I managed to take the back off a previously wetted keyboard (A1314), not my doing. I took the board out and the back off before washing. It's drying as I type this. The hardest part was getting it started. I used a strong thin knife edge to slightly lift the white back at one end. I ever so slightly marked the plastic and aluminium. As soon as I had room to push a smallish flat screwdriver in I did. Be careful to put it in flat so as not to damage the clastic or the aluminium grill with the edges of the screw driver. Giving the screw driver a rotation twist I heard some glue pop free. While applying consistent but not too forceful lifting pressure on the white plastic I continued to sweep back and forth with the screw driver twisting to separate the part. I noticed there were key places where the glue was holding strongest and they were best places to twist. I moved from one end to the other in a couple of minute. Remember, be patient! Don't bend the plastic too far and gently twist the screw driver so...
Another possibility is the part has been designed to be used with different types of iMac and some utilise this component. In this case it apparently doesn't.
If I understand you correctly; the enclosure allows you to use the existing iMac optical cable. Also the enclosure allows for a safe fitting of the optical drive. In my newer machine I had to double side tape the SSD to the back of the iMac and buy a special cable. Note: this was not an optical drive replacement scenario or I would have done exactly as this tutorial suggests.