Yale University EA Practice Profile

EA Practice at a Glance
Year formed	2014 Initially, Reorganized in 2017
Submitted by	Louis King, Enterprise Architect Louis E King (yale.edu)
EA team is located in	Information Technology Services Infrastructure Design Services
Roles on EA team	Director, Enterprise Architect, Senior Solution Architect
Narrative	The Enterprise Architecture and Design Services capability focuses primarily on the application, data, and technology architecture of enterprise services, architectural governance of solution architecture, and digital transformation in a few areas that the team has deep expertise in the business functions of the University.
Maturity	Yale University EA Practice Review Scope definition - 3 Engagement - 2 Impact assessment - 2 Delivery - 4 Management - 2

What is your name and title?

Louis King, Enterprise Architect
Andrew Newman, Director, Enterprise Architecture

See also:
Yale's EA practice website, Yale University Enterprise Architecture, for more information.

How did your architecture practice get started?

Yale's CIO established the inaugural position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in 2013. The Office of the CTO was established one year later, in 2014. The Office was charged to lead architectural governance and technology strategy development within Information Technology Services (ITS) and where possible, across the University. Staffed with three, full-time, enterprise architects the office focused on strategy development, architecture reviews, technology roadmap development, portfolio lifecycle management, and architecture consultation.

In response to budgetary pressures on ITS the size of the office was reduced in subsequent years and upon the departure of the CTO, the remaining resource was moved to the Infrastructure Design Services team. Under design services the EA practice continued to deliver its capabilities and also began working closely with a newly established Technology Architecture Standards Team.

In July of 2018 the IT architecture resources were reorganized to a distributed model in which EA (2 FTE) are housed in the IT Shared Services department and IT solution architects (12+ FTE), the Architecture Group, report directly to departments based on their domain expertise. Members of the Architecture Group contribute a fraction of their effort towards EA activities of design, governance and professional development.

What is the focus of your practice – e.g., enterprise, business, technical, solution, data architecture?

Enterprise Architecture supports ITS Organizational Priorities through an organization-wide approach to designing, planning, and governing the fundamental IT architecture used to deliver ITS services.

EA supports One IT at Yale by ensuring essential interoperability, reduced redundancy and architectural collaboration across ITS departments and IT Partners.
EA improves Service Quality and reduces technical debt through reviewed solution designs, technology standards, and multi-year technology planning.
EA contributes to the Workplace of Choice through an engaging program for architects and solution designers to exchange knowledge, advance professional collaboration, and learn new skills.

EA Capabilities

The EA Team provides direct services, facilitates IT architecture governance, and leads a program to advance the professional community of architects, solution designers, and related specialists. It also coordinates the EA contributions of architects embedded in ITS departments and IT Partners in a distributed approach to EA.

How big is your practice and where is it located in the organization?

The EA capability consists of 2 FTE housed in the IT Shared Services department within ITS. IT Shared Services also houses portfolio management, IT service management, quality assurance and training. Synergy across these capabilities is beneficial.

What is your practice model for working with related teams – e.g., federated architecture practice?

EA works closely with and coordinates certain EA activities of the Architecture Group, consisting of departmental and IT partner architects and design oriented professionals (12+ FTE). Each member of the Architecture Group contributes a fraction of their effort toward EA activities.

How would you describe the maturity of your architecture practice in terms of:

See the Higher Education Enterprise Architecture Maturity Model for more about:

- Scope definition - 3
- Engagement - 2
- Impact assessment - 2
- Delivery - 4
- Management - 2

What are major trends you see in your practice and your enterprise?

Improved alignment to organizational processes
Tighter focus on operational excellence and debt reduction
Beginning engagements in longer-term road maps and planning

How does your team manage its work internally and on projects?

Each EA annually allocates a percent of effort towards specific capabilities. In capabilities where there is overlap, one EA is assigned the lead.
Work and communications are managed on Wikis, Teams and Sharepoint repositories.
Kanban boards and spreadsheets are utilized where appropriate.

What are your major challenges?

Earning full buy-in from the Senior Leadership Team in ITS
Refresh projects side-stepping the governance process
Identifying and implementing architecture opportunities in debt reduction

What projects have been your major focus lately?

Next generation network
Operations and security monitoring
Technology Road Map development
Standards development

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