"The Architect" guiding principles
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The document outlines guiding principles for enterprise architecture, emphasizing the need for architects to focus on capabilities and processes rather than just technology. Key principles include driving innovation, promoting collaboration, making data-driven decisions, and fostering a high-performance culture. The author advocates for clear understanding of value, trusted advisory roles, and simplifying architecture to optimize processes and enhance overall effectiveness.
![| |September 2016
26CIOReview
“The Architect”
Guiding Principles
By Leo Barella, VP & Chief Enterprise Architect, AstraZeneca [NYSE: AZN]
M
y career has been centered on
both the evolution and simpli-
fication of enterprise archi-
tectures for large enterprises.
I believe in developing enter-
prise architecture principles as a foundation for
the definition of solutions that meet the strategic
needs of an organization. These principles don’t
reference technology—instead, they drive tech-
nology decisions.
If used correctly, these principles allow
companies to avoid building the right solution
the wrong way, or worse, building the wrong
solution the right way.
The focus of this article is not the
Design Principles of the Architecture
but the Principles that guide
Enterprise Architects.
These are principles that I shared
with the Enterprise Architecture
teams I led:
1) Drive Innovation
Innovation shouldn’t start with a
conversation about technology—It
should start with a conversation about
capabilities, process, and people.
There are few enterprises using the
full set of features of the technologies
they’re investing in. Most times, the
acquisition of new technologies comes
with hiring of corporate executives
who have been able to drive change in
other companies leveraging a certain
technology and they replay their
recipe in a new organization.
Efficiency stems in process
optimization first, people next,
and then technology, yet too often
the process works the other way
around. We buy technology, train
people, and design processes to
make the most efficient use of the
technology. Even worse, we adapt the
technology to fit with an older and
non-optimized process.
2) Create High Value for
the Enterprise
Defining value can be complicated.
More enterprises need to spend time
defining what value means to their
customers and how every project
in their portfolio is contributing to
creating that value.
A good exercise here is to separate
projects that should continue to
receive investments versus ones that
will only provide marginal or isolated
value that won’t contribute to the
bottom line.
3) Be a Trusted Advisor
To be a trusted advisor, an Architect
must intimately understand their
industry—not just technology. A
conversation with the business
customers shouldn’t only be about
the technology, but about how the
solution you’re about to design will
set them apart from their competition.
A conversation about business
outcomes will always win your
customer’s attention.
4) Promote Collaborative
Decision-Making
Designing solutions is an iterative
process where details mature over time
due to increased mutual understanding
of the business/IT contribution to
solving the problem. My favorite
approach is to offer multiple solutions
and explain each in plain English
along with pros and cons, and short
and long-term implications of each
choice. While we all understand time
pressure and have all been in a classic
situation where there were “too many
cooks in the kitchen”, inclusion is key.
Leo Barella
CXO INSIGHTS](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/astrazeneca-160922190041/85/The-Architect-guiding-principles-2-320.jpg)
"The Architect" guiding principles
- 1. | |September 2016 1CIOReview CIOReview ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE SPECIAL CIOREVIEW.COM T h e N a v i g a t o r f o r E n t e r p r i s e S o l u t i o n s SEPTEMBER 07, 2016 Geoffrey Sparks, CEO & Founder ERIC DONNELLY, SVP & CHIEF ENTERPRISE ARCHITECT, PNC MIKE ANDERSON, CIO, CROSSMARK IN MY OPINION CIO INSIGHTS SPARX SYSTEMS INTELLIGENTLY ARCHITECTING THE INFORMATION SILOS
- 2. | |September 2016 26CIOReview “The Architect” Guiding Principles By Leo Barella, VP & Chief Enterprise Architect, AstraZeneca [NYSE: AZN] M y career has been centered on both the evolution and simpli- fication of enterprise archi- tectures for large enterprises. I believe in developing enter- prise architecture principles as a foundation for the definition of solutions that meet the strategic needs of an organization. These principles don’t reference technology—instead, they drive tech- nology decisions. If used correctly, these principles allow companies to avoid building the right solution the wrong way, or worse, building the wrong solution the right way. The focus of this article is not the Design Principles of the Architecture but the Principles that guide Enterprise Architects. These are principles that I shared with the Enterprise Architecture teams I led: 1) Drive Innovation Innovation shouldn’t start with a conversation about technology—It should start with a conversation about capabilities, process, and people. There are few enterprises using the full set of features of the technologies they’re investing in. Most times, the acquisition of new technologies comes with hiring of corporate executives who have been able to drive change in other companies leveraging a certain technology and they replay their recipe in a new organization. Efficiency stems in process optimization first, people next, and then technology, yet too often the process works the other way around. We buy technology, train people, and design processes to make the most efficient use of the technology. Even worse, we adapt the technology to fit with an older and non-optimized process. 2) Create High Value for the Enterprise Defining value can be complicated. More enterprises need to spend time defining what value means to their customers and how every project in their portfolio is contributing to creating that value. A good exercise here is to separate projects that should continue to receive investments versus ones that will only provide marginal or isolated value that won’t contribute to the bottom line. 3) Be a Trusted Advisor To be a trusted advisor, an Architect must intimately understand their industry—not just technology. A conversation with the business customers shouldn’t only be about the technology, but about how the solution you’re about to design will set them apart from their competition. A conversation about business outcomes will always win your customer’s attention. 4) Promote Collaborative Decision-Making Designing solutions is an iterative process where details mature over time due to increased mutual understanding of the business/IT contribution to solving the problem. My favorite approach is to offer multiple solutions and explain each in plain English along with pros and cons, and short and long-term implications of each choice. While we all understand time pressure and have all been in a classic situation where there were “too many cooks in the kitchen”, inclusion is key. Leo Barella CXO INSIGHTS
- 3. | |September 2016 27CIOReview I believe in developing enterprise architecture principles as a foundation for the definition of solutions that meet the strategic needs of an organization 5) Make Data Driven, Fact- based Decisions W. Edwards Deming once said, “Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” To promote change, it’s important for Architects to effectively describe the value of the proposed solution. This happens when “HiPPOs” (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion) run your company, so in order to create buy-in for change, you need to be armed with facts to prove that the HiPPO might not the best decision for the company. 6) Promote a “one team” Culture across IT and the Enterprise This is the failure of most organizations, especially ones with a federated operating model for enterprise architecture. A federated model for architecture makes it difficult to drive the enterprise agenda since every business unit behaves as its own separate enterprise. In a climate where both business and IT leaders are running their own agenda and not the enterprise agenda, it’s important an enterprise Architect remains true to the focus of the enterprise. A team is successful when the sum of the capability of the individual parts is exceeded by the collective capability of the entire team. 7) If you can’t Build it Simply, you don’t Understand it To build it simply, the Architect must have a firm understanding of the solution impact to the current business architecture and especially value streams, processes, and business capabilities. I know, we hear the word, “simplify” a lot—IT solutions are often developed in the vacuum of a single project with little consideration given to the impact of the enterprise. This results in hundreds and sometimes thousands of applications and technologies needing to be maintained and supported. 8) Recognize Courage and Success Good Architects know how to build personal networks and the best way to do this is to freely give recognition of success when it’s due. Since Architects are typically introverted, recognizing people with a simple “thank you” in an e-mail goes a long way in building trust, and will help you when you need to get support in the future. 9) Think Big, Start Small, and Scale Fast The era of “build it and they will come” is over—Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you won’t build or transform an enterprise in a day. Visualize your goal and learn to communicate it persuasively. Organizations look for successful execution and results, and often a small example of success can be a better explanation of your plan than the plan on its own without any tangible results. 10) Promote a Culture of High Performance and Efficiency Efficiency is the key to high performance. It’s true some companies can afford to buy their way to the right solutions, but in my experience, I can tell you that the resulting enterprise architecture is bloated and inefficient. I always start with asking myself the question: If we were to start this company today, what would the architecture look like? The answer is usually a very modern and efficient architecture.