--- sourceDocument: Australia Enterprise Architecture sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/application-portfolio-management Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia Enterprise Architecture ft:clusterId : - appportman bundleId : - appportman workflow : - Technology --- # Enterprise Architecture # Enterprise Architecture {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated March 12, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 3 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Enterprise Architecture The ServiceNow® Enterprise Architecture solution unites strategic and operational teams to help organizations achieve their business objectives. It functions as a decision engine that combines comprehensive modeling with management of business capabilities, application portfolios, information, and technology portfolios. This enables enterprise architects to strategically plan, rationalize, and transform their application landscape aligned with organizational goals. Show full answer Show less Enterprise Architecture addresses key challenges such as redundant applications, rising maintenance costs, legacy and vendor application conflicts, and performance issues due to outdated systems. It supports efficient business function improvement and cost optimization through defined processes. ## Key Features * **Enterprise Modeling and Visualization:** Allows creation of architecture diagrams using industry standards (CSDM, ArchiMate, AWS) to model current and future IT states and their business relationships. Diagrams are linked to applications and capabilities, facilitating stakeholder understanding and planning. * **Architecture Analyzer:** Provides a dynamic, interactive canvas to explore relationships across applications, services, infrastructure, and extended entities without custom diagrams. It helps assess dependencies and impacts to support collaborative decision-making. * **Rationalization of Business Applications:** Enables evaluation of applications using indicators like cost, risk, value, and technical debt. Interactive bubble charts and list views help identify redundancy and prioritize actions---invest, sustain, migrate, or retire applications---supporting data-driven portfolio decisions. * **Publishing Center:** Centralizes management of publishing workflows for technology standards and catalog sharing, ensuring consistent governance and communication of architectural outputs. * **Data Certification:** Ensures enterprise architecture data accuracy and reliability by defining certification policies and conducting scheduled or on-demand certifications, enhancing trust in data for reporting and decision-making. * **Enterprise Architecture Workspace:** An interactive interface within the Enterprise Architecture application that allows architects to manage tasks, analyze portfolio health, and gain insights effectively. * **ServiceNow Otto for Enterprise Architecture (EA):** Integrates generative AI capabilities to assist with summarizing content, generating and comparing diagrams, extracting insights, and querying the architecture portfolio using natural language. * **MCP for Enterprise Architecture:** Connects MCP-compatible AI assistants to ServiceNow, enabling natural language queries on EA data from any AI client for streamlined access to architectural information. ## Key Outcomes * Improved strategic planning and transformation of IT and business portfolios aligned with organizational goals. * Reduction of redundant and costly applications through informed rationalization decisions. * Enhanced stakeholder collaboration and communication via visual models and interactive analysis tools. * Reliable, high-quality architecture data maintained through certification processes, supporting confident decision-making. * Streamlined publishing and governance of architectural standards and insights across the enterprise. * Augmented productivity and insight generation through AI-driven assistance integrated into the EA Workspace. The ServiceNow® Enterprise Architecture unites strategic and operational teams, enabling organizations to achieve their business objectives. It serves as a powerful decision engine, combining robust modeling with the management of business capabilities, application portfolios, information portfolios, and technology portfolios. Enterprise Architecture helps enterprise architects manage business applications as part of an enterprise architecture practice focused on strategic planning, rationalization, and transformation. Enterprise Architecture helps you decide whether to invest, sustain, or replace applications based on the business need aligned toward the organization goal. You can address business challenges such as: * Redundant applications for similar functions. * Increasing cost of owning and maintaining applications. * Increasing demand to upgrade the existing applications for new functions. * Conflict between in-house legacy applications and that of the vendors. * Inadequate performance because of outdated applications. {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__ul_rrf_lht_tw} Overcome these challenges, improve business functions in an efficient and smooth manner, and optimize cost with these Enterprise Architecture processes. |-|-| | | [Enterprise Modeling and Visualization](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ZPBvtOy9pBT0sslViCRSrA#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__section_rts_qj4_dwb) Create diagrams and model the future state of your IT and its relationship to the business landscape. | | | [Rationalization of business applications](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ZPBvtOy9pBT0sslViCRSrA#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__section_vsr_3l4_dwb) Rationalize all business applications in a category and decide whether to invest, sustain, migrate, or retire an application. | | | [Data Certification](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ZPBvtOy9pBT0sslViCRSrA#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__section_ckg_4gq_w3c) Ensure the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of critical enterprise architecture data. | [ ] {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__table_uw5_lxw_sjb} ## Enterprise Modeling and Visualization in the EA Workspace {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__section_rts_qj4_dwb} Create diagrams and model the current and future state of your architecture and its relationship to the business landscape. Enterprise Modeling and Visualization in the Enterprise Architecture Workspace enables enterprise architects to: * Create architecture diagrams using industry‑aligned standards such as CSDM, ArchiMate, and AWS * Model applications, business capabilities, processes, value streams, and cloud architectures * Maintain architectural context by associating diagrams with applications, capabilities, and artifacts * Generate architecture documents directly from diagrams for review, sharing, and approval {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__ul_fgc_hdq_w3c}These visual models help stakeholders understand dependencies, assess impact, and plan change with confidence. ## Architecture Analyzer {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__section_kmd_4dq_w3c} Visually explore and analyze architecture relationships without creating or maintaining custom diagrams. Architecture Analyzer provides a dynamic canvas to: * Analyze relationships across applications, services, infrastructure, and Enterprise Architecture extended entities * Understand dependencies and assess the impact of architectural changes * Explore architecture perspectives interactively to support collaboration and decision‑making {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__ul_k45_qdq_w3c}Architecture Analyzer helps architects quickly assess complex landscapes and communicate insights effectively. ## Rationalization of business applications {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__section_vsr_3l4_dwb} Evaluate and rationalize business applications to support modernization and investment decisions. Application Rationalization enables you to: * Assess applications using standardized indicators such as cost, risk, value, and technical debt * Compare applications using interactive bubble charts and list views * Identify redundancy and prioritize actions to invest, sustain, migrate, or retire applications * Apply filters and fiscal periods to analyze application performance over time {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__ul_dgv_12q_w3c}These insights support data‑driven decisions across large application portfolios. Bubble charts are interactive graphs that position applications in different quadrants, based on their indicator scores. Based on the position of the business application in the quadrants, enterprise architects can take decisions to invest in, sustain, migrate, or retire the business applications. The List view enables you to see high-level information on all your business applications and all the indicator scores that are attached to them. ## Publishing Center in Enterprise Architecture Workspace {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__section_w4f_hgq_w3c} Control and manage publishing workflows from a centralized location. The publishing center enables you to: * Publish Technology Reference Model (TRM) catalogs to a knowledge base * Share approved technology standards across the organization * Monitor publishing status and view publishing history * Govern architecture outputs with consistent publishing processes {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__ul_ast_jgq_w3c}Publishing center simplifies how architectural standards and insights are shared and consumed. ## Data Certification in Enterprise Architecture Workspace {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__section_ckg_4gq_w3c} Ensure the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of critical enterprise architecture data. With data certification, you can: * Define certification policies directly in the Enterprise Architecture Workspace * Run certifications on demand or on a schedule * Track certification status and identify overdue or failed certifications * Improve trust in architecture data used for reporting and decision‑making {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__ul_jzc_rgq_w3c}Data certification helps maintain high‑quality data across architecture portfolios. ## Applications and features {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__section_vpq_1j1_pjb} * [Enterprise Architecture Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/1KfJyrnGagOWkYrcqEnnyg "The Enterprise Architecture Workspace (EA Workspace) is part of the Enterprise Architecture application. It provides an interactive interface for enterprise architects to manage tasks, gain insights, and monitor portfolio health.") * [ServiceNow Otto for Enterprise Architecture (EA)](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/npA5~4iQGLJa9xxL7FCRbw "Use ServiceNow Otto for Enterprise Architecture (EA) to use generative AI skills in the Enterprise Architecture Workspace. These skills help you summarize and refine content, generate and compare diagrams, gather insights into business applications, and query your enterprise architecture portfolio using natural language.") * [Managing requests, certifications, and assessments](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/1e~7hgCCWb_19P6pt6KDUg "As an Enterprise Architect, you can manage all requests. You can view the status of the certifications, assessments, and technology portfolio audit information.") * [Exploring a business portfolio](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/9W856Vsk7WXron5pwpUKPg "As an Enterprise Architect, view the capability hierarchy, manage capabilities, and assign business applications to the capabilities.") * [Explore the Enterprise Architecture Workspace dashboard](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/0DOOrKo8rY~0H6nA44daag "The Enterprise Architecture Workspace dashboard provides a summary of the business and application portfolio of your organization. It’s arranged according to different portfolios such as the application portfolio, technology portfolio, and information portfolio.") * [Exploring Technology Lifecycle Management (TLM) in Enterprise Architecture Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/BGLPRnuND_K7lEKsDt_4xQ "Technology Lifecycle Management helps Enterprise Architects to track technology life-cycle risks and technology life-cycle exceptions. Enterprise Architects can evaluate all their business applications and application services by accessing the discovered technologies and auditing information in the Enterprise Architecture Workspace.") * [Exploring Enterprise Modeling and Visualization in the EA Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/5AGNl_6YpwkozmC9eOeduw "Enterprise Modeling and Visualization in EA Workspace helps you with diagramming and modeling capabilities and enable you to model the future state of your IT and its relationship to the business landscape.") * [Gantt view of TLM and TRM lifecycle timelines](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/JBobRe0ibz9pcNKb5DZCKw "A Gantt chart in the Enterprise Architecture Workspace displays TLM and TRM timelines for business applications and their associated application services.") * [Rationalization of business applications](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ljKls08ep2DZ0_GnymaSow "As an Enterprise Architect, you can use application rationalization to evaluate your business applications.") * [Manage application total cost of ownership (TCO) in Enterprise Architecture Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/yN3ie_MBM8LVQmZtQfaAMg "You can configure the application TCO source and cost type in the Enterprise Architecture Workspace.") {#application-portfolio-management-landing-page__ul_od3_cj1_pjb} * **[Enterprise Architecture Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/1KfJyrnGagOWkYrcqEnnyg)** The Enterprise Architecture Workspace (EA Workspace) is part of the Enterprise Architecture application. It provides an interactive interface for enterprise architects to manage tasks, gain insights, and monitor portfolio health. * **[ServiceNow Otto for Enterprise Architecture (EA)](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/npA5~4iQGLJa9xxL7FCRbw)** Use ServiceNow Otto for Enterprise Architecture (EA) to use generative AI skills in the Enterprise Architecture Workspace. These skills help you summarize and refine content, generate and compare diagrams, gather insights into business applications, and query your enterprise architecture portfolio using natural language. * **[MCP for Enterprise Architecture](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/St0KK6y0Rxzn5MkbVZuc6g)** MCP for Enterprise Architecture connects any MCP-compatible AI assistant to your ServiceNow instance, giving enterprise architects and portfolio managers direct access to live EA data through natural language prompts. Users can query business applications, capabilities, technology products, and architectural relationships from any AI client.