Another Great LinkedIn Discussion - Enterprise Architecture vs Enterprise IT Architecture

The question:

Enterprise Architecture appears to have become synonymous with Enterprise IT Architecture. This gets in the way of those of us who are interested in enterprises as complete systems for delivering on mission and strategy. So we also want to be doing things like business process engineering and re-engineering (whatever happened to those terms!), irrespective of their information technology content.
What are your views on this and is there anybody out there doing true (in this sense) 'Enterprise Architecture'?

http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&gid=1822816&discussionID=4076169&commentID=4237668&trk=NUS_DIG_DISC_Q_ucg_mr&goback=%2Ehom#commentID_4237668

My Answer:

I think that there are two "types" of architects those that BELIEVE in EA and KNOW it will work and those that just believe in EA. The latter generally end up as enterprise IT architects and the former as enterprise architects.

In achieving holistic EA (i.e. solving real business problems and executing business strategy through detailed analysis across the BITS (business, information, technology and solution architectures) of the current and future states to identify a program of change) you need to KNOW how to make the business architecture (and the remaining ITS architecture of course) work. And I agree with Curtis – it is not via low level detailed UML models. Business architecture answers the question – how do I change the way my business operates to ……execute this strategy….solve the problem? There are many ways to answer the question, many models, many analytical tools that will help. Some we may not even have thought of yet as some of us are new to this architectural domain.

The revolution is coming – many more organisations are doing enterprise architecture in 2009 than were in 2007. I think this last 18 months was pivotal for the shift globally in understanding and delivery of EA programs away from enterprise IT architecture to the better more effective EA. Look at TOGAF 9 - it has really tried to make the EA view a reality ……though it still has UML models listed as key business architecture artefacts.  

All architects need to do a bit of naval gazing to see which side of the revolution they want to be on, me I want to be on the fun side – enterprise architecture!

Comments

[Rajeev Arora]

Debrah,
An organisational challenge for EAs is to be seen as non-IT practitioners. What is your experience of non-IT folks accepting EAs? Aren't they many times told they are from IT and should focus there?
Rajeev