Welcome to the world of architecture
“Architects have to dream. We have to search for our Atlantises, to be explorers, adventurers, and yet to build responsibly and well.”
Renzo Piano, Italian architect, has observed that the job of an architect is an adventurous one: It’s a job in the twilight of art and science, on the rim of invention and memory, between spirit for modernization and respect for tradition. What he has observed for the building industry also holds for IT. IT architects are a fusion of artists and scientists, inventors and librarians, visionaries and obtainers of values. They face similar challenges and, therefore, may take over ideas from their “classic” fellows and transfer these to IT.
Architecture on different Scales
In analogy, this is also true for enterprise architecture. There is simply a change in perspective. It is quite similar to city planning. A city is typically divided into quarters where the same (global) but also local rules may apply.
E.g., a global rule throughout all of the city of Munich demands that for any new building the owner also has to provide a certain amount of parking lots given by a factor of the number of apartments. Such a rule increases your change of finding one.
An example for a local rule is that any building in the core area of Munich mustn’t be higher than the towers of the Marienkirche (Mary’s Church). Such a rule ensures sustainability in terms of a really unique skyline.
Did you know…
Googling for “IT Governance” or “Enterprise Architecture”…
…results in ~250,000,000 and almost a billion hits respectively – quite impressive. We are obviously talking about disciplines that already support your processes or should at least be on your agenda one way or another.
Tools for Enterprise Architecture…
…are regularly analyzed by Gartner. After years of mergers and acquisitions ~15 best known tools can be found on the “Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Architecture Tools”. And a third of those compete in the leaders quadrant indicating some level of maturity in that area.