01.14.10
Number 1 New Year’s Resolution
[Cartoon]
This is the time to make your New Year’s resolutions. If you are like some that do not understand the value of Enterprise Architecture, it is time to begin the journey.
There are many IT shops that got very excited a few years ago with this new idea and started their EA programs. Unfortunately, many of these efforts ended in failure, leaving negative feelings about Enterprise Architecture floating in the stratosphere.
Much has been written on the basis of the failures. Most point to the Management as the problem. They thought that Enterprise Architecture was some sort of a technical issue that should be driven by the senior technologists inside the Corporate IT organization.
Infrastructure Architects seemed to believe that adding an ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) to the infrastructure would somehow bring about Enterprise Architecture. Solutions Architects, recognizing that applications are built in layers, decided to use web services as the primary means of layer communications to bring about Enterprise Architecture.
The Infrastructure Architects and the Solution Architects were not totally wrong. They were just following the old method of “ready, fire, aim”. They got ready by reading and attending conferences and then they fired away to bring about change. They did not aim, because it was not necessary within their perspective.
There is an old movie, “Lilies of the Field (1963)”. In this movie a group of Nuns want to build a chapel and solicit Homer Smith played by Sidney Poitier to organize and lead the effort. Homer begins the process, but then leaves the project. Without him, the Enterprise Architect, everything becomes chaotic. The builders (Solution Architects) and the plumbers (Infrastructure Architects) begin to clash. Later, Homer returns to the project and the chapel is completed. The Enterprise is saved.
What is interesting is that the Nuns knew very little about construction. Similarly, Corporate Management knows very little about Information Technology. The Nuns saw the Enterprise Architect as their agent to reach their goal. Others provided the water, food, and construction material in a similar manner as a CIO provides technical resources. Even the Nuns knew that the Enterprise Architect was professionally different than those that provide resources.
This year, establish the Enterprise Architecture where it belongs. Organize it within the business rather than inside of the Corporate IT organization. Let the Enterprise Architecture program develop the models that will give Corporate Management the visualization of IT. From these models, let the Enterprise Architects establish the standards and guidelines for all development.
Let this be your number one New Year’s Resolution. Establish a corporate level Enterprise Architecture program. It will not make you a Nun, but it will bring enormous good to your organization.
Closing the Business / IT gap
