ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE TURNAROUND

About the Book

To provide structure and transparency to the complex world of IT, Enterprise Architecture was created. However, we created complexities within Enterprise Architecture with Frameworks that are not easily understandable and purposefully implementable. In this book, Nagesh and Gerry help to turnaround Enterprise Architecture organizations. They introduce a simple IDEA Framework that is based on common practices and investments within IT organizations. The Ten deliverables presented in this book bring structure and clarity to IT organizations that are 10-people IT shops and 1000+ IT staff enterprises alike.

This book is not an ivory tower work, it is actionable, applied Enterprise Architecture. It is also a healthy dose of EA “tough love.” If you want to know why EA fails, read the second chapter. It is introspective, it does not blame external forces: the not-my-fault syndrome. It also does not blame, in fact it hardly mentions, technology. To be fair, the Nagesh and Gerry do recognize external influences; however they are viewed as risks that must be managed.

Most corporations focus on this year’s budget, investments, and rewards. The same focus rolls downhill to the Information Technology department. If the IT department has not successfully communicated the budget and managed to spend it within the limits (±10% variance), everything else may seem irrelevant. Eventually, Nagesh and Gerry started looking through current IT systems and IT assets to understand: (a) where the current funds were being invested, (b) how these investments jelled or were mandated because of the previous investments that had been made by IT, and (c) how the company’s business priorities aligned with future technology needs, including the need to meet compliance requirements. Considering and discovering the answers to these three questions led Nagesh and Gerry to develop a definition of Enterprise Architecture that was based on technology investments – Investment Driven Enterprise Architecture (IDEA) Framework.

The purpose of the IDEA Framework is to provide guidance on how the corporation’s future technology will be drafted and communicated. Its method is to utilize actual systems, hardware, people, and business functions in order to establish boundaries within which the IDEA Framework will work. The structure of the IDEA Framework differs from that of many others because it consists of key deliverables that fit into day-to-day activities and it accommodates an enterprise-wide strategic plan. It also provides for the much-needed interaction between these key deliverables and facilitates contributions from key stakeholders across Business Units and the various IT departments. In essence, the IDEA Framework takes the key deliverables, stakeholders, and organizations and demonstrates how they dynamically function together.

About the Author

Nagesh Anupindi, Ph.D., is a Technology Executive focused on Enterprise Architecture and Master Data Management (MDM) for the last 20 years. He develops Enterprisewide IT strategy for transforming the core business and its operations. He received his Bachelors in Electronics & Telecommunications; Masters in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT); and Doctorate in Computer Engineering from University of Rhode Island. Nagesh is recipient of Thomas Edison Award and Lifetime Achievement Award from Dale Carnegie Institute. Gerry Coady served as CIO for Frontier Airlines and served as the Chief Architect & Managing Director of the Strategic Enterprise Solutions Group at Xcel Energy. Prior to joining Xcel Energy, Gerry spent five years at JD Edwards where he was Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO). He has also held numerous positions with Digital Equipment Corporation. Gerry has a Masters in Business Management, majoring in Innovation and Technology, from Boston University.