Original EA Survey
Several years ago Henley Business School launched a research project in collaboration with McKinsey & Company to better understand from a data-based point of view what makes Enterprise architecture successful.
The results of this survey – some findings can be found here – delivered many proof points on the value of Enterprise Architecture and what makes and Enterprise Architecture department successful:
The research showed that digital transformations without the involvement of Enterprise Architecture teams accumulate technical debt. In contrast, the proper setup of Enterprise Architecture counteracts these issues promoting sustained agility. There was clear evidence that practices such as the direct contact to the CXO level and a focus on strategic planning activities, result in the Enterprise Architecture department being recognised as more value-adding by the rest of the organization.
Lead and supporting organizations
This survey is being run as a research initiative at Henley Business School, following its ethical and privacy standards. Research leads are Dr Oliver Bossert (Visiting Fellow) and Professor Sharm Manwani.
The book presented on this website is informed by and separate from the research work at Henley Business School.
We thank the Association of Enterprise Architects for supporting the last Enterprise Architecture survey and the dissemination of this survey to progress our shared aim of enhancing Enterprise Architecture skills.
We thank the SAP Enterprise Architecture Community for supporting the survey dissemination to progress our shared aim of enhancing Enterprise Architecture skills.
Why this new survey?
The original research focused on the overall setup of Enterprise Architecture in the organization. Results of this research have shown the critical importance of the individual contributors and the need to enhance their skill sets.
The original survey mainly focuses on questions such as:
- What do Digital and EA leaders do differently in Enterprise Architecture practices?
- What are the artifacts that the Enterprise Architecture team should create?
- What is the typical size of an Enterprise Architecture team and how is it organized?
- Who does the Enterprise Architecture team mostly engage with?
- What are the consequences if Enterprise Architecture is not well known in the rest of the organization?
- …
We concluded that changing the operating model of Enterprise Architecture is important and that a key success factor is the capability of the individuals leading and working in EA. This raised many further questions addressed in this new survey.
- How important is good communication and stakeholder management for the success of Enterprise Architecture?
- How good are people at assessing and developing their own skills to achieve their targets?
- How important are technical, data and business skills for the successful governance and delivery of architecture initiatives?
- What are the skills of architects taking a lead role in business transformation?
- What are the differentiators of highly successful people in Enterprise Architecture?
- …
The original survey focused on the organization. The new survey is focused on you as an individual working in the field of Enterprise Architecture and Transformation.
The Benefits for You and the EA Profession
With your support we will create a broad database of skills and success patterns in Enterprise Architecture. The button below takes you to a survey that will take around 30 minutes to complete and that focuses on the capabilities you need to enhance the success of your enterprise and also your own career progression and performance.
The main questions cover the following categories:
- Personal Capabilities
- Architecture Capabilities
- Managerial Capabilities
- Enterprise Context
- Personal Context and Success Performance
Please leave your contact details so that we can share the results of the study from a critical mass of data points.
- You will receive an overall summary that reports on the skills that are critical for the success in Enterprise Architecture
- You will also get an individual report that will allow you to compare your profile with the survey population.
We appreciate your time in contributing to this research effort and trust it will support your personal development!