Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
•
They
are unable to convey their vision to stakeholders, imple-
menters, or business consumers.
The most knowledgeable tech-
nologists, skilled at every aspect of their craft and instilled with the
most incredibly clear vision of successful enterprise architecture, are
useless if they cannot effectively convey their vision and its value
to others. Many technologists eschew the “soft skills” necessary to
project management, negotiation, and selling the idea of their vision
and its worth to the organization. For those to whom technology
itself becomes the goal, conveying its value beyond existence appears
unnecessar y. This form of tunnel vision can doom an enterprise archi-
tectural effort to failure. The most beautiful painting in the world has
no value if it is kept in the dark—so too with an architectural vision.
•
They fail to remain knowledgeable about technologies in use
and in development.
While the CIO/chief architect should focus
on aspects of technology that extend beyond the day-to-day imple-
mentation details, it is impossible to command the respect of infor-
mation technologists charged with implementing the vision without
maintaining a thorough knowledge of current and emerging tech-
nology trends. Not only may architects miss potential opportunities,
they may lose the support and input from individuals whose exper-
tise may carry the key to greater success. Buy-in from implementers
within the technology service arena is often developed only in the
presence of expertise on the part of the architect. While this role
need not have deep expertise in all areas, the architect should be an
expert in at least one area and conversant in the functions of all oth-
ers in order to best gain the trust and support of other technologists.
Knowledgeable architects can also bridge disparate skills as a force
multiplier, producing an outcome greater than that possible by team
members acting apart.
•
They fail to lead.
Worst of all possible architects are those who are
so busy gathering requirements, evaluating options, negotiating with
their peers, reporting to their superiors, and getting feedback from
stakeholders that they never do anything. It is easy to slip into a rou-
tine so filled with the process of developing architectural guidelines
that nothing is ever produced as a result. The pursuit of perfection
is seductive and pointless—what must be accomplished is a solution
that is good enough for the current business needs and good enough
to allow the next generation of technologies to be managed in turn.
