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Publications
  • 2013
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Architecture: An Exploratory BioPharma Case

By: Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and David Dreyfus
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:19
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Abstract

We test a method that was designed and used previously to reveal the hidden internal architectural structure of software systems. The focus of this paper is to test if it can also uncover new facts about the components and their relationships in an enterprise architecture, i.e., if the method can reveal the hidden external structure between architectural components. Our test uses data from a biopharmaceutical company. In total, we analyzed 407 components and 1,157 dependencies. Results show that the enterprise structure can be classified as a core-periphery architecture with a propagation cost of 23%, core size of 32%, and architecture flow through of 67%. We also found that business components can be classified as control elements, infrastructure components as shared, and software applications as belonging to the core. These findings suggest that the method could be effective in uncovering the hidden structure of an enterprise architecture.

Keywords

Complexity; Software; Product Design; Pharmaceutical Industry

Citation

Lagerstrom, Robert, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, and David Dreyfus. "Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Architecture: An Exploratory BioPharma Case." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-105, June 2013.
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About The Authors

Carliss Y. Baldwin

→More Publications

Alan D. MacCormack

Technology and Operations Management
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    • Faculty Research

    Computer-Implemented Methods and Systems for Measuring, Estimating, and Managing Economic Outcomes and Technical Debt in Software Systems and Projects: US Patent 11,126,427 B2

    By: Daniel J. Sturtevant, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, Sunny Ahn and Sean Gilliland
    • August 2021
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    A Note on Design Thinking

    By: Alan MacCormack, Caroline M. Elkins, Allison H. Mnookin, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Joyce J. Kim
    • November 2020
    • Journal of Product Innovation Management

    Disrupting the Disruptors or Enhancing Them? How Blockchain Re‐Shapes Two‐Sided Platforms

    By: Daniel Trabucchi, Antonella Moretto, Tommaso Buganza and Alan MacCormack
More from the Authors
  • Computer-Implemented Methods and Systems for Measuring, Estimating, and Managing Economic Outcomes and Technical Debt in Software Systems and Projects: US Patent 11,126,427 B2 By: Daniel J. Sturtevant, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, Sunny Ahn and Sean Gilliland
  • A Note on Design Thinking By: Alan MacCormack, Caroline M. Elkins, Allison H. Mnookin, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Joyce J. Kim
  • Disrupting the Disruptors or Enhancing Them? How Blockchain Re‐Shapes Two‐Sided Platforms By: Daniel Trabucchi, Antonella Moretto, Tommaso Buganza and Alan MacCormack
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