02.01.11
What’s The State of Enterprise Architecture?
[Cartoon]
These are tough times for Enterprise Architects. The profession has hardly had any real traction and now the predictions are saying that the end is near. What is the current state? What is really going on?
For the last few years there have been great examples given of the benefits that can come from an organization taking an Enterprise Architecture perspective. One of the most dramatic examples is Amazon. Through the power of enterprise thinking, Amazon was rescued from the brink of financial disaster and transformed to a leader in providing internet-based services.
In many ways, the Amazon success has confused the definition of an Enterprise Architect. Amazon focused entirely on providing internet-based services. Most other businesses are built around different core capabilities. Even though most businesses need an internet presence, the internet is not part of their core capabilities. The local Italian restaurant may have a website, but their capability to provide tasty Italian cuisine in an Italian-ambient environment is their business model.
Does an Italian restaurant or any business that is not based on technology need an Enterprise Architect? Why not? Most businesses are dependent upon technology. Even an Italian restaurant has a payroll, bills to pay, government reporting, and taxes to pay. Doing all of this without the help of smart systems could be expensive. On a part-time basis, the use of an Enterprise Architect to present technical alternatives to business needs could be beneficial. Unfortunately, even part-time, the expense of bringing in an Enterprise Architect may eliminate this option.
All businesses need Enterprise Architecture, but very few can justify the expense of a professional Enterprise Architect. What business does not need business architecture, architected solutions, infrastructure architecture, and communications architecture? The purpose of the Enterprise Architecture professional is to bring all of the needed architecture components together into an ecosystem to support the business’s capabilities at a reasonable cost. Possibly, the real challenge is how to deliver Enterprise Architecture without using an Enterprise Architect.
How can Enterprise Architecture be delivered without having an Enterprise Architect? The answer is pretty clear when you answer these questions. How can you do your taxes without a tax expert? How can you do bank transactions without visiting the bank? How do you travel and navigate without a map?
The Enterprise Architects must find a way to encapsulate their knowledge so it can be made available to everyone. The experts should only be needed in specialized situations. When this expanded use of Enterprise Architecture occurs, almost everyone will take advantage. The Enterprise Architecture profession will become part of every business, just as the professions of Accounting, Legal, and Advertising. Businesses can have the professional onsite, part-time, or as self-service.
If anyone can find a way to enhance a delivery model, it is the Enterprise Architects. They must consider their own services and how they can be delivered in a self-service model.
Enterprise Architects are well-aware of the continuing evolution of technology. They creatively look for technology convergence that can provide breakthroughs in thinking. We are at one of those convergent junctions today. What is about to happen will give non-professional information technologists control of their use of automation in their business. No longer will they simply peer through windows and see only what applications let them see. They will be able to go inside, see how things work, and control their automation. – Enterprise Architects Masters of the Unseen City
Closing the Business / IT gap.
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Michael Tiemann said,
February 2, 2011 at 5:18 pm
Tough times for EA or EArchitects? I thinks not. Those who say EA is dying or not needed are the same people who used to sell snake oil and many do not know what they are talking about. Two weeks ago I got an updated salary range for Enterprise Architecture Director and it went from the 120K to over 250K range.,..tough if I guess you don’t have the credentials, experince and background to qualify I guess. I do agree that EA needs to find ways to be applied across a much broader spectrum of clientel- smaller organizations need EA just not on steroids like larger organizations. So there is room for service providers to help do fast EAs for Smaller organizations. These might be mor project and program oriented. The Federated EA Professionals Organization (FEAPO) which met formally last week had about 15 organizations with interests in EA attend. These organizations represent a bunck of disciplines that are aligned with ot intersect with EA and all are not for profit (or government- technically not for profit also). So fading EA…? I think not. And oh yea Academia (at least a few have recently found EA…found EA? What they are formulationing undergraduate and graduate levelk degree programs…not in their IM or IT departments? Unheard of…yes but keep listening. Which you say? Well that can be in another comment but a teaser in National University’s(2nd largest on-line university) Systems Engineering masters whith a focus on EA. Anyway the EA glass is at least half full and considerably fuller than when yours truely was a chief architect in the government and there were only about four of us (1994). Anyway EA has been a target for a while of all those technologist who just want to sell and implement and who see EA as a barrier to their success. Sorry Charlie…EA ain’t going away..changing…okay…but this is a profession that the world needs and its getting birthed starting now. FEAPO is moving forward to do so. “Look ma…its Shake and Bake and I helped.” or another one…”You can pay me now or you can pay me later…but one of these ways your gonna pay me.” EA is relevant, important and critical to the nation’s and the world’s abilities to address and solve complex problems. Its just that simple. We need Enterprise Architects ( and the suite of other related Architects skillsets- IT, data, services, business and security…to name a few).