Current State Documentation

Current-state documentation is broken into three parts- conceptual application architecture, physical network diagram and business anchor model. These three parts are equally as important. In essence, they are like sides of a triangle and they balance each other out.

Fig. 1 https://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/road_chaos.html

In the current-state conceptual application architecture you will find depictions of the legacy systems in use and how they are used across departments and/or organizations. This illustration is a wonderful way to see where there is overlap and identify areas for integration. These problem areas now become opportunities for improvement and the basis for which the development of the EA plan goes forward from.

In the current-state physical network diagram you get a view of the duplicative processes from another level. The physical network diagram shows clouds, firewalls, servers, VPN's and applications. The overlap identified here points out where you may be able to follow a critical path versus having all of the unnecessary system flow.

In the current-state business anchor model you see a functional view of legacy system use from a high level that will capture the true dysfunction of the task split between legacy systems. The noted disarray speaks to the need for consolidation and provides imagery that is easily understood by team members as well as executives and/or stakeholders.

These three elements will come together in what could be viewed as a truncated format. As my EA professor advised, when discussing and capturing current-state information you need to keep it brief. The fact of the matter is that when people look at their current state they tend to assess and make attempts to fix the current-state. This is not the objective, so it throws them way off course. Expending resources on fixing the current state has likely occurred already and not been successful. So why would you again attempt to fix the current-state? The discussion regarding the current-state is simply to gather information to help determine how far away the organization is from the future-state so that plans can be made to get from A to Z.

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