Chapter 19
Ten Challenges for Redesigning an Existing Enterprise
In This Chapter
Getting executive support
Dealing with change
Overcoming other common issues
In this book, we identify numerous areas for enterprise realignment, which can provide many benefits from economic efficiency to enhanced data sharing. These changes don’t come without cost, even if it is only that isolated IT shops may have to learn to work with others. If you’re charged with realignment of an existing enterprise, here are ten challenges that you may face.
Dealing with Lack of Executive Support
One of the most soul-crushing situations is to finally be assigned the responsibility for re-architecting the enterprise, only to discover that you don’t have the authority to make this redesign happen. This situation can easily happen in enterprises that lack cohesive IT governance, where projects are sponsored, approved, and implemented without support for enterprise-wide completion.
Anytime the CIO doesn’t have a seat at the table of the executive organizational governing body, it’s all too easy to develop strategies for efficiency, cost savings, and improved service only to encounter opposition from local, controlling IT managers with their own revenue streams who simply refuse to participate without a mandate.
Enterprise architecture must be a component of organizational strategic planning and supported by executive-level mandates, or it will fail. Negotiated solutions and opt-in at will strategies create greater ...
