Ask any large company if a cohesive Architecture is important and they will all declare “Of course it is!” Ask each of them to describe exactly what their Architecture is and you will get a multitude of different opinions: “It’s the blueprint for the enterprise”, “It describes each of our technology solutions”, “It’s the wiring diagram for our networks and components”.
Similarly, ask different stakeholders within the same company and there will likely be a similar number of variants. The reality is the term Architecture suffers from semantic bleaching, its meaning and original intensity diluted and lost.
However, as the Chief Technology Officer of a company, having a well-understood and comprehensive definition of Architecture is foundational to long-term success. It will underpin effective governance, help justify areas of investment and ultimately ensure that technology deliverables are aligned to the business strategy, writes Jim Adams, former CTO, Citi.
