Title: New2EA Meeting Notes
Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2020 2:00PM-3:00PM EST
Location: https://tinyurl.com/new2ea-zoom
Participants:
Agenda:
Pre-read: Architect your Enterprise Architecture Practice before you hire an EA.
Discussion: What does Higher Education look for in an Architect?
Notes:
Discussion about What does Higher Education look for in an Architect led by Jim Phelps:
Theme 1: Business Drivers
The business drivers that the institution faces are the first element in designing your EA practice and hiring your first Enterprise Architect.
Comments:
Starts with the Business School and align with it
Show Enterprise Architecture brings value
Theme 2: Knowledge Sources
One key is to understand where you are already have deep knowledge that the EA can leverage and where the EA will need to bring the knowledge to the institution.
Comments:
We see this in our IT leadership:
If you have good team, you need a good manager.
You already have the technical skill set.
Unionized positions usually promote within.
You usually get a deep technical person that you have to coach up the architecture skills.
Job Announcements usually just list technical skills desired.
Architects need a depth and breadth of technical knowledge
AND facilitation and communication skills
TO bridge technical and business people
Do I need to have IT practitioner to have an appreciation of architecture principles?
Should all architecture fit in the same job profile? Are there different skill for those that are closer to the business?
Theme 3: Culture
The culture of your institution will be the greatest influence on how you structure an EA Practice.
Comments:
Culture of a cooperative vs a start up
influence vs top down
Theme 4: Context
Context is the regulatory and policy landscape you operate in and the external drivers that your institution faces.
Comments:
Theme 5: Maturity
Maturity is the measure of architectural practice and thinking at your institution.
Comments:
Theme 6: Scope
A key part of the charge for an EA team is the scope of the practice.
Comments:
Theme 7: Value Chain and Engagement
Start with the challenges that you want your EA team to help with. Then work through the value chain asking, "Who would the EA team need to work with" for each step along the way.
Comments:
Theme 8: Operational Structure
Will EA be completely centralized - that is in one unit overseeing the whole of the scope that you have defined?
Will EA be Federated - working with local architect-types and coordinating and overseeing their efforts?
Or will EA be Feudal - each architecture group having its own autonomy, only coordinating with each other when they decide to on their own.
Comments:
What's the capacity or willingness of the institution to adapt or absorb enterprise architecture?
Discussion:
Was EA practice started by CIO or sprung up from like mined folks?
UW - 12 people came together by starting a steering group
made some guidelines and principles
eventually made a proposal for EA and CIO acted on proposal
Upcoming calls:
Wednesday, April 14, 2020 - New2EA Steering Group meeting
Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - Wiki Workshop Kickoff
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