Publish Enterprise Architecture Management Master Dashboard

Introduction

Sparx Systems’ Prolaborate is an essential platform for collaboration, reporting, and sharing within Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect (EA). Many customers leverage Prolaborate’s dashboards and charts to access and visualize critical model information. For teams managing complex architectures, a frequently asked question is how to create a Master Dashboard that consolidates links to key dashboards.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the process of building a Master Dashboard for core Enterprise Architecture (EA) use cases, including Application Portfolio Management (APM), Business Capability Management (BCM), and Technology Portfolio Management (TPM).

Note:

• This feature is part of Prolaborate 5.4. If you’d like to explore the new Prolaborate experience, join our waitlist today!

Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM)

Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) is increasingly recognized for its strategic value, helping organizations align technology and business processes to achieve their goals. By offering a structured approach to managing enterprise IT assets, EAM ensures these assets are fully optimized to support business objectives.

Key Use Cases:

• Application Portfolio Management (APM): Streamlines the application landscape, reducing redundancies and boosting operational efficiency.
• Business Capability Management (BCM): Aligns IT systems with business capabilities, ensuring that technology investments directly support strategic initiatives.
• Technology Portfolio Management (TPM): Enables organizations to manage their technology stack, facilitating informed decisions on investments and future scalability.

EAM fosters operational cohesion, driving long-term value and competitive advantage.

Defining the Dashboards for the Master Dashboard

The first step is to determine which dashboards to include in the master dashboard. For this article, we have selected the following dashboards, each focused on key areas of Enterprise Architecture Management:

• Enterprise Application Portfolio
• Business Capability Management
• Technology Portfolio Management

Building Your Architecture Inventory

As the next step in the process, we recommend building an Architecture inventory. Below are curated guides to help you efficiently create your inventory.

Build Your Architecture with Sparx EA 17

Sparx EA 17 introduces accelerators designed to significantly enhance the productivity of Architecture teams. These tools help you move quickly from initial setup to delivering meaningful, business-focused results. By using these accelerators, teams can reduce the time it takes to build inventories and generate reports—from several months to just a few weeks. 

We’ve provided detailed examples for building inventories, such as Application Portfolio Management (APM), Business Capability Management (BCM), and Technology Portfolio Management (TPM). These Resources include instructions on importing dashboards, saving time by eliminating the need to build from scratch. 

• Get started with APM in EA 17 
• Get started with BCM in EA 17
• Get started with TPM in EA 17

Build Your Architecture with Sparx EA 16

If you’re not ready to upgrade to EA 17, Sparx EA 16 still offers a range of powerful Features. The links below outline the tools available for APM, BCM, and TPM.

• APM Accelerator for EA 16
• BCM Accelerator for EA 16
• TPM Accelerator for EA 16

Creating or Importing Dashboards

While the accelerators mentioned above include steps to import dashboards, you can also create your own from scratch. The following Resources provide a step-by-step guide to building custom dashboards. 

• Create a dashboard in Prolaborate
• Comprehensive guide to APM dashboards

Creating an EAM Master Dashboard

To build an Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) Master Dashboard, start by selecting the ‘Dashboards’ widget when creating a new dashboard, then click on ‘Add Widget.’

Note:

• This feature is part of Prolaborate 5.4. If you’d like to explore the new Prolaborate experience, join our waitlist today!

Choose the required dashboard that you wish to add as a widget to the master dashboard. Choose the ‘Enterprise Application Portfolio’ dashboard and click on ‘Next’. In our example, we have selected the ‘Enterprise Application Portfolio’ dashboard.

You can then opt to display the actual dashboard as a thumbnail or upload a custom image for better performance. After making your selection, click ‘Next.’

A preview of the chosen image will be shown. Once satisfied with the preview, click ‘Save’ to confirm the widget.

Repeat these steps for each additional dashboard you’d like to include in the master dashboard. When complete, save your dashboard and review the final output.

Clicking on any widget image will take you directly to the corresponding dashboard.

Configuring Access Permissions for Dashboards

To ensure users can view dashboard content, you’ll need to configure the appropriate access permissions.

Navigate to Menu > Dashboards to access the dashboard listing page.

Under the Access Permissions column, click Edit.

Select the relevant User Groups and Users who should have access to the dashboard and click Save.

Repeat these steps for any other dashboards you wish to share with additional user groups or individuals. 

Sharing the EAM Dashboard with CXOs and Business Stakeholders

Sharing dashboards with CXOs and key business stakeholders is simple:

• Open the dashboard you want to share.
• Click the Share button to generate a short URL.
• Copy the URL and distribute it via email or chat, allowing stakeholders to access the dashboard and view its content.

 Join the Waitlist