09.29.11
Having the Latest
[Cartoon]
All of a sudden a group forms around an individual showing off their latest smartphone. Everyone at the table is awed by the functionality of the newest game machine. Everyone wants a large screen TV. The larger the screen is the better it is. We love technology advancements and we love to stay current.
For Enterprise Architects, the thirst for the latest technology is both good and bad. It is good because it is the basis for having Enterprise Architects in the first place. It is bad because technology change is usually very costly.
The need to integrate products to share information and functionality represents the biggest change and expense in any organization’s enterprise architecture. Over the last decade there have been significant innovations and standards that have driven this need to the point of having a requirement for specialists that understand the cost / benefit of technology change.
These specialists are called Enterprise Architects. They help organizations that need to constantly move towards the latest technologies. They can lay out a transition plan unique for each organization, provide governance to stay within the plan, and adjust the plan as needed.
These specialists are separate for the centralized IT organization. Where a CIO has a responsibility to move organizations forward technologically, they are project-focused. Enterprise Architects, who also have a responsibility to move organizations forward technologically, are enterprise-focused. Where the CIO would consider the cost / benefit of a project, the Enterprise Architect takes an ecosystem approach.
Senior management is no different than anyone else. They get excited about new technologies and would like to be the envy of their industry. But, like anyone that must pay for the technology upgrades, they will act according to their type of organization. Some organizations are aggressive while most are very conservative.
Enterprise Architects have the role of providing senior management with the entire picture of the impact of new technology and the associated risks of change or not changing. Then, the senior management can make their technology decisions with a full understanding. Senior management will be prepared to stand and deliver on their decisions to their competitive peers and to the individuals within their organization. They can be the center of attention as they show off their latest technology.
The Enterprise Architects can see what is coming and are already preparing. They know that this will be their time. Corporations will be able to completely focus on their business, and automation will be viewed as an agile enabler. Automation will finally become the self-service contributor that the Corporate Office has always wanted it to be. –Enterprise Architects Masters of the Unseen City
Closing the Business / IT gap.
