one another based on the current state diagnosis and the approved future trends, then detail the components and viewpoints needed to reach the future state within the cycle scope. The stage produces a future state document for every domain.

5. Analyzing Enterprise Architecture Gaps

Compare the current and future EA components inside the entity, identify the gaps across the different domains, and define the right solutions to close them. The stage relies on the current and future state documents, and outputs an approved gap list with a proposed solution for each gap.

6. Developing the Roadmap to Achieve the Objectives

Build the list of initiatives and projects needed to deliver the future state of the EA, and lay out a roadmap to implement them, drawing on the future state design outputs, the gap analysis results, and the list of ongoing and scheduled projects. The stage outputs an approved roadmap with its initiatives, projects, and indicative costs.

7. Managing Enterprise Architecture Requirements

An ongoing process that runs throughout the development cycle. It defines the tasks needed to manage requirements across the EA domains, track them through every stage, and govern their status from the moment a requirement is raised until it is implemented or closed. It ties the stages together and keeps the EA evolving after the cycle ends.

Requirements management as a continuous element

Managing EA requirements is the continuous thread that ties the methodology stages together, and the main enabler for governing and tracking how EA domains are documented and developed. Publishing and delivering the roadmap does not mark the end of the methodology. It is a continuous practice that keeps pace with the entity needs as they evolve.

The methodology rests on four supporting elements: EA principles, the national reference models for EA, the EA content metamodel, and EA governance. All four are set out in the Guideline for Implementing the National Enterprise Architecture Methodology issued by the Digital Government Authority (document number DGA-1-2-5-230).

Related

Gap analysis

Requirements management

EA views

National Enterprise Architecture Methodology | NORA | SAHM