Many CIOs at large incumbents have realized that digital-native businesses often operate without enterprise architects. This discovery has raised questions about the relevance of architects in agile DevOps models. However, eliminating the architect role is not the solution. Unlike digital natives, most established companies face legacy issues and rely on workarounds. Research shows that digital transformations suffer when architects are not involved.
Expanding the Objectives of Enterprise Architecture
In a rapidly changing landscape where technology drives business value, enterprise architecture (EA) plays a crucial role in enabling and accelerating tech transformations. The objectives of EA have evolved to meet the demands of the digital-first world. There are three key objectives:
1. Enable Strategic Decisions
EA is now a business-level priority, as major failures no longer only impact IT budgets but affect the entire business. Architectural decisions have significant implications for a company’s strategy and operating model. For example, deciding how checkout and payment functionality is implemented can impact a company’s ability to become an omnichannel retailer. Digital advanced companies plan for the future and engage enterprise architects to enable their vision.
2. Ensure Reusability
In the past, development focused on one-off solutions, leading to technical debt and inconsistent customer experiences. EA now plays a crucial role in ensuring new solutions reuse established functionality. This not only saves time but also ensures a consistent customer experience. Enterprise architects facilitate discussions between product teams, help identify reusable features, and align them with the company’s strategy.
3. Enable Development Speed
Flexibility and responsiveness are essential for digital businesses. Enterprise architects need to provide technology components and best practices to new development teams, creating a ready-to-use platform. This accelerates development and maintains consistency in the tech foundation layer.
The Practical Changes Needed in the Enterprise Architect’s Role
Modern enterprise architects must operate differently than their counterparts of the past. Three significant shifts are necessary:
From Technology Theorist to Pragmatic Communicator
Enterprise architects need to understand the business implications of technology decisions and communicate them effectively to board members and executive teams. They must articulate how architecture decisions contribute to business outcomes and ROI in practical “business” language.
From System Advocate to Engineer
Architects must think and operate more like engineers, understanding operational aspects and having coding knowledge. They need to be able to change code to achieve desired outcomes and ensure their advice aligns with the business’s needs.
From Enforcer to Coach
Instead of being strict enforcers, enterprise architects should adopt a customer-oriented mindset, supporting colleagues in finding solutions. Rules and guidelines should be integrated into the deployment mechanism, providing timely feedback and suggestions to developers.
Practical Steps to Modernize the Role of Enterprise Architecture
To modernize the role and function of EA, CIOs should consider the following steps:
Clarify Accountabilities
Define clear accountability for EA objectives and establish decision rights. Implement a few strict rules, such as prohibiting non-service-based communication between teams, rather than relying on a lengthy catalog of hard-to-enforce rules.
Build an Architecture Mindset
Educate the entire company on the importance of good architecture and its impact on the business. Embed an architecture mindset by demonstrating the consequences of poor architecture choices and root-cause issues.
Nurture Soft Skills
Provide training and capability-building programs to enhance architects’ communication skills, enabling them to speak the language of business and effectively engage with stakeholders.
Find New Talent
Consider hiring external talent with the relevant skills and expertise. Anchor hires, experienced architects from leading tech players, can be catalysts for technology transformations, bringing valuable experience and deep technical knowledge.
Enterprise architecture remains crucial for most companies in the digital age. By embracing the evolving role of EA and investing in the necessary skills, organizations can leverage architecture as the foundation for successful tech transformations.
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