How to Improve Financial Management Through Collaborative Enterprise Management

Many government agencies utilize a variety of management disciplines including financial management, business process management, and enterprise architecture (EA) management. The issue is that many of these management disciplines operate solely because a robust collaborative mechanism to streamline data sharing doesn’t exist.

However, this major challenge can be addressed by implementing the collaborative enterprise management (CEM) methodology. While CEM offers a generally positive impact across different management disciplines, it is especially beneficial for enhancing financial management, especially for those government institutions that have the continuous resource and budget limitations.

CEM Defined

Some management disciplines don’t have a holistic data view across all organizations under their umbrella. Instead, they have access to their information assets and how best to utilize them within their domain to improve the overall enterprise.

On the other hand, CEM updates this antiquated notion of working in a silo by delivering a cross-disciplinary operating model and enterprise architecture framework that allows for a more reliable, timely, and streamlined information-sharing process. Within this model structure, every discipline focuses on its missions while sharing information that is helpful and critical to other functions.

To enable this infrastructure shift, agencies must implement a centralized platform to secure information-sharing with a single system reference that will eliminate the common inefficiencies offered by point-to-point communications. Organizations also need a common language across all areas to describe key elements. Furthermore, leadership at the executive level must buy into these changes since it’s a major shift in the data-sharing corporate culture. Naturally, the success of this model rests on having a strong systematic architecture.

How CEM Works

Enterprise architecture is critical for CEM and operates as a system or hub of reference by which all disciplines access and share information. This software architecture provides relevant departments with a holistic view of the entire data ecosystem while ensuring each area maintains control of its record system.

This means every disciple executes its departmental mission while enriching data to manage a specific work domain. The difference is the disciplines easily share this information throughout the company using an enterprise architecture integration hub. The result is a more streamlined data collection process throughout the organization that helps other departments meet regulatory and compliance requirements in less time, with less effort.

Additionally, CEM drives value conversation and cross-disciple interactions, which ensures each department has a seat at the table to bring unique perspectives within the decision-making process while positioning the organization to make informed business decisions. To facilitate this process, agencies must have robust IT application portfolio management and planning management solutions with integrated enterprise architecture. Through this solution, agencies can adopt the CEM model to improve financial management, technology business management, and business processes.

How CEM Improves Financial Management

The CEM model allows agencies to increase insight into the total cost related to changes that involve enterprise architecture. For instance, an agency can utilize API connectors to include operating cost, allocation, and budget data from a financial software solution into an IT portfolio and planning management solution.

An agency can also utilize this information to target specific areas where operating costs must be reduced. The CEM approach allows the agency to better understand which technologies and applications should retire or be replaced based on mission-critical goals or supported services, and the point within their lifecycle.

Collaborating the Enterprise

Collaboration is the key to creating a data-driven and modern government enterprise management solution that can help agencies and departments accelerate an internal transformation. This model allows departments to facilitate data-sharing more effectively in a cross-disciplinary manager that can reduce business risks associated with various changes. Since all disciplines exist for a reason, they can provide input and increase their impact on the organization when working together. CEM allows each area to form an effective data-sharing alliance that allows the company to reach its goals.

To learn more about aligning enterprise architecture tools with financial management, watch the full webinar here.