Enterprise Architecture Matters

How to evaluate your Enterprise Architecture

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By Adrian Grigoriu on June 16, 2013 9:27 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
The enterprise architecture development should be  evaluated to  assess1. its scope, if it covers the whole enterprise or at least it plans to, starting with the parts specifically demanded. A reference (business) architecture would be necessary to compare to. 2. the artifacts fitness for... Read More..

Don't leave the EA framework at the door

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By Adrian Grigoriu on May 31, 2013 10:28 AM 1 Vote 0 Votes
I post here in response to this post of Gartner's: "Enterprise architects: Please leave your framework at the door".Please don't, that is, leave the EA framework at the door. You do it at your own peril.Because a good framework is like the... Read More..
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TOGAF misconception

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By Adrian Grigoriu on April 1, 2013 8:54 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
This post comes as a response to TOGAF Misconceptions blog by Mike Walker citing Dave Hornford which responds to some misgivings I have about the method.How does TOGAF serves your effort to develop an Enterprise Architecture? Let's have a look... Read More..

The Enterprise Architecture purpose and definition

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By Adrian Grigoriu on February 21, 2013 1:16 PM 0 Vote 0 Votes
EA, as the name states, is the architecture that is the integrated blueprint of the enterprise. It, simply put, describes the enterprise from the many angles that serve its various stakeholders.Hence, EA, as an architecture, is to be employed... Read More..

Enterprise architecture looks like an MRI scan

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By Adrian Grigoriu on February 14, 2013 12:29 PM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Architecture, in general, is about models and blueprints. Hence, enterprise architects have to devise models that describe the enterprise.  Based on these models many people in the enterprise visualize, analyze and solve their own issues, in context. Because you... Read More..

Is complexity a problem for the enterprise?

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By Adrian Grigoriu on February 11, 2013 9:52 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Richard Veryard states that "Complexity is not a problem". Let me see. Complexity is growing rapidly today. And that is as it should be.Should we not control complexity, the management of our systems and enterprises, of their issues and their... Read More..

The Business Model Canvas is neither ontology nor business architecture, it is a value chain

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By Adrian Grigoriu on December 31, 2012 12:30 PM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Is Alex Osterwalder's Business Model Canvas, BMC, an ontology or a (business) architecture as it is sometimes claimed or... something else?To start with, BMC cannot be both a (business) architecture and an ontology. That is, assuming that an architecture... Read More..

Zachman's is a process rather than a framework or an ontology

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By Adrian Grigoriu on December 3, 2012 11:07 AM 2 Vote 0 Votes
I would like to launch a challenge  with regard to Zachman's table by saying that it is neither an ontology nor a framework, as it was often said, but a good old system development process. Whatis.com states that "an ontology... Read More..

Should there be one, none or more Enterprise Architecture frameworks?

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By Adrian Grigoriu on November 16, 2012 1:26 PM 4 Vote 0 Votes
In EA, we came to the rather original situation where everybody has his own EA approach and there are more frameworks than we can count. How many frameworks does one need though to design, document develop the same system and... Read More..

On starting a new EA group

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By Adrian Grigoriu on November 4, 2012 11:31 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Plan to fulfill the expectations of those who created or sponsored the EA group. After all, they pay the bill. So ask them what they expect.In my experience, they would want to know how to select technology, what are the... Read More..

Can TOGAF be updated to deliver EA?

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By Adrian Grigoriu on October 30, 2012 3:06 PM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Here is a LinkedIn discussion on "What would make TOGAF more usable?" that prompted my post here. A framework, according to whatis.com, is "a real or conceptual structure intended to serve as a support or guide for the building of something... Read More..

Enterprise Architecture status quo

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By Adrian Grigoriu on October 13, 2012 11:01 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
To me, a core EA problem is the apparent contentment with the state of EA art. It looks like we prefer the status quo to rocking the boat. Why so though?    Since the EA body of knowledge is not... Read More..

The Enterprise Architecture design has to begin with the whole rather than the parts

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By Adrian Grigoriu on October 8, 2012 10:35 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Not unexpectedly, one of the key business stakeholders from finance asked - while I was in the process of "selling" him the EA - "why do we need EA, since you, in IT, surely have an architecture, don't you, otherwise... Read More..

Enterprise Architecture and classical visualisation techniques

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By Adrian Grigoriu on September 8, 2012 11:28 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
In this post, I will show how architecture visualisation methods used by architects for centuries (see Drew Skau's post  Visualization Architect at Visual.ly) are relevant to an EA. I'll exemplify the procedures on the  FFLV-GODS, a full EA framework.... Read More..

About Business Architecture, BizBOK and business architects

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By Adrian Grigoriu on August 28, 2012 10:50 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Nick Malik, in this post discusses the business architecture definition of the BizBOK 2.1. For completion, the BizBOK 2.1 definition cited is: "A blueprint of the enterprise that provides a common understanding of the organization and is used to... Read More..

The Enterprise Architecture function role is not of enterprise factotum

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By Adrian Grigoriu on August 12, 2012 12:15 PM 0 Vote 0 Votes
 It is often assumed the enterprise architecture function includes planning and strategy.  While this may be the case in practice, given the specifics of a job description, in theory, at least, they are separate disciplines.  The delineation of enterprise strategy,... Read More..

Politics of Enterprise Architecture

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By Adrian Grigoriu on July 9, 2012 9:58 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Why should there be EA politics in the first place? Because EA is a complex, long term human activity, demanding cooperation of many parties and expensive skilled resources. And politics is all about human interaction and competition. Because EA is... Read More..

Enterprise Architecture politics and their roots

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By Adrian Grigoriu on July 2, 2012 1:31 PM 2 Vote 0 Votes
Thinking in many Enterprises is tactical at best. Firefighting would better express the fact. This is a main source of politics in the enterprise, since stakeholders would often  question the resources allocation to the EA effort.The EA thinking is... Read More..

EA inhibitors, politics and remedies

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By Adrian Grigoriu on June 22, 2012 9:18 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
The EA is commended because of the state of high entropy of the Enterprise: high complexity, poor availability and understanding induced by years of patching, point solutions, silo operation, organic growth, mergers and a growing divide between business and... Read More..

The art of Enterprise Architecture politics, i

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By Adrian Grigoriu on June 13, 2012 9:39 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Is Enterprise Architecture a breeding ground for politics? As with any human activities and relationships, there is politics, but to what degree?EA spans business and technology knowledge domains and crosses many internal organization boundaries with often conflicting silo interests.... Read More..

Critique of the Enterprise Architecture state

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By Adrian Grigoriu on June 13, 2012 9:34 AM 3 Vote 0 Votes
Currently, there are too many EA frameworks that crowd the EA field, too many development approaches, too many insufficient metamodels... and too many parties that claim to hold the truth. Since the approaches or parties have little in common they... Read More..

Essential Enterprise Architecture governance

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By Adrian Grigoriu on May 8, 2012 10:55 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
A governance framework establishes who makes what decisions and based on what. The EA architects shall propose a governance framework that regulates the EA development itself and its employment in the enterprise. The development governance is the instrument to control the... Read More..

12 Questions to help you recruit an Enterprise Architect

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By Adrian Grigoriu on May 3, 2012 2:52 PM 0 Vote 0 Votes
How do you make sure that you chose the right candidate for an EA job? Here are a few questions that, if answered to your satisfaction, may clear the way to the appointment. Indeed, there maybe other questions that you... Read More..

Requirements, Strategy and Enterprise Architecture

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By Adrian Grigoriu on April 18, 2012 11:08 AM 2 Vote 0 Votes
Requirements apply to projects rather than to Enterprise Architecture.  It is the strategy concept that applies to the EA, rather than the requirements one. The strategy team (which usually, is not the same as the EA team), is responsible for putting together... Read More..

An Enterprise Architecture framework, FFLV-GODS

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By Adrian Grigoriu on April 9, 2012 8:26 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
FFLV-GODS is an EA methodology (or extended framework...) that integrates the many existing frameworks concepts, classifies them in four different aspects, and integrates them in this framework whole.FFLV-GODS consists of:- 1. The Framework itself describing the EA structure (its layers, views, nodes...). It looks like... Read More..
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Enterprise Architecture, the anatomy and physiology of the Enterprise

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By Adrian Grigoriu on March 21, 2012 9:34 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
How do we describe an Enterprise? Let me give you an well known example, the human body and illustrate the way the enterprise should be described, by comparison. The description of the structure and operation of the Enterprise is shown here... Read More..

Is programming languages knowledge necessary for an EA architect?

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By Adrian Grigoriu on March 9, 2012 12:52 PM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Currently, many EA architects come from and work in IT. That does not necessarily have to be so. As it happens, some have some knowledge of programming. But that does not mean that such knowledge is required for an EA.... Read More..

The Enterprise Architect's key traits from a recruitment perspective

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By Adrian Grigoriu on February 21, 2012 1:02 PM 0 Vote 0 Votes
The core requirement (the "Must") for an EA architect is a candidate that knows how to uncover the structure of systems, use the proper methods to document the enterprise operation, link parts into the whole, and understands architecture roadmapping... Read More..

The Enterprise Architecture definition in Wikipedia (iii)

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By Adrian Grigoriu on February 15, 2012 11:19 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
After a decade (or even two) of banging around the EA concept, there are too many egos and vested interests at play that render the process of objectively defining EA harder than it should be.Well, reputed fora, studiously ignoring... Read More..

Enterprise Architecture entry in Wikipedia (ii)

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By Adrian Grigoriu on February 10, 2012 10:50 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Cont'd.Wikipedia: "the United States Government describes enterprise architecture as an Information Technology function. Instead of describing enterprise architecture in relation to the practice of examining an enterprise, the U.S. Government defines the term to refer to the documented results of... Read More..

The Enterprise Architecture entry in Wikipedia (i)

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By Adrian Grigoriu on February 5, 2012 1:18 PM 0 Vote 0 Votes
 Here is a hearty LinkedIn debate about the Enterprise Architecture entry in Wikipedia. I'll comment only the outcome, the Wikipedia entry itself.  It is informative indeed, but how useful is it in practice to you? Ultimately, I found it... Read More..

The Enterprise Architecture is not the sum of the parts but the whole

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By Adrian Grigoriu on January 26, 2012 12:17 PM 1 Vote 0 Votes
In time it became rather clear to me that most EA architects usually labour at describing simple capabilities, design solution architectures, police the development of solutions, establish architecture principles - but not the full EA framework -, specify IT... Read More..

"Enterprise Architecture as Strategy" book review (2)

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By Adrian Grigoriu on December 9, 2011 4:49 PM 0 Vote 0 Votes
cnt'd The OM is  rather implicitly created  at the creation of the company or at its extension, rather than deliberately by an EA effort. It is also rather hard to believe that an EA architect, working in IT, would impose or even propose an operating model... Read More..
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"Enterprise Architecture as Strategy" book review (1)

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By Adrian Grigoriu on December 9, 2011 4:17 PM 2 Vote 0 Votes
I browsed the book "Enterprise Architecture as Strategy" by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill and David C. Robertson quite a few times, never quite making my mind about it. It is widely recommended though. But since it landed on the next desk, I decided... Read More..
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The Mobile Broadband Growth Law

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By Adrian Grigoriu on December 2, 2011 10:01 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Put together some time ago while working in mobile telecoms. I called it Adrian's Mobile Broadband Law. Lack of imagination perhaps. At the time, I produced it in the desire to forecast the rates to come in the mobile arena, so that I could... Read More..
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The Enterprise outsourcing and EA layers

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By Adrian Grigoriu on November 30, 2011 10:14 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
I just want to expose in one picture the various types of IT outsourcing a Enterprise can employ today. Here is a self-explanatory picture:     You can notice a mixture of good old traditional outsourcing such as Data Centre and Managed Services that... Read More..
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Enterprise Architecture in higher education

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By Adrian Grigoriu on November 21, 2011 2:29 PM 2 Vote 0 Votes
The EA concept should be taught in any business study. Unfortunately the body of knowledge is too fragmented and incomplete right now to arm the student with a method that delivers results. What one can teach today is the EA state... Read More..
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Enterprise Architecture principles, let's talk about them

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By Adrian Grigoriu on November 15, 2011 2:52 PM 2 Vote 0 Votes
EA professionals often specify architecture principles but rarely use them, if at all. In fact, are you using architecture principles in practice? And how, as an after thought tick list or actively during the decision process? We all have principles that guide... Read More..
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What if we start from ground up defining what is an Enterprise capability?

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By Adrian Grigoriu on October 29, 2011 9:35 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Given the fact that we can hardly get an agreement on what the Enterprise capability is, that is from an Enterprise Architecture point of view.The term Capability seems to come from the EA field rather than from the business process... Read More..
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Enterprise Architecture myths

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By Adrian Grigoriu on October 1, 2011 8:18 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
True, most if not all myths contain a bit of truth, but the key word is "bit".Myths you heard about:That you need to "sell" Enterprise Architecture. Do you? For one, the concept is straightforward. Anyone understands a plan or... Read More..
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The silent competition between the Enterprise Architecture frameworks

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By Adrian Grigoriu on July 30, 2011 8:24 AM 1 Vote 0 Votes
There you are. The silent competition. And it is silent because the proponents of a framework are tacitly saying that the other frameworks are no fit for purpose; that's why they came with a new one. Let's recap. TOGAF... Read More..
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Applications Suites or Best of Breed in the Cloud?

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By Adrian Grigoriu on July 24, 2011 9:50 AM 1 Vote 0 Votes
Lauren Carlson asked a question in the Application Strategy 2.0 that most IT departments had to, are or will be confronted with. Do you chose an Integrated Suite or Best of Breed (BoB) solutions?  The answer looks more complicated... Read More..
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Training in TOGAF, my unorthodox findings

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By Adrian Grigoriu on June 12, 2011 10:42 AM 6 Vote 0 Votes
I studied TOGAF at my own pace, along the years. The lush 800+ page were always a challenge. I also listened to and participated in many discussions. Still, last week I decided to go onto a formal training course. The trainer... Read More..
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Enterprise Architecture is the science of anatomy and physiology of an Enterprise

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By Adrian Grigoriu on May 21, 2011 9:25 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
How do we describe a system, any system? Let me give an well known example, the human body and illustrate the way it is described, by comparison.  The description of the structure and operation of the Enterprise is done... Read More..
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Enterprise Architecture goes through the trough of disillusionment

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By Adrian Grigoriu on May 2, 2011 8:56 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Enterprise Architecture goes through the trough of disillusionment. There is confusion about its definition, scope, frameworks and deliverables.In the main, EA is an IT discipline aiming to document the Enterprise, reduce duplication in process and platforms, integrate, standardise and roadmap them.Still... Read More..

Enterprise Architecture, how does it look like?

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By Adrian Grigoriu on March 12, 2011 12:44 PM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Why do we do EA, the ever lasting questionCompanies have lived without an EA for a long time now and they would continue to do so. Is there an EA business case after all? Yes, but touted benefits can be... Read More..
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Enterprise Architecture, what do we do about it?

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By Adrian Grigoriu on February 12, 2011 12:10 PM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Candid questions like " what is EA" or "how do I become an EA architect?" still asked nowadays prove that something is wrong with the EA profession.  The classical answer given today is stating EA purpose (strategy, reduce complexity...). There... Read More..
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The organization and social aspects of an Enterprise Architecture

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By Adrian Grigoriu on February 2, 2011 11:58 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
Nick Gall's post speaks about organization and motivating people as part of an EA workday. The organization architecture, the 3rd architecture tier of an EA as I call it, is invaluable, since it brings all enterprise stakeholders around the table.... Read More..
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About an enterprise architecture reference

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By Adrian Grigoriu on January 25, 2011 10:04 AM 0 Vote 0 Votes
An architecture becomes reference if it's generic enough, available and used by many in the community.  The level of abstraction of an architecture should be high enough to serve its scope--for instance, a business domain or an industry. But the... Read More..
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The state of EA at the debut of 2011

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By Adrian Grigoriu on January 19, 2011 11:57 AM 2 Vote 0 Votes
  At the beginning of the new year, let me recap again the situation of EA. Anything to be merry about?  Overall, EA looks like it always did. Little really happened in the field. No substance was added since Zachman... Read More..
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Adrian Grigoriu blogs about everything relating to enterprise and business architecture, SOA, frameworks, design, planning, execution, organization and related issues.

Adrian Grigoriu

Adrian is head of enterprise architecture at Ofcom, the spectrum and broadcasting U.K. regulatory agency. He is former chief architect of the TM Forum, an organization providing a reference integrated business architecture framework, best practices and standards for the telecommunications and digital media industries. Previously, he was an executive consultant in enterprise strategy and architecture. He has also been a high technology, enterprise architecture and strategy senior manager at Accenture and Vodafone, and a principal consultant and lead architect at Qantas, Logica, Lucent Bell Labs and Nokia. He is the author of a book on enterprise architecture development, speaks at industry conferences and has published articles with BPTrends, the Microsoft Architecture Journal and the EI magazine.

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