Use Business Architecture Tools To Align EA With The CIO's Agenda

CIOs intuitively understand the value of a well-architected environment but leave the details up to the architects. Architects, on the other hand, often don't clarify the CIO's intention behind the directive "Go create our enterprise architecture." This lack of communication creates a substantial gap between what the CIO really wants and what EAs actually deliver. To close this gap, EAs should take the accountability to clarify and align EA with CIO concerns. Fortunately, they have a ready-made solution — business architecture (BA) — to help them do this. Architects can use business architecture tools and techniques to tightly align their activities with their CIO's concerns and greatly improve their value.