For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

The Five Essential Metrics For Managing EA

by Jeff Scott, November 17, 2009

Enterprise architects frequently ask what metrics they should use to demonstrate EA's progress and value to the organization. CIOs want to know what they are getting for their investment in EA, and EAs see metrics as an important tool for promoting their . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Learn More About Your 2009 Business Analysts  (694 KB PPT)

by Mary Gerush, November 13, 2009

These data charts highlight more data from the Forrester Research/IIBA Q2 2009 Global Business Analyst Online Survey, first reviewed in the July 23, 2009, "Your 2009 Business Analysts: Know Them To Grow Them" report.

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Global Enterprise Architecture Self-Assessment Tool  (186 KB XLS)

by Jost Hoppermann, November 5, 2009

Forrester's Global Enterprise Architecture Self-Assessment Tool is an interactive tool designed to help enterprise architecture professionals identify their global EA initiative's probability of success. The tool bases this assessment on an organization's . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Global EA Drives Global IT: Assess Your EA Initiative's Global Readiness

by Jost Hoppermann, November 5, 2009

Poor results when working to facilitate global IT are often a result of poorly executed global EA programs, poor preparation, and/or a too-positive perception of the global business and IT environment. Forrester's Global Enterprise Architecture Self-Assessment . . .

For CIOs

Role Descriptions For The Office Of The CIO

Key Roles Support The CIO In Driving IT's Success

by Marc Cecere, October 22, 2009

Forrester has assembled job descriptions for several roles within the Office of the CIO — the group of IT leaders who report to the CIO and provide services outside of applications and infrastructure. Based on analyst expertise and a sampling of actual . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Characterizing EA Teams And Their Challenges

by Alex Cullen, Katie Smillie, August 6, 2009

Forrester has seen that the mission and operating model of enterprise architecture teams can be characterized along two dimensions: orientation (technology-oriented or business-oriented) and focus (project-focused or strategy-focused). These two dimensions . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Survey Data Shows Enterprise Architects Are Gatekeepers Of Technology Acquisitions

Despite A Growing Focus On Business Architecture, Data Shows That EA's Technology Role Has Not Diminished

by Gene Leganza, July 13, 2009

Recent Forrester survey data shows that, in most organizations, enterprise architects strongly influence technology purchase decisions. Three-quarters of our respondents said that all or most major technology purchases at their organization require enterprise . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: Developing Architects, Q2 2009

by Jeff Scott, Katie Smillie, June 29, 2009

Whether you're an architect yourself or you have architects reporting to you, you've probably wondered: What does it take to be an architect? We analyzed more than 60 inquiry questions from Forrester clients related to the topic of the architect's role . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: Building An EA Practice, Q2 2009

by Gene Leganza, Katie Smillie, June 1, 2009

Forrester examined 2,292 end user inquiries from enterprise architecture (EA) professionals in 2008. The topics of these inquiries were wide ranging, including questions about information and knowledge management, infrastructure and operations, and application . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Sharpen Your Focus By Building An EA Practice Strategic Plan

by Jeff Scott, April 7, 2009

Enterprise architects who focus exclusively on building architecture and ignore building their architecture practice are missing the opportunity to grow their influence and value. The result is often great architecture but little impact. To meet their . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: Organizing Architecture Teams Q1 2009

by Gene Leganza, Katie Smillie, March 27, 2009

Forrester examined a total of 2,292 end user inquiries from enterprise architecture (EA) professionals in 2008. Many of these inquiries were about specific technology topics such as information and knowledge management, infrastructure and operations, . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Enterprise Architects Are Not Proving Their Value

Gaps, Acceptable In Good Times, May Be Challenging In Bad Times

by Jost Hoppermann, March 11, 2009

Forrester surveyed 140 firms and their enterprise architecture (EA) groups in October 2008 — after the financial market meltdown — to identify the trends regarding EA organizations, resources, and governance processes. We also wanted to find the hot architecture . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Trends For EA Professionals In 2009

Enterprise Architects: Use Today's Economic Challenges To Focus And Sharpen Your Efforts

by Jost Hoppermann, Gene Leganza, Jeff Scott, Ken Vollmer, January 7, 2009

Enterprise architecture (EA) will continue its journey up the value chain in 2009, but there's no doubt that the road will be bumpy at best. Helping their organizations deal with economic conditions will consume some EA teams, and most will have to narrow . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Establishing EA Governance Models  (1.5 MB PPT)

by Jeff Scott, January 5, 2009

This is a workbook on establishing EA governance models.

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Critical Success Factors For BPM Implementation

Key Issues That Enterprise Architects Must Consider

by Ken Vollmer, December 24, 2008

BPM implementations have assisted many enterprises by enhancing their operational efficiency and level of business innovation, and improvements in these two areas can go a long way toward helping enterprises navigate the shoals of enterprise performance . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

The Up-And-Coming Business Architect

A Forrester Survey Reveals Trends In The Business Architect Role

by Jeff Scott, Katie Smillie, October 24, 2008

Forrester recently labeled the business architect as an "extremely hot" IT role — and it's an equally hot role in the business. But in spite of the role's popularity, it's hard to find agreement on its attributes. To uncover current trends, Forrester . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Create Greater Impact Through EA Stakeholder Management

by Jeff Scott, September 12, 2008

Enterprise architecture (EA) stakeholder support is critical to EA program success. Without stakeholders' continued buy-in and support, EA strategies will go nowhere. But a little bit of attention can go a long way. Architects can significantly increase . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Case Study: PNC's Secret To EA Success? A Strong Customer Focus

How One Company Achieves And Measures EA Effectiveness In A Federated IT Environment

by Jeff Scott, Katie Smillie, August 1, 2008

When The PNC Financial Services Group created a central enterprise architecture (EA) program nearly three years ago, it sought to build the team's success from the inside out, creating a small, central team as well as a formal structure of distributed . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Best Practices: Improving EA Effectiveness

Customer Focus, EA Skills, And Delivering Value Are Key

by Jeff Scott, August 1, 2008

Creating an effective enterprise architecture (EA) practice is challenging and frequently elusive for EA teams. Architecture initiatives require broad organizational support just to get started and, once started, often have long investment cycles. Small . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Role Profile: The Enterprise Architect

Understanding And Marketing To The EA Professional

by Emily Van Metre, Eric G. Brown, July 25, 2008

Knowing your customers will help you start the right conversation with a prospect, understand how your products are relevant to your customer's daily life, and in the end help to land you a sale. This role profile will take you through key attributes . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Enterprise Architects Play A Key Role In Uncertain Economic Times

by Gene Leganza, June 26, 2008

When the economic climate is uncertain and threatening to become less friendly, executives take a closer look at the value of their investments. They will put IT projects — and IT organizational units — under the magnifying glass and only keep those that . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

EA Team Structures Vary Widely

Most Enterprises Leverage Small Organizations To Get The Job Done

by Jeff Scott, April 11, 2008

Organizations challenge enterprise architects to implement comprehensive, strategic technology programs using limited resources: Most EA teams have small organizations, limited discretionary funding, and little political power. To cope with these limitations, . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Leverage Solution Architects To Drive EA Results

by Jeff Scott, Katie Smillie, March 28, 2008

The role of the solution architect is maturing. More than two-thirds of respondents in a Forrester poll state that their IT organizations define this role for at least some areas within their enterprises. As enterprise architecture (EA) programs mature . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Five Trends That Will Shape The EA Profession In 2008

by Larry Fulton, Randy Heffner, Jost Hoppermann, Henry Peyret, Jeff Scott, December 14, 2007

In 2008, enterprise architects will find themselves at the center of a struggle to change their organizations into significantly more agile enterprises. As solution delivery morphs from traditional in-house custom development to the integration of an . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Role Overview: The Enterprise Architecture Professional In 2007

by Gene Leganza, Larry Fulton, May 11, 2007

In 2007, enterprise architects face the ongoing issues of defining technology strategy and improving the overall effectiveness of enterprise architecture (EA) processes, but the imperative to merge technology and business strategy brings new challenges. . . .