Building a Flexible Business with Enterprise Architecture

David Torre, Business Technology and Engineering Consultant at Center Mast, used his slot at EACD to speak directly about how IT can respond to a crisis with the help of a flexible Business Architecture. “Knowing how to re-calibrate after disaster is essential,” said Torre, “one way of doing so is by thinking very clearly and practically about what your customers, audiences, or decision makers may need. There’s always a green flag — there’s always one semblance of calm.”

Torre likened a flexible Enterprise Architecture to a beacon of stability, and in order to make his comparison apt, he utilizes the following as guiding principles in his practice:

• The value of EA must be crystal clear — or else tough decisions get made
• EA cannot be viewed as solely a strategic function. There should be immediate, tactical value as well
• Leadership focus constricts down in order to focus on what really matters.
• Leaders need information and options in order to make prompt decisions. This is where EA can shine

Thankfully, there are immediate ways for doing so that don’t require reinventing the wheel. For starters, insights can become more results-driven and opinion-based to give palatable directions to overstretched executives. Traditional Enterprise Architecture artifacts (e.g., business model canvases, capability maps, etc.) can be elevated into “crisis-mode” tools such as business risk registers, executive onboarding dossiers. Additionally, common EA information can be converted into crisis-mode insights wherein transformation options are limited and directives quantified and clear.