Everyday Enterprise-architecture: Sensemaking, Strategy, Structures and Solutions

All of architecture comes down to one simple idea: things work better when they work together, with clarity, with elegance, on purpose. Yet how do we express that 'one idea' in practice, within our organisations? With what results, and for what business-value? This book describes the down-to-earth detail of everyday enterprise architecture, to show what architects actually do to deliver value fast, across the entire enterprise. Working step by step through a real ten-day architecture-project, this book explores the activities that underpin sensemaking, strategy, structures and solutions in the real-time turmoil of an enterprise-architect's everyday work. Topics covered include: - how to use enterprise-architecture to tackle executive-level business-problems - how to develop an agile architecture practice that can keep pace with the real-time pressures of the real business world - how to identify the business-reasons and business-value for each activity - how to thrive on the inherent uncertainties of the architecture process - how to use context-space maps to guide sensemaking and solution-design - how to apply architecture ideas and activities to describe what actually happens in a real enterprise-architecture project - how to enhance architectural skills, judgement and awareness, for continuous improvement across the enterprise and in the architecture itself If you want your enterprise to flourish and prosper in the midst of relentless change, this is one book you'll definitely need. Tom Graves has been an independent consultant for more than three decades, in business transformation, enterprise architecture and knowledge management. His clients in Europe, Australasia and the Americas cover a broad range of industries including banking, utilities, manufacturing, logistics, engineering, media, telecoms, research, defence and government. He has a special interest in architecture for non-IT-centric enterprises, and integration between IT-based and non-IT-based services.