OGEA-103 Question #140: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

Please read this scenario prior to answering the question You are working as an Enterprise Architect for a company that is an international supplier of manufacturing systems. You are part of an Enterprise Architecture (EA) team that has responsibilities across the company. The company has four manufacturing plants where it assembles both standard and customized products for industrial production automation. Each of these plants has been operating its own planning and production scheduling systems, as well as applications and control systems that drive the automated production line. During a recent management meeting, a senior Vice-President mentioned an interview where a competitor company's CIO explained how they had improved their production efficiency. Multiple planning and scheduling systems had been replaced by a common system in a central data center. Some discussion followed, and the CIO explained that the situations are not comparable as the company's current systems architecture is already optimized. As the competitor has reported better financial results, the CEO has asked to investigate the common central data solution. In response, the Architecture Board approved a Request for Architecture Work to find out if such an architecture transformation would lead to efficiency improvements. You have been asked to help the architecture team with this project. A concern of the plant managers is the safety and dependability of using a remote centralized system for planning and scheduling production. The system they choose must also be able to work with the local partners in the supply chain at each plant. The company has an Enterprise Architecture (EA) practice and uses the TOGAF Standard as the basis for its work. It has been running for many years and has established governance and development processes for EA. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) sponsors the Enterprise Architecture program. Refer to the scenario You have been asked to describe how you will start the architecture project. Based on the TOGAF Standard, which of the following is the best answer?