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In our last blog post, The Next Chapter of Enterprise Architecture: Self-Service, we examined the change in mind-set that seems to be occurring in all corners of the enterprise when it comes to EA. We wrote about EA tools as a catalyst to empower stakeholders all across the enterprise with quality decision-making information available whenever needed:

“With digital and technological disruptors firmly rooted in our world there is a massive mind shift at play in how we interact with technology as well as how we expect to get things done.”

In this post we will further explore why the timing now seems right for EA to go through this renaissance.

To start, EA has evolved. It is no longer an IT-centric discipline focused on creating a set of artifacts in the form of complex maps and models only understood by a few with limited ‘actionability’ in terms of driving measurable business outcomes. To serve the evolving needs of decision-makers EA has evolved as well. With the rise of digital business and the rapid pace of change in the market it is more important than ever for decision-makers to not only know exactly where to invest in their business, but to also better understand the impacts of those investment decisions.

“While many biz & IT execs are aware of disruptive innovations in IT (such as the nexus of forces and digital business), they often struggle to identify the impact and implications of these innovations to their business model.” – Gartner

With the most comprehensive understanding of how every piece of an organization is connected, enterprise architects are poised to take the lead in how the enterprise responds to disruptive forces and change, whatever their origin.

When we talk about disruptive forces we mean consumer expectations, digital business, new technologies, regulatory demands, social media and more. EA in a leadership role helps organizations navigates these disruptors while staying focused on its strategic goals and vision.

In this new era enterprise architects still have to maintain their knowledge of IT, but they have to move beyond those contributions and activities, introducing themselves as strategic advisors who communicate EA’s value to all parts of the business. Today, enterprise architects are also looked to for strategic budget decisions. They must be able to vet how a new investment will support corporate outcomes and transform the business. Further, they must assimilate the integration costs and process to assure the company realizes the value.

This renaissance of EA has only just begun, but some big wins are already in the marketplace. Read how Troux customer HSBC is undertaking a massive program to simplify operations through EA. Find the complete article on Computer Weekly, HSBC makes executives responsible for application consolidation.