Enterprise architects at Snow in the Desert
As we saw in the previous chapter, Snow in the Desert's IT software delivery operates under a single portfolio manned by one enterprise architect. In the traditional world, enterprise architects are often organized horizontally, aligned with various architecture disciplines such as business architecture, information architecture, application architecture, and technology architecture. The horizontal slicing impacts the solution's systemic view since each architect restricts their vision and steers the solution with a narrow frame of mind. Like a layered architecture, horizontally aligned organizations by design create abstractions between EA layers, which raises the complexity and deteriorates the quality.
In modern organizations driving business agility, try to vertically align enterprise architects to business portfolios to deliver better value. The vertically aligned design encourages better ownership and positive growth of...
