Enterprise architecture and the ‘small countries’
Been thinking for quite a while now that there’s a significant difference in enterprise architecture styles between ‘big countries’ – particularly Britain and the US – and ‘small countries’ (smaller population rather than smaller size) such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands and so on. Following this post from John Gøtze – ‘Aligning the Ducks‘ – I’ll have to include Denmark in that list as well.
John’s post is an interview with Gary Doucet, Chief Architect for the Canadian Federal Government. (He was a keynote speaker at an Danish Government architecture conference in Århus in April – hence the Denmark connection.) What’s clear from the interview is that there in Canada the entire architecture process is business-driven – not IT-driven. In fact there were only passing references to IT and CIOs and the rest of the IT-centric stuff: instead, the emphasis was on business-centric themes such as their Business Transformation Enablement Program and Municipal Services Reference Model.
That’s the big difference: the ‘big countries’ EA is still clinging (with increasing desperation?) to the IT-centric view, whereas the ‘small countries’ EAs have long since recognised that it’s a dead-end, and that we must wrest control of EA from IT if we’re going to get anywhere worth while.
Yet another reason why it’s so damn frustrating being here in Britain: it should be a powerhouse in EA, and yet by comparison with Australia it feels like a stagnant backwater. But I’s here for the while, so just have to get on with what I have and where I am, I guess. Hey ho.
But go look at John’s interview with Gary Doucet: a solid sense of realism there, rather than the usual US/GB IT-centric hype. Recommended.