05.27.10
The Unforeseen Consequences of Change
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In this blog, I have often poked fun at the problems of IT and the dissatisfaction of those dependent upon IT. According to ZapThink, I may lose the opportunity to poke fun at IT in the future. ZapThink published an article, IT without the IT Department: http://lnkd.in/YiAhhv that predicts the slow demise of the IT department.
ZapThink reports that large organizations are beginning to rethink the organization of IT. These organizations are looking at a more distributive model that would remove the central control of IT. The downside of this change is that there must still be some holistic glue to hold the distributed parts together. They see this as a need for governance.
I fully agree with their article and expect that the last man standing will be the Enterprise Architect. The Enterprise Architect can provide the governance. However, I believe the governance will be an outcome of everyone following common rules established for the benefit of all.
We do not stop for red lights and stop signs because we like to disrupt our trip. We stop because we rate our need to survive much higher than the minor inconvenience of time lost. This is how I believe the model for governance will come about. For anyone following the model, there will be a greater probability of success. The minor inconvenience of following the model will outweigh the desire for success.
Since Enterprise Architects communicate using models, the challenge is to settle on a single model that everyone can understand. Not only should the individuals within a single organization be able to understand the model, but so should their partners be able to understand the model. This calls for an overall common model.
In this blog, the recommended model is the city-view. The mantra has been CITY (Control Information Technology Yourself). Along with this mantra has been the statement “Just Plug In”. All of this is to prepare for the day when there is an “IT without the IT Department” as described by ZapThink. This is an unfolding architecture. Take the time to download and print the free “Unfolding Architecture” with the link below and learn more about this direction.
Closing the Business / IT gap
