Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
requirements, application-specific requirements, available and emergent
communications protocols, business integration mandates, legislative and
regulatory compliance constraints, scale and scope requirements, event
management and alerting, reporting mandates, storage and architectural
requirements, identity management mandates, and a wealth of other
aspects that we will examine later in the topic.
Without guidance and consideration of these elements both in their
current form and following emergent trends, the enterprise architect may
make short-term decisions that fail to provide longer-term efficiencies—
in fact, some decisions can even create greater cost burdens if improperly
applied. Architecture is more about plotting a course through a variety of
choices than about making a particular application selection. Technical
frameworks and standards must be balanced against the strategic goals
of the business while minimizing the negative impact of any changes on
the end user. Rather than being a goal, technology must always remain a
means to facilitate user requirements.
In the end, a project that produces the desired change in technology
but negatively impacts user and client service remains a failure. Accord-
ing to the Project Management Institute (PMI), roughly two-thirds of
all projects fail. To avoid expending unnecessary effort on failure, the
enterprise architect must know when to initiate a project, when to decide
the time or resources are not right for a particular change, and when to
call a halt to avoid spending resources on a failed effort. Always remember
that sunk costs (money already spent) should not be used to determine
whether to continue a failing or troubled project.
Where Lies Success?
Successful enterprise architecture must convey some form of advantage to
the organization or it serves no purpose. While it might once have been
possible for an organization to gain a competitive edge by using e-mail
for internal communication or a website for user contact, these solutions
are now used by such a broad range of organizations that they create no
operational advantage. Although doing without them might have a nega-
tive effect, their presence alone no longer constitutes a particular competi-
tive advantage. Enterprise architecture must provide additional value to
the organization, as we will examine in detail in Chapter 4.
