What is Enterprise Architecture?

Enterprise Architecture is a natural response to change in the face of complexity; as external and internal forces apply pressure on your organization, your long-term success will depend on your ability to plan an effective response to the change that those forces will bring about. The more complex your organization and the more disruptive the forces, the more you will begin to realize that an effective plan must be predicated on a good understanding of where you are and where you want to be.

Enterprise Architecture (EA) should be understood as both a noun and a verb. EA is something you have AND something you do.

As a noun, EA is the set of artifacts that describe the current and desired future state of your organization (the Enterprise) through its components and their relationships across various Architectural domains including Business, Information, Application, Security and Infrastructure.

As a verb, EA is the practice of improving your organization’s ability to effectively respond to change by aligning your Information Management (IM) and Information Technology (IT) capabilities and services to your business vision and strategy.

So, relying on the understanding expressed through the artifacts that describe your organization’s current and desired future state, the practice of EA enables your organization to be more effectively responsive to change by guiding key decisions that influence the planning and execution of transformative initiatives.

This post was originally published on my LinkedIn page.

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