Enterprise Architecture should focus more on business requirements and strategy (and ultimately … Enterprise Architecture (EA) has been instrumental in that journey, and in this article, we provide some valuable lessons that we have learned on our journey to build an Enterprise Architecture … Enterprise Architecture provides MORE VISIBILITY to develop a BETTER VISION. The most important question about change for organizations is not how to deal with it, or how to manage it but more importantly how to make it and how to be the change for its shareholders, its employees, its customers and its society. It's more or less a strategic planning approach or methodology for all types of organizations and enterprises focusing on three main questions : Answering these three simple questions is key to make change meanwhile change is more and more fundamental to existence. At its logical foundations, Enterprise Architecture is a way of thinking; a way of operating that permeates a company to support good decision making, similar to Business Insights. Getting solution architecture confused with enterprise architecture - EA's focus is organisation-wide; Organisational structures that don’t support the breadth necessary for successful Enterprise Architecture; Lack of funding; True Enterprise Architecture encompasses everything from vision to the detailed requirements. Enterprise Architecture should focus more on business requirements and strategy (and ultimately customers needs and preferences) rather than on resources (including IT). Does the organization limp along within the confines of the existing architecture, or does the organization make a strategic decision to be better? It's indeed a management discipline to better understand the  enterprise (more visibility) and to make it evolve efficiently (better vision). “Enterprise architecture (EA) is a discipline for proactively and holistically leading enterprise responses to disruptive forces by identifying and analyzing the execution of … Enterprise Architecture (EA) has been instrumental in that journey, and in this article, we provide some valuable lessons that we have learned on our journey to build an Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) function to support our digital transformation, and how we used EAM to become and remain relevant during digital disruption. Enterprise Architecture can design and implement a system, re-architect an entire business unit or build a product line from scratch. In other words it aims at balancing function, structure and form. Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a field claimed by many, understood by few, practised by fewer and scoffed at by plenty. Do you already have the building in place and want to keep the shell? What sets an organisation with Enterprise Architecture apart from its peers is not necessarily a great suite of products or services, and/or a highly efficient IT platform, it is that the organisation knows where it is, where it is going and how it is going to get there. What applies for organization is applicable for human beings, Le syndrome du "salon avant le séjour"​ et…. The final principle that is crucial to successful enterprise architecture is that it has to play a crucial role in the development of the organization’s strategy. Why is Enterprise Architecture important for Business Growth? So, what does a well-designed and executed EA achieve? It emerged as a discrete practice when people began to realise the highly skilled individuals who were initially responsible for designing, building and running computer systems were often missing opportunities to fully integrate those systems into the business, and provide outcomes that could be appreciated across the C-suite. It is indeed important because it combines current requirements and constraints with future development and target state. If you can recognise your own organisation in the article above, take the next step now and discover whether or not your organisation requires Enterprise Architecture. Do you need a carport, house, or a concert hall? Enterprise Architecture is a relatively new discipline (the first article mentioning the word is Zachman's famous article in 1987) most of the time associated with IT while -in my opinion- it goes far beyond IT. Some of the challenges with Enterprise Architecture exist around the following: But the greatest challenge is that a lot of organisations don't even know they're missing an Enterprise Architecture. This is the beginning of EA. IT – An EA approach in this department can help with the unification of processes, improving interoperability between systems and helping to reduce the number of applications essentially repeating the same processes. "Architecture is as much about art as it is about science", 'Architecture is rather a verb than a noun". Enterprise Architecture provides MORE VISIBILITY to develop a BETTER VISION. Architecture is important everywhere in our lives. Enterprise architecture and strategy brings different benefits to different business departments, but has a role to play in more of them than you might expect. The reality is that while the discipline is relatively new, the activities involved have always been an important part of business planning (just not combined into the single role).