Beyond EA

Contributor: Horst Schmidt

Yes, we know. Enterprise architects are the communicators between business and IT. We enable the business to work with effective IT support and ensure that the IT budget is spent useful. Every year we spend less on IT and increase the quality and service provided, and we know that this communicator role includes fulfilling the requirements of many different stakeholders. Yes, it is true.

But also true: we’re often not good at it. We are very good in modeling the future. Developing the perfect scenario. To use the term “architect” literally: we love building houses from scratch. But we are expected to re-build existing ones. Replace the heating by a more efficient one, modernize the electricity. And the owner cares about costs and effectiveness, not about beauty. Sound familiar?

So, what is the architect’s role in there? It is the manager of all the different craftsmen involved. Our main task is to synchronize plumbers and electricians, not designing a pretty facade. Needs therefore? To be perfectly informed of the current state of the house. Whoever restored an old house knows about the surprises I’m writing about. You can’t just think out of the result, you need to consider the As-Is. Reality keeps ruining our lives. The difficulty is that information consumer and provider are different. Why should any craftsman document his work beyond the direct needs? Providing information for the next reconstruction? It just costs him valuable time. That is what we have in most projects. We start with rediscovering lost knowledge. 30% of Enterprise Architecture is Archeology.
So we must focus on increasing information quality. Ensure that all information collected by any craftsman is accessible to others. Meaningful structured. That data quality is an advantage also for the provider. And: That this knowledge base is used the next time!
To fulfill the owner’s expectations we have to draft him a great picture as well as take care of all the details. And at the end: rebuilding is not that bad. Michelangelo just re-painted an existing roof; he did not build the chapel. Who did? Nobody cares.