Wong Ming Fai, Chief Information Officer & IT Director of SPRING Singapore, shared his Enterprise Architecture (EA) journey with EA practitioners at the 9th Architecture Community of Practice (ACoP) Forum on 11 November 2014, where he spoke about Operationalising Enterprise Architecture in the Real World: Drawing Lessons from National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Systems Catalyst speaks with Ming Fai on EA and the takeaways from his journey.
Ming Fai, speaking at the 9th ACoP Forum
| Systems Catalyst: |
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Could you explain what is Enterprise Architecture? |
| Ming Fai: |
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Enterprise Architecture is a big word. Think of it simply as something that clarifies what anenterprise is;a map of theenterprise's key parts and how they inter-relate to deliver business capabilities needed to fulfil the enterprise's vision.
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| Systems Catalyst: |
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Why should an organisation adopt Enterprise Architecture? |
| Ming Fai: |
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It's like having a Global Positioning System in your car that tellsyou where you are, and helps you think about how to get to where you want to be. It also brings about better business outcomes in helping enterprises save costs, improve productivity and have better risk management.
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| Systems Catalyst: |
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How can an organisation kick-start Enterprise Architecture? |
| Ming Fai: |
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This is actually the hardest part of the EA journey. There are a lot of decisions to be made - which framework to adopt? Is there a need to use an EA tool? Should a specialised team be formed?
There are four guiding principles that organisations looking to implement EA can rely on:
- Guess, Validate, Iterate- To gain a comprehensive overview of the organisation, time is needed to interview key stakeholders and gather information. Settle for a good enough set of information and refine the plan through iterations.
- Focus on Delivering Value- Know what problem you are trying to solve, andavoid the trap of overbuilding artefact libraries.
- Develop a Single Picture- Capture key processes, technological components and information in a single picture to identify what is reallyimportant.
- Never forget the importance of governance- Architecture and governance are two key pillars for EA. Ensure strong governance and put in processes to enforce architecture.
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| Systems Catalyst: |
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How can an Enterprise Architect get buy-in and support from the management? |
| Ming Fai: |
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Start small. Ride on existing projects and show value, and celebrate those small successes.
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| Systems Catalyst: |
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At the current stage in your EA journey, what other opportunities do you see in EA? |
| Ming Fai: |
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In my own organisation, I still see many areas where we can leverage on EA. In fact, there isstill a long way to go in deriving thefull benefits of EA. It is also not necessary to explicitly label the EA efforts, so as not to limit people's participation in the EA effort.
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The 10th ACoP Forum will be held on 31 March 2015. Click here for more information
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