By Lisa Woodall
Org charts are often seen as essential tools—a quick go-to for anyone asking, “Who reports to whom?” But once we have the chart, what do we really do with it? More often than not, we’re trying to figure out who we need to connect, communicate, and coordinate with to get things done.
But does everyone we need to engage with fall neatly within the same hierarchy and team? Or do we need to reach beyond our immediate circles—to the broader network?
IT often focuses on keeping the lights on: ensuring service integrity, managing access, and protecting data. These tasks can usually be handled within the confines of a defined hierarchy.
But IT also has to cater for a significant amount of change – major upgrades in infrastructure environments, operating platforms and products – introducing new technology and ways of working – developing tech based client and customer propositions
And when it comes to change and transformation, effective connections, communication, and coordination across the hierarchical org chart of data, applications, infrastructure, and security services—becomes a complex network. It’s within this network, in the “white space” between these silos, where the real magic happens.
This is where the value of Enterprise Architecture (EA) truly shines. Acting as the essential partner to the business CIO, EA helps navigate these white spaces—mapping out challenges, assessing transition states, and guiding the mobilization of change through product squads, regular releases, or program targets and outcomes.
This work isn’t done in isolation. A skilled EA collaborates closely with:
- Business-aligned CIOs and operational client, product, and service teams working with customer experience and design experts understanding pain points and opportunity areas.
- IT service and support teams, leveraging demand insights by relevant service areas and channels looking for issues of the current technical solutions not being fit for purpose
- Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in data, applications, infrastructure, and security understanding what it would take to introduce new technology, practices and processes
- Portfolio management and PMO teams assessing priorities and affordability within the context of the business performance
Navigating the org chart, pulling on the white space and the Venn diagram of roles and responsibilities of the heirachy to get things done is an art, a craft and a skill and the organisational context, behaviours and attitudes can make the role challenging.
An EA soon realises that cracking the code on how things get changed around here is far more complex than understanding how things get done. Real change requires understanding the dynamics of the org chart hierarchies coming together – day to day transactions and tasks can often get completed within the hierarchy.
How is your organisation enabling the domains and services of IT to come together and take advantage of the IT possibilities in pursuit of better business performance?