| | September 20168CIOReview PINIONIN MYTransparency: The Universal Value-addBy Eric Donnelly, SVP & Chief Enterprise Architect, PNC [NYSE: PNC]What does an architect do? What does an Enterprise Architecture (EA) organization do? Regardless of the role of the person I'm talking with or the organization where they work, these two questions always seem to come up. Ironically, I've also found that if I ask five architects what their job is ­ I will get at least three different answers. The same unfortunate metric holds true if I ask most high-level executives what the EA does for their organization.To be fair, it's probably easy to be confused because today's Chief Enterprise Architect (CEA) faces multiple challenges and competing priorities. Some of the priorities vary by organization or maturity of the EA group, but they typically involve things like:1. Leading the EA organization to become more business-outcome-driven This is often an issue in Enterprises where EA has functioned as an extension of Infrastructure and Technology. 2. Proving the value EA can bring to the organization Ten years ago, industry experts made EA synonymous with governance. Since then, EA has struggled to prove its value and the lion's share of Architecture activities have been disseminated through the organization.3. Establishing an EA practice Perhaps you are one of the lucky ones where EA was not previously a defined process or organization and you are looking to add value before Finance starts to ask hard questions.So how do you write an editorial segment offering wisdom about EA that will apply to a broad audience when there are so many conflicting priorities and so much ambiguity about the architect role and EA function? I'd propose that there is one universal "guiding principle" that all EA organizations should follow if they want to maximize their value to the enterprise - regardless of where and how the organization has historically been focused. Whether you are leading the transition to a business-outcome-driven based EA organization, building a practice from scratch, or somewhere in between, there is a singular area where EA can focus which will always add value. Remember EA offers no value until its recommendation or deliverable is converted into an actionable event ­ and one of the easiest ways of forcing action is to shine the light of transparency.There are two simple steps you can take to shine the light of transparency and help the organization see areas where it needs to focus. Step 1. Identify issues or risks that matter to the enterprise and start to make them visible. Specific things that you identify will vary depending on the maturity of the organization and any transformation journey the organization is currently undertaking. Such examples of focus could include: Compliance with Standards The value with standards is the ability for centralized organizations to create standard operating practices that ultimately reduce cost (less duplicity) and can Eric Donnelly
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