FAQ – What is “True-EA”?

True Enterprise Architecture (True-EA) is quite simply architecting the enterprise.  The overwhelming majority of EA efforts that we have come in contact with over the last two decades have, in fact, been IT Enterprise Architecture (IT-EA) efforts.  They have been led and operated by IT professionals working within the CIO/CTO’s organization, with a focus on … Read more

FAQ – Do organizations really practice “True-EA”?

During the past couple years, we have begun working with clients where the efforts of IT-centric business and information architecture efforts have been sponsored and eventually taken over by representatives of senior leadership outside of the IT organization.  While still a minority of the companies we deal with, it is a positive trend, driven by … Read more

True-IA? A True-EA Perspective for Information Architecture

Lately, there has been a lot of focus on business architecture within the EA community.  We would like to expand the thinking of business architecture to include the element of information.  Traditionally the focus of many IT shops has been in the delivery and enhancement of information systems that automated manual business processes.  However, over time, … Read more

What is True-EA?

True Enterprise Architecture (True-EA) is quite simply architecting the enterprise. “Isn’t this what Enterprise Architecture always has been?” you may be asking yourself. In actuality, the overwhelming majority of EA efforts that we have come in contact with over the last two decades have, in fact, been IT Enterprise Architecture (IT-EA) efforts. Tim Westbrock and … Read more

Too Much Tactical Focus with Business Architecture?

As more and more organizations embrace Enterprise Architecture with a concerted effort in Business Architecture (BA),. we are beginning to see one of the common pitfalls of IT Architecture (ITA) spill over — too much focus on the tactical, project level.  Apparently, getting business representatives involved in applying EA discipline to the business architecture does … Read more

Transformational View of EA

OK, so you think you are practicing Enterprise Architecture, right? As I have pointed out before, the key is the answer to the question, “Are you architecting the enterprise, or are you architecting IT?” As I dare say, most of you (if not all) would answer honestly that you are architecting the IT environment (apps, … Read more

Is it Enterprise Architecture or IT Architecture?

In many of the online EA forums I follow, too numerous to mention all by name, I am seeing an increasing amount of participants questioning whether topics are related to EA or not.   Generally these topics are about lower-level, technology decisions that while within the purview of the overall EA, are really infrastructure/operations level decisions.  … Read more

Business Architecture vs. IT Architecture

We are finding Business Architecture (BA) to be one of the most misunderstood but high-profile interests of business executives, CIOs and enterprise architects alike. They are asking questions like: • Is BA the key to enabling business transformation through an enterprise (EA) effort? • Does everyone have a business architecture? • Is it owned and … Read more