Is our current Organization Structure
Conducive for EA to Function?
Burke et al (2011) in their "Enterprise
Architecture program pitfalls: Don’t start with the current state" Gartner
publication analyze the reasons enterprise architects start with current state
and find that one of the reasons is a lack of mandate to develop the future
state. What a sad state of affairs! Enterprise Architect is charged with the
lofty goal of architecting the enterprise’s future state but does not have authority
over the business, IT or any teams to get the job done. So who does have this
authority? If the Chief architect had the same authority as a CEO would it
solve this problem? Sometimes there is resistance to the very idea of
Enterprise Architecture as the perception is they are trying to take over the
world. Are we trying to fit in a completely different role into the traditional
enterprise when really a whole new organization chart is needed to run, grow
and transform the enterprise in this digital era?
I think chief architect can give the blue print of the plan how should EA force in business. However, he/she can just suggest; it should be CEO or chairperson of the company who will the policy and give road map where they want the company to be.
ReplyDeleteI do not think the chief architect having the same authority as the CEO would solve the problem. I think that architects need to try and be better at gathering support. Executives for the most part don't need to know and could care less about technical language. EA architects must do better at ingraining EA into corporate culture. They could propose a server located on the moon and a CEO would likely sign off on it, so long as there was profitability aspect. Like anything new people should not expect instant acceptance and understanding. Targeted communication is key.
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