Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Enterprise Architecture and how IT Executives will fail...
Ever read CIO magazine? Ever notice how they talk about architecture organizations but not the discipline of enterprise architecture itself? I suspect that many IT executives that follow their sage wisdom will continue to mistake process for architecture...
Ceremonial practices oft-repeated become indoctrinated into the minds of executives. IT must align with the business which morphs into the need for enterprise architecture executives to embark on the journey of marketing. The delivery of value in this mindset becomes secondary unless you can convince yourself that marketing is delivery.
I wonder what it would take for industry analysts to ask some difficult questions of CIOs to tell whether they are mistaking process for architecture. I thought of some:
| | View blog reactionsCeremonial practices oft-repeated become indoctrinated into the minds of executives. IT must align with the business which morphs into the need for enterprise architecture executives to embark on the journey of marketing. The delivery of value in this mindset becomes secondary unless you can convince yourself that marketing is delivery.
I wonder what it would take for industry analysts to ask some difficult questions of CIOs to tell whether they are mistaking process for architecture. I thought of some:
- Does your training budget focus on consistency of skill or depth of skill?
- Do you believe that architects should get their hands dirty by writing code every once in awhile?
- Do you believe governance is more about financial controls or about changing behaviors and values?
- What deliberate steps are you taking to commoditize enterprise architecture? I hope you understand that everything should become a commodity to enable cheaper IT?
- Do you value research reports from industry analyst firms over the discovery of your own staff?
- Do you prefer single sourcing or best of breed when it comes to purchasing software?
- Have you figured out that outsourcing may make IT cheaper but that it doesn't fundamentally address the root cause of your problem of which is lack of a thoughtful architecture?
