Original EA Survey
Several years ago Henley Business School launched a research project in collaboration with McKinsey & Company to better understand from a scientific 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 was able to show that digital transformations without the involvement of Enterprise Architecture teams accumulate technical debt and then the proper setup of Enterprise Architecture could counteract these issues.
There is also clear evidence that some practices, such as the direct contact to the CXO level and enough time for strategic planning activities make the Enterprise Architecture department more efficient, effective and considered to be more value-adding by the rest of the organization.
Why this new survey?
The existing research is very much focused on the Enterprise Architecture Team as an organizational unit and the overall setup of Enterprise Architecture in the organization. While this is a very important the results of the research have also shown the tremendous importance of the individual contributor and the skill set that they have established.
The existing survey mainly focuses on questions such as:
- What is the typical size of an Enterprise Architecture team and how is it organized?
- What are the implications if Enterprise Architecture is not well known in the rest of the organization?
- What are the artifacts that the Enterprise Architecture team should create?
- …
These levers can only be changed by few people in the organization. Changing the operating model or the organizational setup of Enterprise Architecture is usually a big effort that requires alignment of senior stakeholders. There however also a lot of important questions that are relevant for each person working with or in architecture related topics in the company:
- 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 skills, data skills 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 existing survey is focused on the organization. The new survey is focused on you as an individual working in the field of Enterprise Architecture and Transformation.
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 SAP Enterprise Architecture Community and other stakeholders for supporting the survey dissemination to progress our shared aim of enhancing Enterprise Architecture skills.
Only Henley’s research leads will have access to the survey data. Survey supporters such as the SAP Community will have access to the accumulated data analysis.
We need you
We need your support to 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 ensure the success of your enterprise and also your own career progression and success.
The main questions cover the following categories:
- Personal Capabilities
- Architecture Capabilities
- Managerial Capabilities
- Enterprise Context
- Personal Context and Success Performance
If you participate the in survey and leave your contact details we will share the results of the study and an individual report with you once we have collected 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 support and request you take the time to contribute to this research effort and your personal development at the same time!