Enterprise Architecture set to be the next big game changer

BANGALORE: Enterprise Architecture is set to be the next big game changer in India,prompted by new challenges, including the need for enterprises to support a hetrogeneous customer base, growing competition from global firms and need for short-response cycles.

An enterprise architecture (EA) is a conceptual blueprint that defines the structure and operation of an organisation through which enterprises could effectively achieve its current and future objectives.

"The biggest challenge that enterprises are facing today are rate of change and complexity" said John Zachman, the originator of the Zachman Framework, a standard for classifying the descriptive representations or models that comprise enterprise architecture.

The environment was getting complex and if one wants to deal with complexity, it cannot be done without architecture, Zachman, underlining the need for early EA adoption, said.

"Just like you need an architect to build your building you will need someone to `engineer' your enterprise to suit the rapid changes in the business scenario", Sunil Dutta Jha, Chief Architect and CEO, ICMG, said.

In fact,inability of organisations to cope with ongoing changes may eventually drive them out of business soon."This is a serious problem and organisations, particularly large ones, are waking up to this reality and the idea of enterprise architecture is making sense now," he said.

"EA is a critical issue.It is the issue of the century" said Zachman. "Only those who adopt EA will get to stay on in this critical game. EA is going to be the next game changer. Those who do not adopt it will be wiped out out", he warned.

Echoing similar views,Sunil said several large organisations which existed in a monopoly market 30 years back,did not exist today.

"The reason is simple, that, is they failed to survive the changes and complexity which came their way. The same is today."

"Changes are happening much faster today than what happened 30 years back.Without an engineering approach to define and build an enterprise,how could they be expected to survive next 20 years", he asked.