George S. Paras

Will EA Groups disappear in 2009?

EA viability in the current economy is a hot topic these days. Just last week I was asked to respond to a statement recently read by one of our workshop attendees. It said that “Half of all EA projects will disappear this year because they can’t demonstrate business value”.

TOGAF 9.0 Released February 2, 2009

The Open Group announced the release of the latest version of The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF), 9.0, during the 21st Enterprise Architecture Practitioners Conference in San Diego this week. It is available for download at http://www.opengroup.org/architecture/togaf/. During a briefing with The Open Group representatives last month, EAdirections learned about the improvements and additional components … Read more

EA-Certified: To Be or Not To Be?

We have been getting a lot of questions on the value of Enterprise Architecture (EA) certifications in the last 6 months. There seems to have been an increase in the offerings of EA certifications. Like many elements associated with EA, such as tools, frameworks, methods, continued maturation is evident. However, EAdirections generally cautions its clients … Read more

Inaugural IT Architect Regional Conference a Success!

I spent a couple days 2 weeks ago presenting at and attending the IT Architect Regional Conference (ITARC) in Atlanta, sponsored by the International Association of Software Architects (IASA). The event, like the professional organization itself, is the brainchild of IASA founder and president, Paul Preiss. Paul is a former software architect who has taken … Read more

Measure Capability by Effectiveness, not Maturity

For years we have seen and heard organizations, consultants, analysts (yes, even me) and other EA practitioners discuss the notion of EA MATURITY. Most of these discussions focus on metrics and levels similar to the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) process improvement system developed by the Systems Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. As a matter … Read more

Does EA Figure into Strategic Sourcing and Procurement?

Over the last year or so, I have been working with a company, BluePrint Marketing, which specializes in improving the sales and marketing capabilities of IT vendors. During that time, two things have become clear to me. 1) While IT vendors are increasingly aware that EA plays a role in strategic sourcing and procurement decisions, … Read more

Enterprise Transformation

Looking beyond the clutter of day-to-day priorities, transformation is an ever-present and fundamental driving force for the enterprise. High performing C-Level business executives commonly have a business vision for an enterprise that is bigger, better or different than it is today. This vision yields a set of transformation goals such as simplification, cost reduction, increased … Read more