If there is one thing I have been able to glean from the class this semester is that the landscape of EA is rapidly changing. In the text this semester Enterprise Architecture as Strategy, the EA drives an operational persona that works well to manage complexities of large waterfall organizations. These organizations typically are generally in slow moving, mature and/or commoditized industries with little incentive to innovate. EA supports these types of businesses from a place of centralization and some would say any innovations within the company are drive out through academic or Ivory Tower operating models. The innovation that EA can bring to the table is crucial to the business and their success. In a 2016 study by Gartner [1], 41% of companies surveyed call out their primary EA function as Business Innovation. Because of the high level of value that this drives for the business, the Ivory Tower innovation becomes central to the organisation. A problem arises when EA is seen as only a function of innovation, and therefore much of its other functions, while providing value take a back seat.
A Paradigm Shift:
To compete in a fast paced industry, innovation becomes even more paramount. Traditional EA focusing on frameworks like the TOGAF ADM or Zachman or Garner’s model tend to be steeped in process and control. There is not much room for these especially as we move into new operating paradigms and introduce new ways of computing such as serverless applications or demand based scaling. Additionally the concepts surrounding DevOps tells us a story of fast moving changes within the enterprise where speed to market for the products developed is paramount. All of the changes have shift the way enterprises will deliver their products and services.
Bimodal EA is a new operating paradigm might help bridge the gap between the two worlds. These two modes in the bimodal paradigm stem form bimodal it. The concept is outlined by a mode of operations focused on innovation and a second mode focused on stability and methodical delivery. The model rolled out to EA would need to mirror the line of business where EA finds it central operations. This would help to add acceptance and align the operating model with its core customer. Gartner describes these “modes” as Vanguard Architects (mode 2) and Foundational Architecture (mode 1). These two groups would operate in a similar fashion and share responsibilities however the mode1 group would be focused on optimization of the enterprise and the mode2 group focused on innovation. The split would free up the optimizing group to make sound decisions and focus on the more traditional deliverables helping to deliver business value from a cost savings perspective. Similarly for mode2 innovation and disruptive technologies would also be open to generating value by helping strategically steer the organization using insights from its focus.
A Caution:
Through the employment of bimodal EA, a new explicit focus of is borne on innovation and disruptive technologies, however the size of the organization matters. Because the cycle of innovation is typically found outside the organization and those companies that provide a competitive advantage are generally small the value proposition is affected by this particular model. This makes the focus on innovation from the bimodal model potentially risky. To illustrate how size matters, I’ll borrow an example from the book ‘The Innovator’s Dilemma”. A company that is 40MM in revenues, generally needs to expand by 20% to satisfy shareholders. This says that EA would need to shepard in 8MM in revenues to meet shareholder expectation. This is completely doable by a single group with a moderately sized company. However if the company maintains 4B in revenues and the shareholders expect the same growth the innovation team would be responsible for finding 800MM in revenues. Arguably, EA would be a better fit in a 4B dollar company vs a smaller 40MM dollar company. If you look at the revenues from top innovators, even with a purchase of that innovation it is unlikely that anyone would be able to support the growth charged against the mode2, Vanguard EA group. This is why it would be crucial to maintain a close relationship with the traditional mode1 group and still have strategic connections to the traditional ways of providing value in the organization.
[1] Mike J. Walker | Betsy Burton | Marcus Blosch, 01/2016, Vanguard Enterprise Architects Will Lead Bimodal Mode 2 Innovations, Document Reference Number: G00292808
[2] Clayton M. Christensen, 01/2016, The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
