A $200 million contract to implement a new system for handling welfare payments for the state of Colorado improperly cuts off some recipients, denies food stamps to deserving families, and overpays others by as much as $10 million. Implementation of a national online system for recording births, deaths, and marriages in the United Kingdom was halted after, among other faults, the system failed to adequately check teachers’ criminal records, thus allowing convicted molesters to work in classrooms.

Bridging Business and IT Strategies

There are ways in which the enterprise can govern itself. No one person has to be the focal point for managing change across the enterprise. In fact, the correct way to maintain the link between business and IT strategy is through a systemic process. This article describes a governance process that provides an ongoing systemic solution to managing IT strategy and architecture blueprints at the enterprise level.

Bill Branch, Vice President of Enterprise Architecture, Sprint Nextel

Bill Branch knew what was coming. As a seasoned corporate executive, he was well aware that mergers between global corporations are frequently predicated on potential cost savings.

Architecture & Governance Magazine recently completed its annual reader survey focused on understanding how enterprise architecture concepts are helping drive business transformation initiatives across the enterprise.

Of the 289 IT and business professionals who took this year’s survey, the vast majority came from entities with 5,000 or more employees. While the numbers were broad, the answers were insightful.

Among the questions we asked . . .

It happens once a quarter, or twice a year, or maybe even on an annual basis. The CEO and executive team sit down at a table and talk about goals and objectives. In these meetings, the CEO typically owns the vision. She talks, for example, about how many stores she wants to open or how many countries she wants to sell into.