I posted the other day on the Enterprise CIO blog an entry about the CIO’s role and the self-driving business that got me thinking about the Enterprise architect and the processes (e.g., TOGAF). There seems to be a lack of any real automation thread. Do you see one? This clearly needs to be addressed.
One of the primary roles of an Enterprise Architect is to identify, define and support business transformation projects. The capabilities of the technologies and the business drivers have changed quite dramatically in recent years but the processes in many ways remain the same. EA practitioners will need to take a very different approach to their role going forward and how it can shape the business.
Automation will be playing an ever increasing role in business. One concept that needs to be address is that of Enterprise Context Management, which is one of those foundational elements needed for automation, yet that’s not really part of any EA process work product – at least that I know of. To me this is like a repository of enterprise state (for lack of a better term) and who subscribes to the changes in state.
Gartner came up with the term of Vanguard Enterprise Architect, describing EAs that are focused on digital business techniques and its value to the business. As part of this more forward looking approach, architects need to understand that it’s not about creating documents but about blending people, process and system to meet business needs. Through the use of automation techniques the environment will still need to be human-centric, it will just use those individual’s attention more efficiently and effectively.
The days of EA’s gathering, documenting and then just placing a few recommendations on the table are likely over. EA is not about just hardware, software and projects. Sure those play a part but now it is services, relationships and a holistic ecosystem view aligned to desired outcomes. The expectation should be for the EA to deliver business outcomes, backed by contextual depth of impact and analytics that maximize the value from one of the scarcest resources in any business, the creativity of its people.
Beyond the intersection of technology and life 