29 September 2004
Government sector leads private sector in developing enterprise information architecture.
Because of a greater requirement to share information and focus on the integration of information, government departments and organisations lead the private sector in gaining the benefits from enterprise information architecture (EIA), according to iFocus Pty Ltd, leading independent eBusiness consultants.
'The key advantages for the government sector are a willingness to share information, desire to learn and a spirit of discovery,' says Janet Brimson, Head of Knowledge, iFocus.
Enterprise information architecture plans for the management of all of an organisation’s information, which can include the supporting IT systems. 'Enterprise information architecture projects are a big commitment in time and money, but the effects of bad EIA can be potentially crippling in terms of lost hours and profits,' according to Ms Brimson.
'Private sector management is hampered by a bottom line dollar focus that can prevent a big picture view. Yet dysfunctional EIA could be costing a company millions.'
'The reality is that EIA needs a five to ten year plan with ongoing lower level maintenance to work well,' she said.
Other hurdles facing the private sector include staff being unwilling to share information with colleagues, due to internal competition often created by functional silos and a lack of business processes. 'It is harder for private sector organisations to share a holistic view of their business, which is the first step in developing an EIA that works,' Ms Brimson said.
'Government departments tend to have a greater understanding of what they have to achieve and can sometimes be more open to more innovative ways of solving their problems. They have to share information all the time, have to know where it is coming from, and ensure that its presentation is trustworthy.'
She said that organisations that do not understand themselves risk having business plans and technology that do not align, resulting in a domino effect of future chaos and costly rework.
For instance, the most common mistake in developing EIA is failing to consider the way an end user will interact with the business process and system. 'Historically, enterprises in government and private sectors have dealt with infrastructure and application systems first, with little or no consideration of the processes that exist at customer or employee touch points.'
'This mistake has a domino effect. By misunderstanding the user an organisation risks purchasing inappropriate IT infrastructure and applications, which is where they will spend the most money. Organisations need to refocus their IT spending.'
Enterprise information architecture should be built on sound foundations, and iFocus recommends that organisations look to invest 11-15% of their total IT budget in the information space.
Traditionally, organisations have spent big on infrastructure and applications with very low spending on strategy and information, yet this forms the interface that engages users of the system, according to iFocus.
'The current logic needs to be turned on its head, so the starting point is the end user, with the right infrastructure and applications to support that user,' Ms Brimson said.
Management in the government sector is beginning to understand this approach, according to Ms Brimson, while many in the private sector are yet to confront the issue.
However, she warned that a major 'stumbling block' in helping organisations to understand the information they have and how to use it is the IT industry itself. 'At the moment IT departments are generally making the decisions on EIA spending, and often they are the wrong people to be making the decisions.'
'Information is the lifeblood for delivering best business decisions and solutions. Business processes, applications and infrastructure are the enablers. Unfortunately, IT departments concentrate spend on the technology and the business concentrates on business processes, rules and workflow. Often information falls into a spending gap between the business and IT.'
'IT departments can struggle to see the big picture of an organization,' Ms Brimson said. 'Too many IT departmental heads do not work closely or cooperatively with other business managers,' she said.
'There is a need for organisations to undergo some cultural change so that the business and IT are encouraged to work more closely towards common objectives. This is an issue that is always highlighted through the enterprise architecture process.'
Communication between the business and IT has historically been an issue. The business is not always articulate in its definition of requirements to IT, making a technological purchase seem a lot more straight forward than it really is and the issues and true costs emerge as customisations at implementation. The Enterprise Architecture process forces the business and IT to provide the right resources and invest time in defining detailed strategic requirements for their future needs.
'IT reporting to the business often centres on fiscal performance. IT is often unable to clearly articulate the business value delivered against that spend. Culturally, the days of an IT department being a non-communicable team of technophiles is over. IT departments must market their value and vision to the business and IT and the business must work collaboratively to achieve measurable tactical and strategic outcomes.'
'Defining a big common picture is the key. In this way the entire business has visibility of what is required and what is possible. Employing an independent group from outside the organisation can often help to solve this problem,' she said.
'When IT works with the business to articulate their key questions and deliver simple, high-value messages that directly answer business questions, they have much greater success.'
Ms Brimson has worked on major government and commercial accounts.
For further information please contact:
Janet Brimson
Head of Knowledge
iFocus Pty Ltd
Phone 07 3229 5542