Enterprise It Architecture at Amex

820 Words4 Pages
Summary In recent years, customer interaction with financial institutions like American Express (AMEX) has evolved to become more dependent on mobile transaction platforms and web based interfaces. Companies who can demonstrate the ability to bring new products and services to market more quickly are rewarded. As a result, the payments industry has recognized the need to develop enterprise architecture (EA) to support the complexity of new products and services, new delivery channels, and the need for greater agility. AMEX embraced the challenge through implementation of a highly successful, highly standardized, EA that has enabled AMEX to streamline processes and do business more effectively using IT resources. In 2011 AMEX was selected as one of six companies to receive the InfoWorld/Forrester Enterprise Architecture Award for transformative initiatives leading to business success. Key Strategic and Implementation Issues EA initiatives can be difficult to justify if the payback is not easily quantified. Quantifying the benefits can be difficult because the benefits are often staggered over time. AMEX recognized early that it needed to articulate the value of its EA in a language that customers could understand. From the onset, AMEX built an internal core planning competency for “road mapping” architecture, engineering, service, and operations. This core competency supported the transformation of services management, portfolio simplification, prioritization, and IT business alignment. AMEX successfully designed and deployed the AMEX EA platform with the goal of delivering a consistent, global, integrated customer experience based on converged services that run on a common application platform. Critique and Analysis AMEX’s success can be attributed to their early recognition that EA can provide a platform for transformational change and growth. AMEX

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