Case Study · Public Administration × Linkroad

Enterprise Architecture for the Justice sector.

A public body responsible for IT across a distributed ecosystem of Justice sector entities operated with no shared governance model, inconsistent data and fragmented systems.

The programme built a shared Enterprise Architecture platform giving an integrated view of IT across the sector, established a reference architecture and put an active governance model in place.

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shared EA platform across all entities

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reference architecture, centrally governed

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architecture layers: application and technology

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active governance model

Gallery
EA platform view
Analytical blueprint
Governance model

Challenge

Many entities. Inconsistent data. No shared governance.

IT was managed across a distributed ecosystem of sector entities, each with its own systems, data conventions and delivery priorities. No single organisation could describe the application and technology landscape end to end.

Without a shared model, technology decisions were taken entity by entity, duplicating investment and making sector-wide planning impossible.

Governing an ecosystem requires one architecture everyone recognises as authoritative.

The case

Portrait image or diagram

The problem was not the systems. It was the absence of a shared model.

Each entity held valid information about its own estate. What was missing was a common language: one metamodel and repository through which those views could be compared, aggregated and governed.

One metamodel, one repository

A single shared EA platform was established across all entities, with a common metamodel defining how applications and technology are described. Automated inventory through systemic integrations then populated it with real data rather than self-reported spreadsheets.

From inventory to decisions

Analytical blueprints turned the repository into visual models for strategic decisions, while a solution acceptance process gave the sector a rule set for evaluating new proposals against the reference architecture.

A repository records what exists. A reference architecture decides what comes next.

An active governance model now keeps the architecture coherent as it evolves, with formal processes owned by the sector rather than by any single project.

Neutral sector imagery

About the client

A national Justice sector IT body

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shared architecture platform serving multiple independent Justice sector entities.

A public institute responsible for financial management and IT provision across a national Justice sector. Client name withheld under confidentiality.

The outcome

What the programme delivered

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Greater visibility and control

IT across the sector became visible in one place, with reliable, well-organised data behind every view.

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Evidence-based decisions

The EA platform and its analytical models replaced opinion with shared evidence in technology decisions.

One model, governed, not a snapshot.

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Coordinated technology adoption

Entities adopting technology against a common reference architecture removed duplicated investment across the sector.

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A rule set for new solutions

The solution acceptance process gave every new proposal a clear test: does it fit the reference architecture?

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Governance that outlives the project

Formal governance processes keep the architecture coherent as entities and systems change.

Solution · Shared EA platform

One architecture for many independent entities.

Governing a federated ecosystem is not the same as governing one organisation. The approach gave entities autonomy in delivery while holding them to a shared metamodel and reference architecture.

Mapping, blueprints, governance.

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Common metamodel and repository

A single shared EA platform and one way of describing applications and technology.

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Automated inventory

Real data on applications and technology collected through systemic integrations.

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Analytical blueprints

Visual models that turn the repository into material for strategic decisions.

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Acceptance and governance

Rules for evaluating new proposals, and formal processes keeping the architecture coherent.

And after go-live?

The platform and the governance model stay with the client: entities maintain their own data inside a structure the sector owns.

Governing IT across many entities? Start with one model.

We can walk through how a shared architecture platform and governance model would work across your own organisations.