FSTC Enterprise Architecture Workgroup Session Update

The FSTC Enterprise Architecture workgroup session by far has been the most interesting and enlightening session I have attended regarding enterprise architecture in the past year. It was great having the agenda set by real enterprise architects, not the analyst community nor vendors. Since I previously came from a bank as an enterprise architect, I was surprised how little things have changed since I was last one.

For many organizations people are still the key. When I say people I mean that enterprise architecture is more than merely technology. Technology is actually a small component. An EA must must have business savvy, they must be able to demonstrate thought leadership and foster community within an organization. Soft skills are more important than hard skills in this role because you do not have a team of reports that can execute on the "right" objectives. You must lead through influence.

With that said, it is very hard to measure EA effectiveness. Since there are many soft skills used. As an industry we are still trying to figure out which are the right metrics. I think we are getting close, but it will still take some time. The reason I say this is because we still do not have a common understanding of "What is Enterprise Architecture". Each organization has a slightly different meaning. What we have all agreed on is that the role is a tough role to fill. It must be filled by a highly competent, charismatic, well trained in many areas of technology, tooling and methodologies.

We reviewed a survey that was sent out to many of the top ten banks in the US. The results were surprising. The industry wants change but needs a few things to get jump started. I will also say that the top five banks are a different classification of other size banks. These banks in the top ten are much more mature in the development arena for the most part. There are a few exceptions out there though. Mid size banks usually buy before for they build. So the needs of a mid or small size bank have different EA issues in their environments. I may or may not comment on that in a later post.

Unfortunately I can not share the details of the survey. I will say that it is valuable information and if you would like more information and if you are an Enterprise Architect, Chief Architect or CTO I would recommend joining FSTC. Like I said earlier, it is a bunch of us senior level architects in a room talking about real world issues and sharing ideas on how to solve them. I am now with Microsoft (as you know), however I can relate with many of these concerns and I intend on using my resources here at Microsoft to aid in this cause.