Our client is an Australian-owned swimwear brand undergoing major technology-enabled change. These changes include implementing a new eCommerce platform and onboarding a new logistics (3PL) partner. Moving forward, technology will continue to be a key driver of innovation, efficiency, and customer differentiation.

The complexity and technical debt identified during the integration phases of both the eCommerce and 3PL projects has highlighted a historically fragmented approach to integrating data and systems, a lack of architectural standards or planning, and concerns over master data and business process ownership.

To assist in resolving these immediate issues and controlling long-term risk, a standards-aligned, well-understood and documented enterprise architecture was critical.

Terra Firma was engaged to conduct a current state assessment of our client’s Enterprise Architecture landscape. The consulting engagement’s scope included the client’s:

• Application architecture, regarding systems interfaces and integration approach.
• Data architecture, regarding data flows and data / business process ownership

Terra Firma approached the situation by:

• Developing key recommendations, including quick wins, tactical and “aspirational” future state
• Conducting a Risk Assessment
• Developing a data flow diagram and current state integration diagrams across our client’s IT landscape
• Highlighting the primary integration points from Salesforce to Shopify and technical workflows

We undertook an enterprise architecture maturity assessment that covered Business, Data, Application and Technology domains. These were broken down into dimensions addressing strategic planning and standard requirements.

Senior leadership, business and technical stakeholders were consulted to provide their related business and technical experience with the systems and sub-systems. The Terra Firma team reviewed relevant system artifacts, stated problems and challenges during this process.

The final recommendations were presented to the Chief Information Officer. Based on our client’s current Architecture Maturity Assessment, Terra Firma’s recommendations can be broadly categorised into 3 key IT architecture and system remediation activities, alongside recommendations for our client’s next steps before the end of 2022:

Master Data Management: implement consistent data view with data ownerships appropriately assigned for easier integrations and better data quality. Next steps include:

• Improve standard of service through confirmed and agreed SLAs. Track metrics with partners
• Establish data standards and data management processes. Identify a data owner, rules around data format. Document and implement business processes and define clear process owners.
• Transition from current ad-hoc best effort to agreed time-to-shipment, time-to-delivery, and time-to-resolution; this functionality to be enabled through the API-led integration platform.

Systems Integration: implement an improved approach targeting resilience, interface reliability, fewer manual interventions, and improved efficiency. Next steps include:

• Current Comestri tool to be used as the go-between online sales and backend ERP. Leverage the (limited) Comestri API capability, standardise the APIs and position it as ‘Seafolly API Hub’
• Confirm & agree SLAs and track metrics with partners to improve standard of service.
• Assess the current system Integration tools
• Review and tidy up the existing legacy systems
• Select the best-fit API- led integration platform. Implement this one integration platform to reduce complexity across the business and to simplify IT Operations.

Real-time Data Reporting: implement for faster response to changing market conditions, improved decision-making, and improved customer satisfaction. Next steps include:

• Maximise current Comestri system capability by configuring and switching on Comestri-based dashboards. Dashboards to show all related integration issues & impacted SLAs.
• Implement comprehensive dashboards to highlight any DIFOT issues and root causes.
  Once an API- led integration has been established, API transactional dashboarding is to be used. Transition to CRM- based case management dashboarding.