You have made a case for Enterprise Architecture using the benefits of standardization. Then the buzz saw of exceptions hits you. Now what?
As an Enterprise Architect you are engaged in an epic battle. No, I don’t mean getting off the gates by creating a “case for enterprise architecture.” I am referring to the need to standardize colliding head first with the force of customization.
Standardization makes sense. It is both a cost and time to market enabler. By simplifying your infrastructure it reduces costs. By reducing the number of components it makes training easier. Combined effect is shorter learning curve and lower development time.
We get that. I mean, most people get it. Otherwise they would live in homes that have electrical outlets of different sizes than the plugs on appliances; wires that cant take the load of different appliances; windows of different shapes and sizes; water pipes that don’t connect to outlets.
Driving a car with different sized wheels can’t possibly be fun.
The problem is that standardization has limits.
Our business world is complex. (Bad parenting complicates it further. But why drag George and Barbara Bush into this discussion?) Change is the only constant. Innovation is the engine that drives business value. Innovation, by definition, takes us away from the standard!
We don’t need to beat this dead horse any more than acknowledging that exceptions have to be baked into our system of Enterprise Architecture governance. The question is
- How do you know when an exception is needed?
- How to assess the impact of an exception?
People being people will try to find a rationale for their exception. Is your EA governance capability robust enough to know when it is being snowed? Let us not limit this to governance processes because we know that the organizational structure has to be fit too. (There is nothing wrong with our constitution but Bush dribbles past Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi with ease every time without fail. Yet a “constitutional monarchy” was robust enough to send the “unsinkable” Mr. Blair to seek relevance in the Middle East!)
Then there is the bigger issue of doing this quickly so as not to affect business value – in our fast paced business world any delay is tantamount to obstruction. Can you quickly come up with a logical acceptance or denial of an appeal for exception?
Now, the next question that might actually help you with the previous one: can you quickly assess the business impact of the exemption sought? In the near term? In the intermediate term? In the long term? Articulated in dollar denominated terms?
I guess you are getting the reason for the apparent failure of getting an enterprise architecture going. Perhaps, you already knew it and by repeating the problem and not offering a solution I have scratched and poured salt on old wounds?
Look carefully. I have provided a way out of the dilemma you face!
