Agenda Overview for Enterprise Architecture
Content
Agenda Overview for Enterprise Architecture, 2014
03 January 2014
G00259779 Analyst(s): Julie Short
Free preview of Gartner research
Summary
In 2014, EA teams will face an increasing number and complexity of business disruptions. Our 2014 enterprise architecture research will focus on helping EA practitioners take a big step forward in understanding how to address disruption, exploit innovative approaches and deliver business outcomes.
Table of Contents
Analysis Key Issues o How can organizations recruit, develop and retain people with the best EA skills, competencies and talents to deliver business-outcome-driven EA? Planned Research o How can organizations use innovation in their EA efforts to guide the selection, development, and implementation of investments to deliver and scale rapidly? Planned Research o How can organizations apply business architecture to deliver practical business change? Planned Research o How can government organizations use EA to address business disruption and deliver business and mission outcomes while under the pressures of ongoing budget, administration and personnel changes? Planned Research o How can organizations leverage EA to identify and maximize the impact of potential sourcing decisions? Planned Research o What consultancies can help organizations deliver business outcomes through engagement with EA teams? Planned Research o How can organizations respond to the rapidly changing regulatory environment while addressing all other business disruptions? Planned Research
How can organizations be effective in delivering business outcomes when EA is a part-time or informal role in the organization? Planned Research Related Priorities Gartner Recommended Reading
o
Tables
Table 1. Related Priorities for Enterprise Architecture
Figures
Figure 1. Enterprise Architecture Agenda Overview
Analysis
Figure 1. Enterprise Architecture Agenda Overview
Source: Gartner (January 2014)
Leading enterprise architects focus on understanding business direction and strategy, disruptions, and defining targeted business outcomes. 1 To provide value to their organizations in 2014, enterprise architecture (EA) practitioners will need to focus on identifying target business outcomes, and work diligently to deliver them. In every industry, organizations are facing business disruptions of all kinds: technology, environment, culture, market and regulatory. 2 In 2014, Gartner's EA agenda will continue to focus on addressing major disruptions, such as the Nexus of Forces and digital business. The implications on strategy, governance, organization and operations will be significant. Our research in 2014 will generally focus on:
Understanding and obtaining the right skills, competencies, talents, and organizational design for enterprise architects and their EA programs Understanding what new disruptions are coming and how enterprise architects confront and exploit them Exploring how EA responds to numerous types of disruptions, manages costs, reduces risks, and remains competitive and innovative Helping all EA teams target and deliver business outcomes for their EA program
Our research in 2014 will specifically target:
Innovation beyond the Nexus of Forces Applied business architecture The impact of risk and compliance on EA The marketplace of sellers to enterprise architects EA in small or midsize businesses (SMBs) EA in government EA in multisourced environments
We will continue to provide research on road map development, EA metrics and value, EA and application architecture, and other foundational research as demand requires.
Key Issues
How can organizations recruit, develop and retain people with the best EA skills, competencies and talents to deliver business-outcome-driven EA? How can organizations use innovation in their EA efforts to guide the selection, development, and implementation of investments to deliver and scale rapidly?
How can organizations apply business architecture to deliver practical business change? How can government organizations use EA to address business disruption and deliver business and mission outcomes while under the pressures of ongoing budget, administration and personnel changes? How can organizations leverage EA to identify and maximize the impact of potential sourcing decisions? What consultancies can help organizations deliver business outcomes through engagement with EA teams? How can organizations respond to the rapidly changing regulatory environment while addressing all other business disruptions? How can organizations be effective in delivering business outcomes when EA is a part-time or informal role in the organization?
How can organizations recruit, develop and retain people with the best EA skills, competencies and talents to deliver business-outcome-driven EA?
Leading EA teams are focusing their efforts on confronting and exploiting business disruptions as opportunities to deliver competitive advantage, innovate and address real business issues. However, many EA teams are still focusing their efforts exclusively on operational concerns and "doing EA for its own sake," and many EA leaders are struggling with how they can change this situation to deliver more value to their organizations. This challenge is caused by many factors, including management style, economics, cost and resource constraints, and focusing on the means rather than the end result. The strongest reason, however, is that the relationship between IT and the rest of the business hasn't changed significantly since the 1970s — an era when the business was less aware of or lacking knowledge in IT, and IT focused more on telling the business what it could and couldn't do. Those days are truly in the past, and a new approach is needed. For many organizations, it will take tremendous effort to change the mindset and approach of EA teams and get them to focus on delivering outcomes that are important to the business. It will also be challenging to recruit, develop and retain architects who have the right skills and competencies and already possess this outcome-driven mindset. This mindset change involves understanding that the rest of the organization has matured and realizes the value of changing the business, understands that information is an asset, and uses technology to confront disruptions and deliver business results. This means that EA teams must fully understand their business, stop focusing on EA for its own sake and actively apply the discipline of EA to deliver business outcomes.
Planned Research
Our research in 2014 will address pressing issues organizations are facing with regard to EA resources. Our planned research topics include:
Top interviewing approaches to get the best enterprise architect for your organization Top three indicators that you're about to be promoted to an effective chief architect Best practices for recruiting your next enterprise architect A market guide for EA certifications Managing and mentoring a virtual EA team
How can organizations use innovation in their EA efforts to guide the selection, development, and implementation of investments to deliver and scale rapidly?
Leading enterprise architects must understand how they can exploit innovation to help their organizations respond to disruption and to gain competitive advantage. We anticipate this will force the discipline of enterprise architecture to focus in two directions, depending on the challenges they faced by organizations. In our EA predictions for 2014 (see "Predicts 2014: Enterprise Architect Role Headed for Dramatic Change" ), we have predicted that the discipline of EA will bifurcate between those practicing the discipline using a vanguard approach that is primarily concerned with driving innovation with disruptive technologies and those focusing on practicing EA using a legacy approach, concerned with systems of record and maintaining the IT estate. As a result, Gartner predicts that the vanguard approach will increase twofold by 2016. In 2014, Gartner will explore three major disruption-related themes across all of our research areas. Planned topic areas include:
The Nexus of Forces: The convergence of information, social engagement, mobility and the cloud Digital business Cross-constituency special report on topics such as smart machines, digital technologies, mobile applications in business, security futures and the trend that every budget is becoming an IT budget
Enterprise architects who are using a vanguard approach for parts of their enterprise architecture must be aware of how they can exploit these disruptions to benefit their organizations. The digital organization will bring new challenges, and enterprise architects must remain on the leading edge.
Planned Research
In 2014, our research will explore several of the areas challenging enterprise architects as they try to adopt a vanguard approach to EA. Our planned research topics include:
How enterprise architects must react to smart machines Innovation management within EA Using enterprise architecture to destroy your business model How enterprise architects can engage in the next paradigm of the IT user interface How the Nexus of Forces is driving business outcomes
How can organizations apply business architecture to deliver practical business change?
Business architecture has continually gained momentum in adoption in many organizations. This trend will continue and will bring new exciting challenges to enterprise architects and business architects. Organizations will continue to use business capabilities to demonstrate strategic integration between business and IT initiatives. However, it is time for enterprise architects to take the next step with business architecture. This involves new types of models and new ways of working with business process management (BPM) disciplines. In 2014, our research will address the "how to" challenges facing organizations that have embarked on the journey with business architecture. We will also explore how to use business architecture to deliver business change in new and practical ways.
Planned Research
In 2014, our research will focus on applying business architecture to effect businessdriven change in organizations. Our planned research topics include:
Using business architecture in projects (budgets, resources and metrics) Supporting reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions with business architecture Best practices in applying business architecture Understanding and exploiting the link between business and information architecture
How can government organizations use EA to address business disruption and deliver business and mission outcomes while under the pressures of ongoing budget, administration and personnel changes?
Enterprise architects in government must deliver business outcomes for elected officials, public service administrations, taxpayers and citizens, while confronting the same disruptions that face commercial organizations. In the public sector, they face two additional challenges: (1) how to evaluate nonquantitative mission outcomes; and (2) how to address legislative or regulatory guidance. The first issue requires enterprise architects to establish a constructive dialogue with mission and business leaders to reach a common understanding of how to measure and optimize mission and business outcomes. The second issue generally may require push-back or creative interpretation to ensure that time spent in compliance efforts yield commensurate benefits. For
example, in the U.S. government, many agencies must respond to requirements from legislation, such as the Clinger-Cohen Act, presidential directives, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memoranda and U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), and from department and agency directives. However, government is dealing with lots of disruptions, such as budget cuts, administration changes, and rotating personnel. How can they best do this? How can they navigate legislative and administrative compliance guidance to balance the optimized benefits of EA at all levels of federation and across related public-sector organizational boundaries?
Planned Research
In 2014, we will focus on delivering more important research for the enterprise architect in government more than any year before. Our planned research includes:
Top three best practices for enterprise architects in the U.S. federal government How to gain EA benefits and business outcomes without a formal EA team or program How EA can drive meaningful capital planning in the U.S. federal government
How can organizations leverage EA to identify and maximize the impact of potential sourcing decisions?
The multisourced business environment is a reality that many organizations are facing today. Gartner research indicates that almost all global organizations across a variety of industries are operating in a multisourced environment. On an average, 22% of the IT services in these organizations are outsourced. 3 Enterprise architecture in a multisourced environment has specific challenges that must be addressed to protect the organization and to fulfill the contract with the sourcing organizations. These can sometimes be tricky, because many enterprise architects are not involved in sourcing decisions. In addition, sourcing organizations need clearer guidelines about which decision rights are theirs and which are not. These issues have a significant impact on overall corporate and IT governance. Enterprise architects must understand the risks of the multisourced environment and take steps to address this area effectively for their organizations.
Planned Research
In 2014, our research will focus on the challenges facing enterprise architects in a complex sourcing environment. We will explore practical ways to address these challenges so that sourcing can be exploited to the fullest by global organizations. Our planned research topics include:
EA's role in outsourcing strategy Using EA to guide outsourcing decisions and execution
Using a collaborative approach to develop enterprise architecture with outsourcing organizations, vendors and partners Working with partners — delivering business outcomes and keeping them honest
What consultancies can help organizations deliver business outcomes through engagement with EA teams?
In a survey conducted with potential attendees of Gartner's 2013 EA Summit, 51% of respondents in the U.S. and 50% of respondents in EMEA stated they were either already using or planning to use EA consultancies. 4 Of these respondents, the primary reasons for using an EA consultancy included: (1) to augment existing staff; (2) to kickstart a new EA program or restart an existing EA program; and (3) to bring specific EA domain expertise. In addition, over 78% of enterprise architecture practitioners are focused on leveraging EA to integrate business and IT, as well as grow and transform their businesses. With so much interest in leveraging EA consultancies and focusing EA programs on delivering business outcomes, EA teams face the challenge of finding consultancies that have the skills, experience, references and focus on supporting business outcomedriven EA, rather than a traditional focus on reconciling, documenting and standardizing IT systems.
Planned Research
We covered EA consultancies in 2013 and will focus even more intently on those consultancies that Gartner sees as delivering business outcomes. Our focus on the EA tools will also be held to this same approach, and we will continue to augment our research on all those that sell their services and products to enterprise architects. Our planned research includes:
Analysis of strengths and weaknesses of various EA consultancies Market guide to global EA consultancies Magic Quadrant for EA tools Critical capabilities for EA tools
How can organizations respond to the rapidly changing regulatory environment while addressing all other business disruptions?
Enterprise architects are facing a rapidly changing regulatory environment in today's business world. These are disruptions that must produce a response for organizations to continue to do business in their sector. Financial services, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and insurance are only some of the industries to face a regulatory environment that is becoming increasingly challenging. Enterprise architects must understand these changes and the associated business risks of noncompliance. To do this, they must understand the impact of these risks on their current- and futurestate architecture, and take steps now to address these risks and plan for more
regulatory change in the future. In addition, it is important that they understand the impact of this issue on corporate governance. Enterprise architects will have more responsibility in determining reference architectures and how these are implemented, although accountability will continue to rest with top executives in organizations. In addition, the trend toward internal controls and regulation on a global basis will impact business architecture, making this more than an IT challenge. Enterprise architects will need to improve their understanding of business architecture and its relationship with IT and information security.
Planned Research
In 2014, Gartner will focus more on the intersection of enterprise risk and enterprise architecture. Our planned research topics include:
The impact of COBIT5 on enterprise architecture The rapidly changing regulatory environment demands that enterprise architects understand risk and compliance How internal controls regulation impacts business architecture The identification of key performance and risk indicators to guide EA governance EA and governance, risk and compliance
How can organizations be effective in delivering business outcomes when EA is a part-time or informal role in the organization?
Small and midsize organizations also have a great need for the discipline of enterprise architecture. However, this function is often performed by resources as a part-time or informal role and on a limited budget. These organizations often struggle to provide business value while trying to mitigate the impact of rapidly accumulating legacy IT. They have special challenges that must be addressed creatively to help them deliver business outcomes.
Planned Research
We will focus a part of our research on delivering new ideas on how to address the challenges facing small or midsize organizations (SMBs) that want and need to do EA but do not always have a formalized structure to support this. Our planned research topics include:
Finding quick wins for EA in SMBs Measuring the value of EA in SMBs How to engage with business executives in an SMB How to manage doing EA on a part-time basis How additional roles work with EA to deliver business outcomes
Related Priorities
Key Initiatives address significant business opportunities and threats, and typically have defined objectives, substantial financial implications and high organizational visibility. They are normally implemented by a designated team with clear roles and responsibilities, as well as defined performance objectives. Table 1. Related Priorities for Enterprise Architecture Key Initiative Focus
Enterprise Enterprise architecture is a discipline for leading enterprise Architecture Program responses to disruptive forces by identifying and analyzing the execution of change toward desired business vision and outcomes. Information Governance and MDM Programs Innovation Management Information governance programs like MDM are key to efforts to gain value from information reuse across an organization, and are central to enterprise information management. Successful innovation must combine creativity with process to transform novel ideas into business value. Innovation management requires a clear strategy, a business focus and a defined process model.
Program and Portfolio This discipline is central to helping an organization realize its Management strategy, develop its core business capabilities and optimize investment in IT projects. Information Innovation Information innovation responds to fundamental technology changes by gathering, managing, analyzing and using information in new ways to leap ahead in operational or business performance.
Source: Gartner (January 2014)
Suggested Next Steps
As the EA discipline evolves in 2014, EA practitioners should continue to sharpen their focus on identifying, targeting and delivering business outcomes. We suggest attending one of the Gartner EA Summit conferences or Gartner Symposium/ITxpo events to understand how to adopt leading practices in delivering business outcomes.
Related Agendas
Application Development Business Process Management
Information Infrastructure Infrastructure and Operations Leaders Program and Portfolio Management Information Innovation and Governance Social Software and Collaboration
Gartner Recommended Reading
Some documents may not be available as part of your current Gartner subscription. "Toolkit: Develop Your EA Career Potential" "EA Best Practices for Small EA Teams to Promote Wider Participation" "Make Enterprise Architect a Career, Not Just a Job Title" "Migrating Customers to Online Services Using Gamification" "CEO and Senior Executive Survey 2013: Business Uncertainty Is an Opportunity for EA to Take Leadership Role" "Define the Business Outcome Statement to Guide Enterprise Architecture Efforts" "Leading Companies Leverage Business Architecture to Integrate Business and IT Execution" "Five Best Practices for Building EA Road Maps That Enable Outcomes" "Define EA Governance to Deliver Targeted Business Outcomes"
Agenda Manager Profile
Julie Short is a research director and research agenda manager at Gartner, focusing on the discipline of EA. She also has a risk management and compliance background. In her career, she has worked in and managed all IT disciplines. She specializes in how risk management is integral to EA, incorporating EA as part of major initiatives, and the importance of defining governance from a business objective perspective. She was also the lead author for the 2013 Magic Quadrant for EA tools and has led research specifically on the functionality, selection and implementation of EA tools. Ms. Short has led global EA programs, working directly with CIOs and senior business management, and has experience in defining and implementing EA and IT governance in alignment with corporate objectives.
Evidence
1
Gartner client inquiries and direct discussions with enterprise architects in 2013 reveal a focus on how to deliver business outcomes as a result of the enterprise architecture
discipline. Over 1,100 client inquiries in the past 11 months and numerous client meetings at various summits (EA, PPM, risk and security) revealed a focus on delivering business outcomes by enterprise architects. These same discussions also exposed that they are struggling to know how to do this. In 2012, client inquiries and the Gartner survey of enterprise architects conducted in several regions of the world showed that EA leaders are using their focus on business outcomes to help their organizations become more competitive and high-impact. Today, 31% of EA leaders are enabling major business and transformation efforts, 23% are focused on delivering strategic business and IT value, and 17% are focused on aligning business and IT strategies.
2
Gartner research indicates an increasing focus on disruptions such as regulatory change (see "The Executive Guide to Managing Regulatory Change" ). Client inquiries indicate a rising trend in discussions surrounding disruption. In 2010, Gartner had more than 150 inquiries on this topic. In 2011, the number of inquiries increased to more than 220, and in 2013, this number increased to more than 300 during the same time period.
3
From May 2011 to September 2013, Gartner analysts handled more than 11,500 inquiries on sourcing. These analysts have conducted surveys that indicate 22% of organizations across 21 industries outsourced IT services.
4
Gartner's survey of potential attendees of Gartner's EA Summit in 2013 found that 51% of respondents in the U.S. (n = 227) and 49.8% of respondents in EMEA (n = 245) stated they were either already using or planning to use EA consultancies.
© 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction and distribution of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Although Gartners research may discuss legal issues related to the information technology business, Gartner does not provide legal advice or services and its research should not be construed or used as such. Gartner shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.
03 January 2014
G00259779 Analyst(s): Julie Short
Free preview of Gartner research
Summary
In 2014, EA teams will face an increasing number and complexity of business disruptions. Our 2014 enterprise architecture research will focus on helping EA practitioners take a big step forward in understanding how to address disruption, exploit innovative approaches and deliver business outcomes.
Table of Contents
Analysis Key Issues o How can organizations recruit, develop and retain people with the best EA skills, competencies and talents to deliver business-outcome-driven EA? Planned Research o How can organizations use innovation in their EA efforts to guide the selection, development, and implementation of investments to deliver and scale rapidly? Planned Research o How can organizations apply business architecture to deliver practical business change? Planned Research o How can government organizations use EA to address business disruption and deliver business and mission outcomes while under the pressures of ongoing budget, administration and personnel changes? Planned Research o How can organizations leverage EA to identify and maximize the impact of potential sourcing decisions? Planned Research o What consultancies can help organizations deliver business outcomes through engagement with EA teams? Planned Research o How can organizations respond to the rapidly changing regulatory environment while addressing all other business disruptions? Planned Research
How can organizations be effective in delivering business outcomes when EA is a part-time or informal role in the organization? Planned Research Related Priorities Gartner Recommended Reading
o
Tables
Table 1. Related Priorities for Enterprise Architecture
Figures
Figure 1. Enterprise Architecture Agenda Overview
Analysis
Figure 1. Enterprise Architecture Agenda Overview
Source: Gartner (January 2014)
Leading enterprise architects focus on understanding business direction and strategy, disruptions, and defining targeted business outcomes. 1 To provide value to their organizations in 2014, enterprise architecture (EA) practitioners will need to focus on identifying target business outcomes, and work diligently to deliver them. In every industry, organizations are facing business disruptions of all kinds: technology, environment, culture, market and regulatory. 2 In 2014, Gartner's EA agenda will continue to focus on addressing major disruptions, such as the Nexus of Forces and digital business. The implications on strategy, governance, organization and operations will be significant. Our research in 2014 will generally focus on:
Understanding and obtaining the right skills, competencies, talents, and organizational design for enterprise architects and their EA programs Understanding what new disruptions are coming and how enterprise architects confront and exploit them Exploring how EA responds to numerous types of disruptions, manages costs, reduces risks, and remains competitive and innovative Helping all EA teams target and deliver business outcomes for their EA program
Our research in 2014 will specifically target:
Innovation beyond the Nexus of Forces Applied business architecture The impact of risk and compliance on EA The marketplace of sellers to enterprise architects EA in small or midsize businesses (SMBs) EA in government EA in multisourced environments
We will continue to provide research on road map development, EA metrics and value, EA and application architecture, and other foundational research as demand requires.
Key Issues
How can organizations recruit, develop and retain people with the best EA skills, competencies and talents to deliver business-outcome-driven EA? How can organizations use innovation in their EA efforts to guide the selection, development, and implementation of investments to deliver and scale rapidly?
How can organizations apply business architecture to deliver practical business change? How can government organizations use EA to address business disruption and deliver business and mission outcomes while under the pressures of ongoing budget, administration and personnel changes? How can organizations leverage EA to identify and maximize the impact of potential sourcing decisions? What consultancies can help organizations deliver business outcomes through engagement with EA teams? How can organizations respond to the rapidly changing regulatory environment while addressing all other business disruptions? How can organizations be effective in delivering business outcomes when EA is a part-time or informal role in the organization?
How can organizations recruit, develop and retain people with the best EA skills, competencies and talents to deliver business-outcome-driven EA?
Leading EA teams are focusing their efforts on confronting and exploiting business disruptions as opportunities to deliver competitive advantage, innovate and address real business issues. However, many EA teams are still focusing their efforts exclusively on operational concerns and "doing EA for its own sake," and many EA leaders are struggling with how they can change this situation to deliver more value to their organizations. This challenge is caused by many factors, including management style, economics, cost and resource constraints, and focusing on the means rather than the end result. The strongest reason, however, is that the relationship between IT and the rest of the business hasn't changed significantly since the 1970s — an era when the business was less aware of or lacking knowledge in IT, and IT focused more on telling the business what it could and couldn't do. Those days are truly in the past, and a new approach is needed. For many organizations, it will take tremendous effort to change the mindset and approach of EA teams and get them to focus on delivering outcomes that are important to the business. It will also be challenging to recruit, develop and retain architects who have the right skills and competencies and already possess this outcome-driven mindset. This mindset change involves understanding that the rest of the organization has matured and realizes the value of changing the business, understands that information is an asset, and uses technology to confront disruptions and deliver business results. This means that EA teams must fully understand their business, stop focusing on EA for its own sake and actively apply the discipline of EA to deliver business outcomes.
Planned Research
Our research in 2014 will address pressing issues organizations are facing with regard to EA resources. Our planned research topics include:
Top interviewing approaches to get the best enterprise architect for your organization Top three indicators that you're about to be promoted to an effective chief architect Best practices for recruiting your next enterprise architect A market guide for EA certifications Managing and mentoring a virtual EA team
How can organizations use innovation in their EA efforts to guide the selection, development, and implementation of investments to deliver and scale rapidly?
Leading enterprise architects must understand how they can exploit innovation to help their organizations respond to disruption and to gain competitive advantage. We anticipate this will force the discipline of enterprise architecture to focus in two directions, depending on the challenges they faced by organizations. In our EA predictions for 2014 (see "Predicts 2014: Enterprise Architect Role Headed for Dramatic Change" ), we have predicted that the discipline of EA will bifurcate between those practicing the discipline using a vanguard approach that is primarily concerned with driving innovation with disruptive technologies and those focusing on practicing EA using a legacy approach, concerned with systems of record and maintaining the IT estate. As a result, Gartner predicts that the vanguard approach will increase twofold by 2016. In 2014, Gartner will explore three major disruption-related themes across all of our research areas. Planned topic areas include:
The Nexus of Forces: The convergence of information, social engagement, mobility and the cloud Digital business Cross-constituency special report on topics such as smart machines, digital technologies, mobile applications in business, security futures and the trend that every budget is becoming an IT budget
Enterprise architects who are using a vanguard approach for parts of their enterprise architecture must be aware of how they can exploit these disruptions to benefit their organizations. The digital organization will bring new challenges, and enterprise architects must remain on the leading edge.
Planned Research
In 2014, our research will explore several of the areas challenging enterprise architects as they try to adopt a vanguard approach to EA. Our planned research topics include:
How enterprise architects must react to smart machines Innovation management within EA Using enterprise architecture to destroy your business model How enterprise architects can engage in the next paradigm of the IT user interface How the Nexus of Forces is driving business outcomes
How can organizations apply business architecture to deliver practical business change?
Business architecture has continually gained momentum in adoption in many organizations. This trend will continue and will bring new exciting challenges to enterprise architects and business architects. Organizations will continue to use business capabilities to demonstrate strategic integration between business and IT initiatives. However, it is time for enterprise architects to take the next step with business architecture. This involves new types of models and new ways of working with business process management (BPM) disciplines. In 2014, our research will address the "how to" challenges facing organizations that have embarked on the journey with business architecture. We will also explore how to use business architecture to deliver business change in new and practical ways.
Planned Research
In 2014, our research will focus on applying business architecture to effect businessdriven change in organizations. Our planned research topics include:
Using business architecture in projects (budgets, resources and metrics) Supporting reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions with business architecture Best practices in applying business architecture Understanding and exploiting the link between business and information architecture
How can government organizations use EA to address business disruption and deliver business and mission outcomes while under the pressures of ongoing budget, administration and personnel changes?
Enterprise architects in government must deliver business outcomes for elected officials, public service administrations, taxpayers and citizens, while confronting the same disruptions that face commercial organizations. In the public sector, they face two additional challenges: (1) how to evaluate nonquantitative mission outcomes; and (2) how to address legislative or regulatory guidance. The first issue requires enterprise architects to establish a constructive dialogue with mission and business leaders to reach a common understanding of how to measure and optimize mission and business outcomes. The second issue generally may require push-back or creative interpretation to ensure that time spent in compliance efforts yield commensurate benefits. For
example, in the U.S. government, many agencies must respond to requirements from legislation, such as the Clinger-Cohen Act, presidential directives, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memoranda and U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), and from department and agency directives. However, government is dealing with lots of disruptions, such as budget cuts, administration changes, and rotating personnel. How can they best do this? How can they navigate legislative and administrative compliance guidance to balance the optimized benefits of EA at all levels of federation and across related public-sector organizational boundaries?
Planned Research
In 2014, we will focus on delivering more important research for the enterprise architect in government more than any year before. Our planned research includes:
Top three best practices for enterprise architects in the U.S. federal government How to gain EA benefits and business outcomes without a formal EA team or program How EA can drive meaningful capital planning in the U.S. federal government
How can organizations leverage EA to identify and maximize the impact of potential sourcing decisions?
The multisourced business environment is a reality that many organizations are facing today. Gartner research indicates that almost all global organizations across a variety of industries are operating in a multisourced environment. On an average, 22% of the IT services in these organizations are outsourced. 3 Enterprise architecture in a multisourced environment has specific challenges that must be addressed to protect the organization and to fulfill the contract with the sourcing organizations. These can sometimes be tricky, because many enterprise architects are not involved in sourcing decisions. In addition, sourcing organizations need clearer guidelines about which decision rights are theirs and which are not. These issues have a significant impact on overall corporate and IT governance. Enterprise architects must understand the risks of the multisourced environment and take steps to address this area effectively for their organizations.
Planned Research
In 2014, our research will focus on the challenges facing enterprise architects in a complex sourcing environment. We will explore practical ways to address these challenges so that sourcing can be exploited to the fullest by global organizations. Our planned research topics include:
EA's role in outsourcing strategy Using EA to guide outsourcing decisions and execution
Using a collaborative approach to develop enterprise architecture with outsourcing organizations, vendors and partners Working with partners — delivering business outcomes and keeping them honest
What consultancies can help organizations deliver business outcomes through engagement with EA teams?
In a survey conducted with potential attendees of Gartner's 2013 EA Summit, 51% of respondents in the U.S. and 50% of respondents in EMEA stated they were either already using or planning to use EA consultancies. 4 Of these respondents, the primary reasons for using an EA consultancy included: (1) to augment existing staff; (2) to kickstart a new EA program or restart an existing EA program; and (3) to bring specific EA domain expertise. In addition, over 78% of enterprise architecture practitioners are focused on leveraging EA to integrate business and IT, as well as grow and transform their businesses. With so much interest in leveraging EA consultancies and focusing EA programs on delivering business outcomes, EA teams face the challenge of finding consultancies that have the skills, experience, references and focus on supporting business outcomedriven EA, rather than a traditional focus on reconciling, documenting and standardizing IT systems.
Planned Research
We covered EA consultancies in 2013 and will focus even more intently on those consultancies that Gartner sees as delivering business outcomes. Our focus on the EA tools will also be held to this same approach, and we will continue to augment our research on all those that sell their services and products to enterprise architects. Our planned research includes:
Analysis of strengths and weaknesses of various EA consultancies Market guide to global EA consultancies Magic Quadrant for EA tools Critical capabilities for EA tools
How can organizations respond to the rapidly changing regulatory environment while addressing all other business disruptions?
Enterprise architects are facing a rapidly changing regulatory environment in today's business world. These are disruptions that must produce a response for organizations to continue to do business in their sector. Financial services, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and insurance are only some of the industries to face a regulatory environment that is becoming increasingly challenging. Enterprise architects must understand these changes and the associated business risks of noncompliance. To do this, they must understand the impact of these risks on their current- and futurestate architecture, and take steps now to address these risks and plan for more
regulatory change in the future. In addition, it is important that they understand the impact of this issue on corporate governance. Enterprise architects will have more responsibility in determining reference architectures and how these are implemented, although accountability will continue to rest with top executives in organizations. In addition, the trend toward internal controls and regulation on a global basis will impact business architecture, making this more than an IT challenge. Enterprise architects will need to improve their understanding of business architecture and its relationship with IT and information security.
Planned Research
In 2014, Gartner will focus more on the intersection of enterprise risk and enterprise architecture. Our planned research topics include:
The impact of COBIT5 on enterprise architecture The rapidly changing regulatory environment demands that enterprise architects understand risk and compliance How internal controls regulation impacts business architecture The identification of key performance and risk indicators to guide EA governance EA and governance, risk and compliance
How can organizations be effective in delivering business outcomes when EA is a part-time or informal role in the organization?
Small and midsize organizations also have a great need for the discipline of enterprise architecture. However, this function is often performed by resources as a part-time or informal role and on a limited budget. These organizations often struggle to provide business value while trying to mitigate the impact of rapidly accumulating legacy IT. They have special challenges that must be addressed creatively to help them deliver business outcomes.
Planned Research
We will focus a part of our research on delivering new ideas on how to address the challenges facing small or midsize organizations (SMBs) that want and need to do EA but do not always have a formalized structure to support this. Our planned research topics include:
Finding quick wins for EA in SMBs Measuring the value of EA in SMBs How to engage with business executives in an SMB How to manage doing EA on a part-time basis How additional roles work with EA to deliver business outcomes
Related Priorities
Key Initiatives address significant business opportunities and threats, and typically have defined objectives, substantial financial implications and high organizational visibility. They are normally implemented by a designated team with clear roles and responsibilities, as well as defined performance objectives. Table 1. Related Priorities for Enterprise Architecture Key Initiative Focus
Enterprise Enterprise architecture is a discipline for leading enterprise Architecture Program responses to disruptive forces by identifying and analyzing the execution of change toward desired business vision and outcomes. Information Governance and MDM Programs Innovation Management Information governance programs like MDM are key to efforts to gain value from information reuse across an organization, and are central to enterprise information management. Successful innovation must combine creativity with process to transform novel ideas into business value. Innovation management requires a clear strategy, a business focus and a defined process model.
Program and Portfolio This discipline is central to helping an organization realize its Management strategy, develop its core business capabilities and optimize investment in IT projects. Information Innovation Information innovation responds to fundamental technology changes by gathering, managing, analyzing and using information in new ways to leap ahead in operational or business performance.
Source: Gartner (January 2014)
Suggested Next Steps
As the EA discipline evolves in 2014, EA practitioners should continue to sharpen their focus on identifying, targeting and delivering business outcomes. We suggest attending one of the Gartner EA Summit conferences or Gartner Symposium/ITxpo events to understand how to adopt leading practices in delivering business outcomes.
Related Agendas
Application Development Business Process Management
Information Infrastructure Infrastructure and Operations Leaders Program and Portfolio Management Information Innovation and Governance Social Software and Collaboration
Gartner Recommended Reading
Some documents may not be available as part of your current Gartner subscription. "Toolkit: Develop Your EA Career Potential" "EA Best Practices for Small EA Teams to Promote Wider Participation" "Make Enterprise Architect a Career, Not Just a Job Title" "Migrating Customers to Online Services Using Gamification" "CEO and Senior Executive Survey 2013: Business Uncertainty Is an Opportunity for EA to Take Leadership Role" "Define the Business Outcome Statement to Guide Enterprise Architecture Efforts" "Leading Companies Leverage Business Architecture to Integrate Business and IT Execution" "Five Best Practices for Building EA Road Maps That Enable Outcomes" "Define EA Governance to Deliver Targeted Business Outcomes"
Agenda Manager Profile
Julie Short is a research director and research agenda manager at Gartner, focusing on the discipline of EA. She also has a risk management and compliance background. In her career, she has worked in and managed all IT disciplines. She specializes in how risk management is integral to EA, incorporating EA as part of major initiatives, and the importance of defining governance from a business objective perspective. She was also the lead author for the 2013 Magic Quadrant for EA tools and has led research specifically on the functionality, selection and implementation of EA tools. Ms. Short has led global EA programs, working directly with CIOs and senior business management, and has experience in defining and implementing EA and IT governance in alignment with corporate objectives.
Evidence
1
Gartner client inquiries and direct discussions with enterprise architects in 2013 reveal a focus on how to deliver business outcomes as a result of the enterprise architecture
discipline. Over 1,100 client inquiries in the past 11 months and numerous client meetings at various summits (EA, PPM, risk and security) revealed a focus on delivering business outcomes by enterprise architects. These same discussions also exposed that they are struggling to know how to do this. In 2012, client inquiries and the Gartner survey of enterprise architects conducted in several regions of the world showed that EA leaders are using their focus on business outcomes to help their organizations become more competitive and high-impact. Today, 31% of EA leaders are enabling major business and transformation efforts, 23% are focused on delivering strategic business and IT value, and 17% are focused on aligning business and IT strategies.
2
Gartner research indicates an increasing focus on disruptions such as regulatory change (see "The Executive Guide to Managing Regulatory Change" ). Client inquiries indicate a rising trend in discussions surrounding disruption. In 2010, Gartner had more than 150 inquiries on this topic. In 2011, the number of inquiries increased to more than 220, and in 2013, this number increased to more than 300 during the same time period.
3
From May 2011 to September 2013, Gartner analysts handled more than 11,500 inquiries on sourcing. These analysts have conducted surveys that indicate 22% of organizations across 21 industries outsourced IT services.
4
Gartner's survey of potential attendees of Gartner's EA Summit in 2013 found that 51% of respondents in the U.S. (n = 227) and 49.8% of respondents in EMEA (n = 245) stated they were either already using or planning to use EA consultancies.
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