Service-Oriented Architecture Governance for the Services Driven Enterprise

3.2. TIER 1: ENTERPRISE/STRATEGIC GOVERNANCE TIER

The Enterprise/Strategic Governance tier includes activities that are typically performed at the enterprise or corporate level of an enterprise as part of the annual strategic planning processes of the organization. In addition, many of these functions are entirely or partially performed at the enterprise or business unit level in a federated or distributed organizational model. Federated governance adds additional complexities regarding the distribution and alignment of enterprise/strategic governance processes from the corporate enterprise to the operating business units. Enterprise/strategic governance is focused on enterprise-wide strategic planning, resource allocation and management, portfolio management, business and IT alignment, enterprise architecture, enterprise acquisition processes, and program execution oversight via program management office (PMO) supervision processes.

Enterprise/strategic governance processes may or may not involve IT. Enterprise governance processes may focus on compliance to regulatory requirements, such as Sarbanes-Oxley. Enterprise governance processes can focus on human resources (HR) or other personnel-related matters. Enterprise governance processes can focus on process portfolio management or other enterprise initiatives where stakeholder representation and participation is important for the success of a particular initiative. However, there are also enterprise governance processes that ...