Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
organizational needs and technology drivers that affect the enterprise.
The architect is responsible for many tasks, such as:
•
Identifying data and its movement.
The enterprise architect must
identify data that is being managed and maintained throughout
the enterprise, along with the paths through which it is transferred,
archived, or eliminated in order to properly plan for its continuity
under a formal architectural style. Many times, the identification
and elimination of undesirable redundancy in data stores can pro-
duce strong benefits from direct cost savings in hardware, software,
and support to indirect cost savings through security of sensitive or
protected data.
•
Defining technical architectural guidelines.
Standards, technol-
ogy selections, protocol selections, guidelines for identity manage-
ment, update management, security and recoverability statutes,
computer use policy specifications, and all other aspects of the tech-
nology architecture must be coordinated by the enterprise architect
in the overall vision.
•
Integrating existing resources.
The enterprise architect cannot,
in almost all cases, simply throw away everything that exists and
replace it with new solutions. Embedded systems, legacy equipment,
merged business units, and partner relationships may all bring dif-
ferent technology solutions into the enterprise. The enterprise archi-
tect must plan for the inclusion of these elements into the strategy.
•
Communicating the vision.
The enterprise architect must convey
the benefits of the vision to stakeholders, the details to the imple-
menters, and the benefits and purpose to the users. At the same
time, this communication cannot be one-way. The enterprise archi-
tect must constantly be accepting useful input to be included in the
evolution of the vision to encompass emerging needs and solutions.
•
Improve quality.
The results of the enterprise architect's efforts
must provide value to the organization, improving the quality of
information technology operations. Architects whose solutions sim-
ply replace existing systems with a different version of the same thing
may find it difficult to justify the continued expense without some
measure of value or quality improvement. Careful metrics identified
before and after each phase can aid in the identification of the value
