Organization Taxonomy Unravelled.

Creating a taxonomy for your organization's Enterprise Architecture (EA) practice helps structure information and ensure consistency across the enterprise. A well-designed taxonomy organizes EA concepts, artifacts, and processes in a way that aligns with business goals and IT strategy. Capturing Stakeholders improves communication when actively involving them in ideas aligned to their goals and strategy.

What should be included?

Defining a new taxonomy and populating it is no small task. It will take quite some time! Be under no illusion that once captured it needs careful maintenance otherwise it quickly becomes stale and negates the purpose it is intended for.

When starting to think about a new taxonomy it’s a good idea to break it into manageable chunks. You should decide what you consider the most important elements to capture, as a good starting point, I would always recommend the As Is Technology State, Stakeholders and Capability Modelling first.

I know that some of my readers will disagree and state governance, principles and choosing a framework should be primary. Nevertheless, choosing your domains of focus comes down to what you consider the most important and the rest can follow. I don’t believe there to be a perfect set of steps.

Important Domains

Your taxonomy should cover Technology Architecture such as Infrastructure, Platforms and Cloud. Application Architecture such as Applications, Service and Integrations. Business Architecture like Capability Modelling and Process architecture. Data Architecture, like Pipelines, Reporting, Data Dictionaries and Lineage. This is far from an exhaustive list.

Tailored Meta Model

Your taxonomy needs to suit your needs and that of the Organization. Once your domains have been identified, you should set about defining the important facets to capture and those elements that enable you to make decisions and gain insights to inform stakeholders, projects and strategy.

Another important aspect to consider is the hierarchy of your taxonomy. Your key domains should be related to one another, such as your applications are related to your infrastructure, your integrations are related to multiple applications and your capabilities have up to 5 levels depending on your organizational EA practice maturity.

Customizable Hierarchy. The Enterprise Modelling App

Maintain & Continuous Improvement

Like I said above, once you have started to capture your data and start using it the more apparent it will be to keep it up to date. You should define a mechanism for updating, this could be aligned to a framework such as TOGAF and the ADM.

You should absolutely share the data with your defined stakeholders and get feedback to help shape your model further. You should use your repository to shape your To Be Architecture. The more stakeholders see it the more value they recognise from it then the more likely they and their team will contribute to it.

Industrial References

Your taxonomy might also reference industrial references, this is something that an industrial body or government maintains through market research or similar. These references can be a valuable addition.

Success Metrics

With your taxonomy in place, you should start to see better stakeholder engagement, improved decision making, speed and reduced duplication of effort. A more open and accessible picture of the current and future architecture, reduced silos with reduced resistance to change. It is important to foster a culture of collaboration to ensure the taxonomy is valued and maintained.

Wrap-up

Creating an effective taxonomy for your organization's Enterprise Architecture practice is essential for structuring information, improving communication, and supporting strategic decision making. By starting with manageable domains such as technology, application, and business architecture, you can build a foundation that aligns with your organization's priorities. Maintaining this taxonomy through regular updates, stakeholder engagement, and alignment with governance frameworks ensures it remains relevant and valuable. When thoughtfully designed and actively maintained, your taxonomy becomes a powerful tool for driving insights, informing decisions, and enhancing collaboration across the enterprise.