A new generation of Enterprise Architecture (EA) is emerging that will help to break down the barriers between IT and business strategy, according to a new Hype Cycle study by research specialist Gartner.
EA is defined in the report as an evolutionary system that aims to translate business vision into organisational change by outlining the key requirements that will enable a company to achieve its future ambitions.
Gartner states that EA has fallen into a "trough of disillusionment" because its early application, which relied on long-standing approaches such as enterprise technology architecture, directed IT operations but was not integrated with companies' "future-state" strategies.
This created an "invisible wall" between the business and IT arms, which limited organisations' ability to achieve additional value.
The report states that as IT roles shift from technology to enterprise management, more firms are looking to create a more business-focused EA, which is creating an "adaptable architecture" to manage change and enable innovation instead of focusing on exercising control through top-down standards.
Gartner forecast that by 2015, the increased adoption of EA processes will have further aligned IT with corporate culture, future-state vision and the delivery of additional value.
Conrad Thompson, PA's EA expert comments: "PA supports Gartner's view that EA can and should play a central role in bridging the IT and business gap. But rather than needing an ‘adaptable architecture’, which still approaches EA through an IT lens, PA believes that organisations need to create a shared view between IT and business to reduce costs, to innovate and to improve customer service."
"It is only once organisations have a shared purpose for EA that it can help improve investment and change decisions."
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