Beyond the purpose of enterprise modeling, the question arises as to what value it offers and whether the value offered outweighs the cost of undertaking the modeling.
Value derived speaks to outcomes – how is enterprise modeling used; what are the outcomes sought in using it?
Based around the previous item which posits that the purpose is to enhance understanding of how an enterprise operates or could operate, the value and outcomes sought in achieving enhanced understanding could be:
- assessing the impact of changes to the enterprise
- evaluating the benefits of changing the enterprise
- being more readily able to estimate the cost of changing the enterprise
- identifying the outputs of any initiative aimed at improving enterprise performance
In effect, the products of enterprise modeling seek to better inform investment decisions associated with capability improvement for improved enterprise performance.
The assessment of the value and ROI of enterprise modeling are then related to the relative cost of making an investment decision, with or without the use of enterprise modeling and the likelihood or achievement of enhanced enterprise performance beyond that which would have been realised without the use of enterprise modeling.
This speaks to the fact that simple enterprises with simple improvement initiatives are unlikely to warrant or justify the use of enterprise modeling. The larger and more complex the enterprise, the more likely that enterprise modeling with deliver value and deliver it in a timely fashion.
More about how to do that later!
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