With technology expertise and business savvy, today's enterprise architects are helping to connecting silos and enable the enterprise vision. Consulting firm Shift Technologies, which runs the Open Group Arabia chapter talked about how Enterprise Architecture (EA) is helping orgnisations work with IT that enables business strategy today and tomorrow. Kavitha Rajasekhar Vivek brings you this report.

Enterprise architecture focuses on four crucial Cs: connection, collaboration, communication and customers. In its simplest terms, enterprise architecture is the process of aligning a business' strategic vision with its information technology. It connects different business units for synergistic communication and collaboration, creating a more seamless customer (or end-user) experience.

Enterprise architecture's goal is IT that enables business strategy today and tomorrow, says Allen Brown, President and CEO of The Open Group, a global vendor and technology neutral consortium that works to set EA frameworks.  “Traditional organisations have departments that work in silos. The Open Group has been working for to push this concept called Boundryless Organisation where information flows are seamless and integrated,” Brown adds.

The Open Group globally supports the TOGAF framework, which has fast emerged as the preferred EA standard and methodology that governs the enterprise mapping, technology, data and business process flows. “We need standards for architecture and avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. Methodology and frameworks form the heart of success with it comes to creating an integrated organisation,” he says.

Enterprise architects therefore are a critical link in this chain. Shift Technologies, EA consulting specialists and the representative for The Open Group for the Middle East currently specialises in training executives on Enterprise Architecture frameworks.

“The enterprise architect must map, define and standardise technology, data and business processes to make that possible. It is imperative that the enterprise architect have both a micro and macro view of the organisation and work towards transforming tech-speak into the language of business,” says Abdallah El Kadi, CEO and Chief Architect of Shift Technologies.

Real-world example

A good case in point is the Enterprise Architecture project at Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD), which embarked on an ambitious enterprise architecture project at the start of 2009 as part of its overall modernisation initiative.

Lead by the ADJD IT Bureau, the project witnessed significant integration between IT best practices, namely Enterprise Architecture, IT Governance, IT Service Management, Software Development Lifecycle and Service Oriented Architecture all in alignment with the business strategy of the organisation.

“The aim of the project was to propel the IT Bureau towards its vision of becoming a recognised leader in technological innovations for an accessible and transparent justice system that maintains a high degree of public trust and confidence,” says Rashid Al Dhaheri, IT Director, ADJD.

 “Through this exercise, the IT Bureau gained not only an in depth knowledge of ADJD's business and operations, but its departments and bureaus (core and administration). This was achieved through the co-operation between all business heads and focal points who participated in extensive interviews and workshops,” he adds.

 The IT Bureau engaged in strengthening its internal structure and operations by enhancing its IT Service Management processes using the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) standards, by introducing and adopting an IT Governance Framework using the Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT), and by developing a Software Development Lifecycle Method (SDLC) based on Rational Unified Process (RUP) standards.

“By establishing one of the most comprehensive enterprise architecture practices comprising of a complete repository of business, application and infrastructure artifacts, ADJD has set a strong foundation for managing change effectively, he says.

The enterprise architecture practice implementation included the development of a comprehensive enterprise architecture framework based on the Zachman Framework structure, an architecture development method (ADM) based on The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) and a complete segment architecture to enable effective on demand architecture work as compared to the traditional “boil the ocean” documentation driven approach used in most enterprise architecture initiatives.

“With this platform in place and the support of the actionable best practices implemented, ADJD is set to enhance its business and IT alignment, strengthen its change management capabilities, reduce its time to deploy solutions, rationalise its technology investment and adoption and thus enhance its overall performance in line with the objective of becoming a recognised world class judiciary operation,” Al Dhaheri emphasises.

BOX

The Rise of Enterprise Architecture

The field of enterprise architecture has moved away from reactive one-off projects to becoming an increasingly structured field. Enterprise architecture's roots are in the desire to serve what is best for the enterprise versus the individual department or project and it gained traction from the bottom up. Here are some pointers to why it makes sense for organisations to consider:

·          Enterprise architecture requires looking for whatever is reusable, such as opportunities for standardised technical platforms and access to shared data.

·          It is the overarching architecture that guides business, data, information, technical and network architectures.

·          Enterprise architecture is proactive, helping organizations figure out what systems to map and connect, how best to accomplish this.

·          Enterprise Architecture enables the enterprise architect to become a key player in bringing to life the enterprise vision.

·          It helps bridge silos.

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