For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

The Five Essential Metrics For Managing EA

by Jeff Scott, November 17, 2009

Enterprise architects frequently ask what metrics they should use to demonstrate EA's progress and value to the organization. CIOs want to know what they are getting for their investment in EA, and EAs see metrics as an important tool for promoting their . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Global Enterprise Architecture Self-Assessment Tool  (186 KB XLS)

by Jost Hoppermann, November 5, 2009

Forrester's Global Enterprise Architecture Self-Assessment Tool is an interactive tool designed to help enterprise architecture professionals identify their global EA initiative's probability of success. The tool bases this assessment on an organization's . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Global EA Drives Global IT: Assess Your EA Initiative's Global Readiness

by Jost Hoppermann, November 5, 2009

Poor results when working to facilitate global IT are often a result of poorly executed global EA programs, poor preparation, and/or a too-positive perception of the global business and IT environment. Forrester's Global Enterprise Architecture Self-Assessment . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

What's Next For The IT-To-BT Transformation: The Contractualization Trend

by Henry Peyret, October 14, 2009

The combination of the current economic climate and business globalization is accelerating the evolution of business models toward a networked model, where businesses focus on their core competencies to add value and engage with other external and internal . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Global EA Drives Global IT: Case Studies

by Jost Hoppermann, September 24, 2009

More and more, large global enterprises are going for global modes of operation, including global IT and, in particular, globally used applications. Enterprise architecture (EA) is one of the crucial tools organizations should use to establish global . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Integrate EA With Project Portfolio Management Governance

Organizations Should Use EA Archetypes To Align Expectations With Deliverables

by Henry Peyret, September 18, 2009

Project portfolio governance is often the entry point for EA governance: EA teams are involved to validate projects' design and architecture fit with standards. A recent survey suggests that current EA involvement in project portfolio governance suboptimizes . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Road-Mapping: An Essential EA Skill  (1.6 MB PPT)

by Jeff Scott, September 15, 2009

This workbook discusses road-mapping essentials including best practices for building and managing road maps as well as examples depicting how to build a road map and what road maps look like.

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Consolidating Vendors? Make Sure EA's Voice Is Heard On Strategic Products And Services

Enterprise Architects Need To Become More Involved In Corporate Initiatives To Rationalize The IT Vendor Portfolio

by Gene Leganza, September 4, 2009

When CIOs and CFOs launch vendor consolidation initiatives to cut costs and simplify their environments, they turn to their sourcing and vendor management teams to lead the charge. But enterprise architects must play an active role, identifying the enterprise's . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Integrate Enterprise Architecture With Application Portfolio Governance

by Henry Peyret, August 24, 2009

IT organizations that are seeking to drive down operating costs while delivering business projects on time and on budget find they must manage their application portfolios to provide an optimal foundation for execution. Application portfolio management . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Next-Generation IT Requires Next-Generation EA

EA Makes The New Core Processes Of IT Work

by Alex Cullen, Gene Leganza, Jeff Scott, Jost Hoppermann, June 30, 2009

What business wants from IT is changing, and that means IT has to change how it manages itself and the IT-business relationship. Building on current project delivery and operational management competencies, CIOs are adding new core management processes: . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: Building An EA Practice, Q2 2009

by Gene Leganza, Katie Smillie, June 1, 2009

Forrester examined 2,292 end user inquiries from enterprise architecture (EA) professionals in 2008. The topics of these inquiries were wide ranging, including questions about information and knowledge management, infrastructure and operations, and application . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Sharpen Your Focus By Building An EA Practice Strategic Plan

by Jeff Scott, April 7, 2009

Enterprise architects who focus exclusively on building architecture and ignore building their architecture practice are missing the opportunity to grow their influence and value. The result is often great architecture but little impact. To meet their . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Work Closely With Enterprise Architects During Vendor Consolidation Projects

by Christine Ferrusi Ross, April 3, 2009

Many sourcing and vendor management teams are looking for ways to cut costs — and consolidating vendors is a logical part of that effort. But doing spend analysis only starts the ball rolling. Other considerations like "is this vendor going to be important . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Enterprise Architects Are Not Proving Their Value

Gaps, Acceptable In Good Times, May Be Challenging In Bad Times

by Jost Hoppermann, March 11, 2009

Forrester surveyed 140 firms and their enterprise architecture (EA) groups in October 2008 — after the financial market meltdown — to identify the trends regarding EA organizations, resources, and governance processes. We also wanted to find the hot architecture . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Use Procurement Touchpoints For A Lightweight Enterprise Architecture Governance Process

Targeted EA Artifacts Can Improve Governance Even When Resources Are Tight

by Jost Hoppermann, March 4, 2009

In difficult economic times, enterprise architecture (EA) groups must often switch from a strategic focus to more tactical issues and cost management. Nevertheless, EA groups should maintain some capability to steer toward the future-state vision. A strong . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Trends For EA Professionals In 2009

Enterprise Architects: Use Today's Economic Challenges To Focus And Sharpen Your Efforts

by Jost Hoppermann, Gene Leganza, Jeff Scott, Ken Vollmer, January 7, 2009

Enterprise architecture (EA) will continue its journey up the value chain in 2009, but there's no doubt that the road will be bumpy at best. Helping their organizations deal with economic conditions will consume some EA teams, and most will have to narrow . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Establishing EA Governance Models  (1.5 MB PPT)

by Jeff Scott, January 5, 2009

This is a workbook on establishing EA governance models.

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Critical Success Factors For BPM Implementation

Key Issues That Enterprise Architects Must Consider

by Ken Vollmer, December 24, 2008

BPM implementations have assisted many enterprises by enhancing their operational efficiency and level of business innovation, and improvements in these two areas can go a long way toward helping enterprises navigate the shoals of enterprise performance . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

EA Pros: Must-Read Research In An Economic Downturn

by Gene Leganza, Randy Heffner, October 28, 2008

Economists are debating the length and depth of the economic impact of the credit crunch and the October market meltdown. What can enterprise architects do to survive or — dare we think it — excel during an economic downturn? Enterprise architects must . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Avoid The EA Governance Versus Agility Trap

Altering Your View Of EA Governance Won't Result In Chaos

by Henry Peyret, September 15, 2008

Enterprise architects often encounter resistance to architecture governance from project-focused staff who argue that governance hinders agility. But this argument confuses project-level freedom with organizational agility. True enterprise-level agility . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Architecting In The Zone

Build Architecture Zones To Create Structured Flexibility

by Jeff Scott, September 15, 2008

Industry consolidation and globalization demand increasingly complex and varied IT solutions. In this taxing environment, one-size-fits-all EA approaches cannot satisfy business needs for flexibility, adaptability, and innovation. Architects using this . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Create Greater Impact Through EA Stakeholder Management

by Jeff Scott, September 12, 2008

Enterprise architecture (EA) stakeholder support is critical to EA program success. Without stakeholders' continued buy-in and support, EA strategies will go nowhere. But a little bit of attention can go a long way. Architects can significantly increase . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

A Practical Definition Of "SOA Policy"

Reconciling Divergent Industry Perspectives On "Policy"

by Randy Heffner, August 26, 2008

As service-oriented architecture (SOA) matures in the marketplace, SOA policy management will become an increasingly important aspect of SOA-based business and technical flexibility. However, the term "SOA policy" is, at best, ambiguous. At least three . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Case Study: PNC's Secret To EA Success? A Strong Customer Focus

How One Company Achieves And Measures EA Effectiveness In A Federated IT Environment

by Jeff Scott, Katie Smillie, August 1, 2008

When The PNC Financial Services Group created a central enterprise architecture (EA) program nearly three years ago, it sought to build the team's success from the inside out, creating a small, central team as well as a formal structure of distributed . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Best Practices: Improving EA Effectiveness

Customer Focus, EA Skills, And Delivering Value Are Key

by Jeff Scott, August 1, 2008

Creating an effective enterprise architecture (EA) practice is challenging and frequently elusive for EA teams. Architecture initiatives require broad organizational support just to get started and, once started, often have long investment cycles. Small . . .