02.23.10
Will We Ever Change?
[Cartoon]
Information Technology is one of the most exciting industries to have a career in. It is also one of the most stubborn to change. The general rule is that as new and exciting things come along, there will be a third of an IT staff that will want to try it out. There will be a third that is adamant about seeing how other organizations respond to the change before they venture in. And, the last third had rather be laid back and not have any changes in their lives.
When there is two-thirds of an organization that does not want to take on change, it is surprising that there actually is so much change. Often, changes occur because of a mandate due to a major shift in the business, new regulatory requirements, or a new CIO that is determined to improve the status quo. In these cases, the two-thirds that would normally fight to avoid the change are forced to participate.
Those that are stubborn about wanting to change believe that they are the wisest ones of all. They are usually the ones that know that the cost of change is usually not clearly understood. They may have begun their career as a member of the third that gets excited about change and reversed their attitude after being burned a few times. What they have learned from their mistakes is to let someone else go first.
Those that get excited about change are often overly impetuous. They can see what benefits may come from the change. They want to maximize those benefits by being among the first. They are usually baffled that others do not see, as they see it, the clear value of the change.
Then there are those that go to work each day because they want to pay their bills. They may enjoy working with some of the staff and may even develop friendships. They are basically happy doing each day what they have done before. The repetition makes them experts at their task and few mistakes take place.
It is no wonder that Information Technology is moving so slowly to adopt enterprise level architecture. One third of the staff has seen similar adoptions fail, another third does not want their routine disrupted, and the last third is very excited but can’t agree on what enterprise architecture is all about.
In this kind of an environment, what is needed is professionalism. For enterprise architecture, this means allowing seasoned Enterprise Architects to guide an organization through the change. IT folks have learned from experience that building databases requires professional DBAs, building networks requires communications experts, building applications requires development experts, and running projects requires professional project managers. Establishing enterprise architecture requires no less of a commitment to professionalism.
In the changing business of Information Technology, there is no more exciting or rewarding profession than that of an Enterprise Architect. As more and more senior managers want to better understand how all of their systems work together, Enterprise Architects will be in demand.
The Enterprise Architect can bring the visualization needed to understand the ripple effect of change. This will help bring the third along that is stubborn about change. It will also let those that are excited about the change curb their excitement by seeing the greater scope of the change. For the other third which had rather not change at all, they will see the value and magnitude of the change and fully support what is best for their organization.
[Please comment and share your experience.]
Closing the Business / IT gap.
