03.09.10
Plumbers and Architects
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It seems as though everyone in IT is an architect. There are solution architects, data architects, infrastructure architects, communications architects, service-oriented architects, cloud architects, etc. It is no wonder there is so much misunderstanding of just what an Enterprise Architect is.
Even the Enterprise Architects are not sure. Four months ago on Linkedin in the Enterprise Architect group, Keven Smith posted the challenge: Describe the purpose of EA in one 160 character SMS message (including spaces, punctuation and carriage returns). There have been 1,255 comments to this post. In another group on Linkedin, iCMG Architecture World, Sunil Dutt Jha entered the post, This is what is killing Enterprise Architecture (A quote from a John Zachman” article.). So far, there have been 265 comments.
With all of the discussion, I believe the problem can be easily solved by separating the plumbers from the architects.
A friend of mine had a new pump delivered for his pool. Two plumbers came out to install the pump. My friend went out to see why the plumbers were taking so long to finish the job. When he walked up, he could hear that they were discussing different alternatives for running the pipes.
After listening for a few minutes, my friend said, just move the pump. Somehow, the plumbers had both assumed that the pump was where it needed to go. This was where it was set down when delivered. By turning the pump just 90 degrees, all of plumbing became straight forward. The plumbers finished up the job in less time than they had already spent discussing alternatives.
My friend was the architect that could see the entire process. This is the perspective that an Enterprise Architect brings to a project. Enterprise Architects understand the sources of the components and where these components should be incorporated into the enterprise. They pass these parameters on to the plumbers.
The take away here is: Do not confuse architects and plumbers. The solution architects, data architects, and so forth are plumbers. They are the ones that actually make the connections. The Enterprise Architects do not make the connections; their job is to make sure the connections are made with the least amount of cost.
[Please comment and share your experience.]
Closing the Business / IT gap
