Enterprise architecture and PLM

Where the work starts

By drawing what exists rather than what ought to. Systems, integrations, data flows, and the places where a piece of information is retyped by hand because two systems do not talk to each other. That map is not a courtesy deliverable: it is what makes visible which dependencies make each change cost more than the last.

On product lifecycle management the operational question is always the same: where a product datum is created, who changes it, and which systems read a copy of it instead of reading the source. The digital thread is not a tool to buy; it is the property that a change in design reaches production and service without anybody retyping it.

What the client is left holding

The map of the current state, the target architecture, and the order to move in: in a system that is running, the sequence matters more than the destination, because every step has to leave the system working.

How it can be checked

Every architectural decision comes with the reason it was made and the alternatives that were set aside. A document that only says what to do cannot be argued with; one that says why can.