EA’s Shift From IT To Business

When I started as an architect, I was part of the team called “IT Architecture.” It was clear what we did and who we did it for – we standardized technology and designs so that IT would be more reliable, deliver business solutions more quickly, and cost less. We were an IT-centric function. Then the term “Enterprise Architecture” came in – and spurred debates as to “isn’t EA about the business?,” “what’s the right scope for EA?,” and “should EA report to the CEO?” We debated it, published books and blogs about it – but it didn’t change what most architects did; they did some flavor of IT Architecture.

Meanwhile, the interplay of business and technology changed . . . Technology became embedded and central to business results, and business leaders became technology advocates. The locus of technology innovation moved from the “heavy lifting” of core system implementations to the edges of the business, where business staff see opportunities and demand more autonomy to seize them. For enterprise architects, this means that regardless of what EA has been, in the future it must become a business-focused and embedded discipline.

Mapping this shift is a key theme of the upcoming Forrester’s Enterprise Architecture Forum 2011. 

This year’s keynotes presentation will cover the key business and technology forces that will shape EA’s context in ten years. In particular, Gene Leganza will paint three scenarios for EA in this future: one where EA rises, one where EA falls, and one where EA is marginalized – and relate them to the actions we architects can take today to influence which scenario we will follow.

Jeff Scott will then step back from the year 2020 to today in his keynote on Business Architecture. Why business architecture? Because that is the viewpoint where the connection of business strategy to the enabling changes – including technology changes – is made. This isn’t Business Architecture from an EA perspective but from a business perspective. The end goal isn’t developing a model of “current state->future state->road map”; it’s creating insight that leads to well-found business decisions. 

Jeff will also lead a panel discussion featuring successful Business Architects – Rebekah Metz of Pfizer, Marsha Green of State Farm, and Tom Mertes of Thrivant Financial for Lutherans – in which panelists will share their key lessons for achieving business influence and impact.

If you agree that EA is about the whole enterprise – not just the technology pieces – and that “EA thinking” properly directed will be critical to connect business strategy with technology innovation, then you’ll find a lot to advance your EA practice at the Forrester's Enterprise Architecture Forum 2011.

Special offer: A&G subscribers are entitled to a $200 discount. Please use the following code as you sign up for the conference: EA11ANG  

by Alex Cullen, Vice President, Research Director at Forrester Research. You can read Alex’s blog here