Enterprise architecture serves as a blueprint for a modern-day companys business process, such as the application and data, hardware and software infrastructure, and finally the knowledge and expertise. It is a cost-effective and long-standing solution for business ailments like low productivity and high production costs. Thus, enterprise architecture has become vital for every enterprise in the information age. The biggest part of applying the concept is its planning to suit the requirements of the enterprise.

Enterprise architecture planning is a process that requires greater collaboration between business and technology stakeholders. Enterprise architecture planning is more sophisticated and advanced than the traditional system of planning. Here, a stable business model independent of organizational boundaries, systems and procedures is defined at first. The data is defined before any application, and its the data that determines the sequence for implementing applications systems.

A set of processes are involved in enterprise architecture planning.

The data architecture, applications architecture, and technology architecture are the key architectures that have to be planned. Enterprise architecture planning is basically about planning these three architectures.

The first step is to analyze the current scenario, which includes the guidelines and the strategy. The next step is the documentation of the entire process, based on which a workable model is presented. The noises of the new mechanism is then corrected. The task to revamp the organizational structure is next, and a new governance model is presented. The best practices in the organization are brought together after collecting relevant data from all points. The next is the most important step, where gaps in system are identified and a recommendation is made to develop the implementation plans. The implementation stage comes last, when the blueprint is complete in all respects. The resulting blueprint will provide a long-term strategy for the enterprise, accommodating both external and internal changes. The implementation stage also requires constant monitoring to assess the performance.