Enterprise Architecture done RIGHT is not about being in the Ivory Tower says Gregor Hohpe
Gregor Hohpe, will be conducting a workshop titled “Architecting Enterprise Transformation” on March 7th, 2018. He will also be presenting a talk titled “Enterprise Architecture = Architecting the Enterprise?” on Digital Transformation Day, March 8th, 2018. During Q & A with Greg, the AgileIndia2018 team learned more about Gregor’s approach and ideas about Enterprise Architecture, IT Architecture, Cloud Offerings in the era of digitization. This interview summarises the highlights.
How do you see Enterprise Architecture fit in the era of digitalization? Specifically, how is Enterprise Architecture evolving to embrace cloud offerings and solutions?
In the digital age, existing organizations need to transform their IT and bring business and IT closer together. Both necessitate a well-functioning enterprise architecture. Cloud computing certainly has a major impact on IT architectures by reducing a lot of the operational elements. However, it also brings new architectural decisions, for example how to manage hybrid cloud scenarios. I would say that most of the decisions are in the scope of IT architecture and less with enterprise architecture.
What are some of the key challenges organizations and architects need to overcome?
The rate of change of business and IT evolution is constantly increasing. However, most IT shops and solutions were set up to optimize existing processes as opposed to driving innovation. Adapting to a new way of working requires people to think differently and challenge existing assumptions. That’s hard to do.
Enterprise Architecture frameworks such as TOGAF, ZACHMAN were on the plates of many enterprises and architects. Do you see them still valuable and relevant in the context of Digital Transformation?
A framework can be a useful tool but is just that – nothing more, nothing less. Remember the old days when we debated the right object modeling notation and process: Rumbaugh, Booch, Coad-Yourdon, Shlaer-Mellor? They were all useful, but at some point, we realized that it’s more important to discuss the content instead of the notation or tooling. I think the same is true for Enterprise Architecture – the tools are helpful, but as soon as they take center stage, it’s a slippery slope.
What are the key takeaways from your talk titled, “Enterprise Architecture = Architecting the Enterprise?” to the attendees?
I hope to show that Enterprise Architecture done right is not about being in the ivory tower. It is more relevant than ever and quite interesting.
What are the key takeaways from your workshop titled, “Architecting Enterprise Transformation” to the attendees?
The workshop is showing to architects and developers what it takes to connect to the “upper floors” of an IT organization by understanding organizational structures and learning how to communicate technical concepts and the value of architecture to IT leaders.
What are the key takeaways from your talk titled, “Adopting DevOps? You are Aiming at the Wrong Target!” to the attendees?
The provocative title looks to suggest that DevOps is not something you simply “adopt” – establishing this way of working in a large organization requires you to look at the broader picture.
About Gregor Hohpe
Gregor is a recognized thought leader on asynchronous messaging and service-oriented architectures. He is widely known as co-author of the seminal book “Enterprise Integration Patterns” and a frequent speaker at conferences around the world. He is an active member of the IEEE Software editorial advisory board. He has documented his experience as an architect driving IT transformation in the eBook “37 Things One Architect Knows”.
For all the talks and workshops that Gregor Hohpe will be delivering at Agile India 2018 Conference please visit, https://2019.agileindia.org/speaker/gregor-hohpe/. Click here for conference details and tickets.
