EA Rediscovered – Solutions Architects

In this next podcast in the “EA Rediscovered” series we will address various organizational models for Solutions Architects.   Should they report directly to a centralized EA team, provisioned as needed to guide project designs?  Should they report directly to development group leaders and be permanently resident in those communities? We are asked this question on an almost daily … Read more

Characteristics of Effective EA (Revisited)

Effective and Proactive EA

Below you will see the content of a previous post, reposted for a couple of reasons.  One, I had a recent conversation with a client about this topic which brought it to front of mind.  Second, I have been having a lot of conversations with clients, prospects, George, and some of our peers regarding the … Read more

Characteristics of Effective EA

There are a few characteristics of an effective Enterprise Architecture (as well as IT Architecture) practice and its artifacts that must be established and maintained throughout its existence.  In order to be effective, EA and ITA need to influence investment decision-making at the portfolio level.  This means being able to show the impact of investment … Read more

Let the Budgeting Process Begin – EA’s Role

As the annual corporate budgeting season begins, we find ourselves again fielding client inquiries about the role that EA should play in this annual rite. Like many such EA best practice questions, there is the EA purist answer and then there are the many variations of more practical answers.

EAdirections speaking at AOGEA Collaboration Event in Southfield, MI

George Paras and Tim Westbrock are scheduled to speak at the upcoming Collaboration Event sponsored by the AOGEA Michigan Chapter (Association of Open Group Enterprise Architects) on September 16, 2010 from 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, MI. The theme of the event is “Interoperability between various disciplines in an enterprise”.

CIO’s and EA – Leadership Challenges in IT

We ask a lot of our CIOs. Just follow the myriad magazine articles and research pieces targeting CIOs to read of the breadth and depth of expectations heaped upon a single role. It’s a tough job and can’t easily be characterized into a simple role description. So, what is the CIO to do?

EA Value Contribution

What value does the EA function provide to the enterprise? That question consistently ranks in the top ten list of most frequently asked EA questions. The answer to the question depends on who is asking and what answer they expect to hear based on their personal and professional interpretation of the word “value”. A systematic, multi-part approach to addressing the value question can lend clarity.