Understand how Enterprise Architecture can connect the organization to generate value and address negative silo impacts. Raise your Enterprise Architecture skills to build a shared goal to close the gaps.
Understand the disconnects in strategic transformation
Sharm Manwani and Oliver Bossert, 2024
You cannot deliver strategy without (an aligned) structure that executes the strategic plan. And you cannot transform a complex enterprise structure without first designing it. If you do build it without properly architecting it, you will likely end up with an unreliable, non-compliant and inefficient operation.
As part of our research (as published for example here) we were able to show that if Enterprise Architecture is focused on strategic planning activities they are able to deliver more reliable business solutions, contribute better to project benefits and are recognized by the organization as adding value.
As well as Enterprise Architecture connecting strategy and execution, it also aims to connect business and IT. Without this alignment, the IT groups are likely to build solutions that do not add value or are inflexible to change. In our research we found that digital transformations on average tend to produce solutions where the number of point to point connections is increased while the reuse of connections is decreased at the same time (same source as above). This paradoxically makes future changes more difficult even though a key goal of digital is to sustainably enhance agility.
Alignment is achieved through an integrated operating model with Enterprise Architecture at its core. This requires strong engagement with multiple stakeholders to reconcile diverse views. When Enterprise Architecture teams are properly engaged they are able to enhance business benefits and reduce the technical debt created by a digital transformation.
Hence Enterprise Architecture, at its best, is a key contributor to enterprise success connecting strategic alignment, structural design, transformation and operation. And Enterprise Architecture also spans and integrates business and technology. That means the pace and scope of digital and AI evolution bring huge challenges and opportunities to an enterprise. Like the juggler in the picture the Enterprise Architect has to balance many elements without anyone getting burned.
Given this context in almost every industry, you would expect that executives would be very eager to build a strong Enterprise Architecture capability. Yet our research shows that there is often a disconnect between those nominally responsible for Enterprise Architecture and those who can most benefit from it. Specifically, in a significant percentage of enterprises, many business colleagues had no awareness of what Enterprise Architecture did.
This disconnect results in Enterprise Architecture acting as a barrier or missing link to achieving strategic advantage for the enterprise stakeholders.
Build a shared goal to close the gaps
This gap in achieving strategic advantage is mostly due to
- a lack of possibilities for exchange and discussion
- a lack of understanding among key stakeholders and
- a lack of skills among the Enterprise Architecture team.
The first point might sound very simple and obvious. For alignment to happen there has to be time for interaction and discussions. Quite often Enterprise Architecture is not high enough on the agenda to really engage in a good discussion.
This is also one of the disadvantages of having Enterprise Architecture “buried” too deep in the organization hierarchy. While we do not see a statistically significant difference between Enterprise Architecture reporting into the CEO of one level below (often the CIO) when it comes to the interaction with C-level executives there is a significant difference if Enterprise Architecture is on level 3.
While having enough time for discussions is necessary for alignment it is usually not sufficient. Enterprise Architects have to communicate in the language of their stakeholders. Enterprise leaders will not see the benefits of the the connection of multiple boxes and lines of a ‘to be’ framework if the Enterprise Architecture team lacks the skills to translate this into a financial impact statement and syndicate it with the right stakeholders.
Who is responsible for closing the alignment gap? Should it be the enterprise leaders or the Enterprise Architecture professionals. As with most difficult questions, the answer is that it depends. If there is no Enterprise Architecture function, then the CxO team should take time out to understand what Enterprise Architecture capability is needed and to appoint the right person to lead it.
If instead there is a working Enterprise Architecture team that is falling short of its potential, the Enterprise Architecture leadership should enhance their capability and bridge the gap.
Some blend of these two approaches is likely to achieve common ground. You don’t have to attend a karaoke session together but you should be targeting a mutual understanding and confidence. We recommend a four-step process.
- Educate each other – executives explain the business and EA informs about technology.
- Go and visit the other groups in person – EA professionals to take a day with a sales manager and executives to sit in on an agile discussion.
- Follow-up this interconnection by creating a safe forum to ask questions – both to learn and also to challenge the ‘why’ from first principles.
- Finally, further learn by doing, by co-creating a solution. Iterate through the above steps as needed.
Ultimately we need to recognise that Enterprise Architecture is not an individual technical activity but a shared holistic responsibility. This requires a significant reappraisal of the required EA skills.
Raise your EA Skills to address the enterprise disconnects
In complex enterprises, disconnects occur all the time. Successful alignment is not possible without the right blend of EA skills. Managing IT and business as well as strategic and operational tasks requires advanced skills on three levels:
- Transform self: The right skillset and personal capabilities of the individual is the key foundation of everything.
- Transform architecture: The architecture of the company has to be transformed to support the business and IT strategy and implement it with operational excellence. This requires strong functional capabilities.
- Transform the enterprise: Some changes will not only affect the day to day operations but will require the organization to change at scale. This needs a different level of managerial and transformation capabilities.
We have represented these skills in an EA Capability map – see below. While we use ‘skills’ as it is commonly used, our perspective is on building the ‘capability’ of an individual that encompasses skills, knowledge, behaviours and the accumulated experience to be effective in enterprise architecture and transformation.
These skills cover three main leadership areas – personal leadership, professional (functional) leadership and organization (managerial) leadership. They will be expanded on in future articles which will be followed by an EA Skills book that provides practical guidance on how to develop your skills.
It is important to note that developing the right skills requires the right people to start with. In our research we find that good architects are rather attracted by interesting challenges and recognition in the organization (which often depends on alignment).
Creating a setup where Enterprise Architecture is positioned to work on interesting challenges and where other stakeholders perceive them as value-adding is an important foundation for building skills.
What’s next
If you want to learn a bit more about the skill areas in the capability map you can read about them in these articles:
If you do not want to miss any new articles and would like to stay in touch with us regarding the book publishing roadmap you can subscribe to our newsletter here.
This article is also a precursor to both an EA skills survey. If you recognise the need to address the enterprise disconnects through Enterprise Architecture, we hope you will want to take a deeper dive into the required skills and how to develop them and take the survey here.