KBC Group uses Sparx Enterprise Architect for architecture modelling
Traceability between business and IT due to modelling
KBC Group NV relies on the Enterprise Architect modelling platform to ensure traceability between business and IT.
Vienna/Leuven – KBC Group NV was founded in 1998 through the merger of two Belgian banks and an insurance company. With around 40,000 employees worldwide, the integrated banking and insurance company serves around 12 million customers. In order to achieve its vision, the company relies on a comprehensively understood enterprise architecture. This describes the interplay of IT and business activities within the company in order to be able to react quickly and flexibly to changing market conditions.
Alain Garsoux is an enterprise architect at KBC: ‘For us, modelling our company speeds up decision-making, as the architects present a clear and understandable picture of our production environment from an IT and business perspective.
This facilitates and accelerates discussions about security and the roadmap. It is important that employees receive the information that is important to them and can thus set the course for the future in a well-informed way.’
Alain Garsoux (left) und Jimmy Camps (right), (source: KBC)
Part of the architectural views from the KBC inventory. (source: KBC)
Enterprise Architect simplifies communication
In the enterprise architecture development process, the Enterprise Architect modelling platform is mainly used as a tool for collaboration between the various parties involved in the development and approval process.
Jimmy Cams, Head of Enterprise Architecture at KBC: ‘We have to coordinate and approve our architecture models in various board meetings. This works very well with the models in Enterprise Architect, as we can show each stakeholder the views that are important for the decision.’
Hans Bartmann, Managing Director of SparxSystems Europe, comments:
‘KBC is an excellent example of how Enterprise Architect supports the diverse communication surrounding the creation of an enterprise architecture. After all, models offer many advantages for everyone involved, from a common language and approach to seamless documentation. We are therefore delighted that KBC can utilise Enterprise Architect to better consolidate and accelerate their decisions.’
The KBC model as a basis
For Alain Garsoux, the KBC metamodel is the basis for better decisions: ‘Only the metamodel enables us to define a common language and a uniform modelling approach. This means that once things have been worked out, they can be used again and again and decision-making is accelerated.’
A metamodel is a higher-level model that serves to formalise other model concepts. It models the concepts of the usable model elements and the relationships between them. The KBC metamodel is based on the ArchiMate and TOGAF standards. It contains ‘stereotypes’ that are organised in layers such as context, business, application, information and infrastructure. To speed up the provision of architecture diagrams, instances of most stereotypes are uploaded from the production environment.
View of the application architecture. (Source: KBC)
Critical success factor: the modellers
Around 20 architects are currently working with the architecture metamodel at KBC, and Pro Cloud Server (integration) is also in use alongside Enterprise Architect. The roll-out plan is currently underway and all modelling at KBC is done in the same language and with the same tool to ensure permanent documentation and reuse. The target audience for the modelling is around 60-80 enterprise architects.
For Jimmy Cams, the employees are the most important success factor: ‘We can’t help but keep an eye on a few important points in our team at all times: Competences and skills, availability, motivation and role clarity.’
To this end, training and coaching is offered for practical use of the defined architecture. The solution was embedded in the organisation via a user group. The architects own the solution and there is a governance model to integrate new ideas
Clear and lean processes
In order to achieve a clearly defined and streamlined process, clear guidelines were established. For example, each specific use case is modelled at the solution level and the relevant stereotypes are transferred to the company level. Restrictions were also deliberately imposed on the standard views and reports available to the different stakeholders.
Originally, only four views were created to support decision-making and compliance: Process, Application Interface, Application and Technology diagrams. These are provided with clear instructions and should be created with as little effort as possible.
Alain Garsoux summarises: ‘Limiting the development of the enterprise architecture to the most important areas has proved very successful. That way, we don’t get bogged down and can quickly create the basis for profound decisions and ensure the value for the organisation. Once we have succeeded in creating a solid basis for the architecture, we have more room for manoeuvre for desirable extensions in the future.’
Some of KBC’s business activities, modelled in Enterprise Architect. (source: KBC)
About the KBC Group
KBC Group NV was formed in 1998 through the merger of two Belgian banks and an insurance company. With around 40,000 employees worldwide, the integrated bank-insurance company serves around 12 million customers. KBC sees itself as a group of more than 40,000 talented employees in different countries who work together and share a common culture.
This culture is the fertile and stimulating ground on which the strategy is built, consisting of four cornerstones that interact with each other:
- We strive to offer our customers a unique banking and insurance experience
- We develop our Group with a long-term perspective and thus achieve sustainable and profitable growth
- We put the interests of our customers at the centre of our actions and strive to provide them with high-quality service and relevant solutions at all times
- We take our responsibility towards society and the local economy very seriously and want to reflect this in our daily actions
About SparxSystems Europe
Sparx Systems Pty Ltd (Australia) was founded in 1996 and is the manufacturer of Enterprise Architect, a globally successful UML modelling platform. Enterprise Architect is used for designing and building software systems, business process modelling and modelling any process or system. Enterprise Architect is recognised by over 1 million users for its performance at an unbeatable price. Enterprise Architect is an easy-to-understand, team-based modelling environment that helps companies to analyse, design and create systems that can be accurately understood and documented. With the help of this tool, companies are enabled to collect and visualise the often very dispersed knowledge of teams and departments in a centralised manner.
SparxSystems Software Europe was set up in 2004 to provide the best possible Enterprise Architect service to the many customers in their language and time zone, supporting the entire German-speaking region with licence acquisition, training and consulting. SparxSystems Software Europe is a business unit of the Lieber.Group.
