Enterprise architecture is a recognized best practice for growing IT’s efficiency and effectiveness in supporting business. Despite this, the practice of EA itself has not always been efficient and effective. In many organizations, this has led to the EA function being formed, then dissolved, and then reconstituted as CIOs try to find the best way for the organization to get value from it. EA as a support function is not unique in this frequent flux—similar situations are found with enterprise PMOs, IT strategy, and process improvement efforts.

Most people would accept that IT’s track record in estimation is not great. So how can we improve estimation? To improve estimation we need to understand the challenges and life cycle of estimates over the course of a project and what information estimates need to be based on.

Anyone who frequents EA-related conferences, webinars, discussion groups, and other open Q&A forums quickly discovers that there are questions that come up over and over again. Those asking the questions say they cannot find short, easy-to-consume, and direct answers to their questions from traditional research sources such as the Internet. They prefer to get personal answers to their questions and have the opportunity to engage in a discussion that is contextually relevant to their situation.