Keynote Address

The State of Enterprise Architecture in The Open Group

Allen Brown, President & CEO, The Open Group

As President of The Open Group, as well as CEO, it is my self-imposed duty to report to you from time to time on the state of the consortium.

Because of the hard work and high purpose of the members and staff, who together are The Open Group, these are good times for this consortium.

It was very nearly ten years ago, that I was appointed to this position, and at that time it was not so clear to most members and staff that there would be much to celebrate in the year 2008. Then our consortium was on the verge of bankruptcy, with a cost base that could not be supported, was largely vendor driven and was deeply rooted in UNIX® and DCE.

However, such was the resolve of our members and staff that together we determined to set things right. 

We reinvented the consortium, transforming it into a catalyst for new ideas that stress the trusted partnership between suppliers of IT products and services and major customers of IT products and services.

We replaced outdated ideologies with a new vision anchored in the needs of the customers, and a mission that outlined the unique role of The Open Group and emphasized our desire to work with other consortia and standards bodies.

Driven by the Customer Council and based on work with a group of CIO’s we identified the need for integrated information and access to that integrated information in cross-functional teams both within and between enterprises: the key drivers underlying The Open Group vision of Boundaryless Information Flow.

In the 5 years, from June 2003 to June 2008, the number of enterprises who are members of The Open Group has increased by over 70%. Our global coverage has increased considerably, as have the levels of participation and engagement by individual member representatives. 

The Open Group has, for a long time, developed a sense of community – a family feel.

Within The Open Group, members develop relationships that enable them to learn from each other.  They become very effective knowledge networks, and provide each other with an enviable source of free consulting and advice.

In the quarter ended June 2008, 21 new organizations joined The Open Group, as members, including our first Gold Member from China, who I hope you will join me in welcoming here in Chicago: from an enterprise called Kingdee, Dr Bob Chu is with us this week.

5 years ago, this week, the key highlights from my quarterly report to the Governing Board concerned open source and UNIX®.  Although our role with regard to UNIX remains an important one in the industry, the focus, is now more biased towards enterprise architecture.

…….and since this is an Enterprise Architecture Practitioners Conference, I have chosen to focus on the state of enterprise architecture in The Open Group, even though this is but one aspect of the many activities in which we are engaged.

The State of Enterprise Architecture in The Open Group

Let me begin by saying how proud I am of the progress we, The Open Group, have made.

5 years ago, in Washington DC, I kicked off the first Enterprise Architecture Practitioners Conference with an address that anticipated the emerging profession of Enterprise Architects, which I repeated in Dublin, Ireland, three months later.

We are today participating in the 19th Architecture Practitioner Conference.  APC’s have been held in the United States, Europe, India and South Africa and have a combined attendance of 6,000 individuals.

So popular has this model proved that we are planning a quarterly conference and APC in China in 2009 and to extend the model to Security Practitioners.

I believed 5 years ago when we started APC’s and I believe now that this is an exciting time for Enterprise Architects.  The people there then and you here today, some 5 years later – and I recognize that some of you were there then – you are the pioneers – the people who are marking out the territory and the trails for others to follow.  This represents not only a tremendous opportunity but also a responsibility: an opportunity to be there as this profession develops, and a responsibility to ensure it is grounded in the proper principles and practices that will provide sustained guidance for those who follow.

I also said then that we were on the eve of an opportunity for enterprise architecture to emerge as a profession.  In the last 5 years we have come a long way………… but we still have a long way to go before we can truly claim that enterprise architecture is a profession.

The Wikipedia definition of a profession begins by stating:

• that, “A profession is an occupation, vocation or career where specialized knowledge of a subject, field, or science is applied.”
• that, “It is axiomatic that "professional activity involves systematic knowledge and proficiency."
• that, “Professions are usually regulated by professional bodies that may set examinations of competence, act as a licensing authority for practitioners, and enforce adherence to an ethical code of practice.”
• And that, “Training also requires regular updating of skills through continuing education.

Using this definition as a benchmark we can examine the progress we are making.

Before doing so, it is clear that there is not universal consensus on an all-encompassing name for this emerging profession, as there is for doctors, lawyers and accountants, who each have their own areas of specialization.  Just as the medical profession includes general practitioners, surgeons, pediatricians, psychiatrists and more, so we will have enterprise architects, enterprise IT architects, business architects, solution architects and so forth.

For now, not wishing to offend, I will continue to refer to the enterprise architect as the all-encompassing name, knowing that much debate has yet to follow on this subject.

I would suggest that few people in this room would argue against the claim that being an enterprise architect is an occupation, vocation or career where specialized knowledge of a subject, field, or science is applied, so I will move straight on to consider systematic knowledge and proficiency.  To do so, we need to break this down into its constituent parts:

• The first part is that the professional has demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the theory, relevant laws, best practices and techniques of the occupation; and
• The second part is that the professional has demonstrated sufficient capability of putting theory into practice.

Before professionals in any field of endeavor can demonstrate sufficient knowledge, there must first exist a fully formed curriculum.

To build anything of substance requires first the establishment of the cornerstone and a fully formed curriculum for the profession of enterprise architecture is no different.

Within The Open Group we have laid that cornerstone: it is TOGAF

The Open Group Architecture Forum has worked relentlessly to evolve TOGAF™ and to get it to the position it has now achieved in the market. 

As one vendor stated after a survey of its customers, “TOGAF dominates”.  Another independent survey by a major software vendor’s user group reached similar conclusions, with the result that, that vendor replaced its existing enterprise architecture framework with TOGAF.

TOGAF has passed the tipping point.

Leading end user enterprises have stated a preference for TOGAF over proprietary solutions for some time.  Now it is the leading enterprise architecture framework and the enterprise architecture development method of choice. 

TOGAF is the de facto standard.

End user enterprises prefer TOGAF because it preserves their choice – it does not lead them down a proprietary route for solutions.  They prefer it because it is openly available to them and free for them to use, and they prefer it because they know that they can join The Open Group and influence its continued evolution.

TOGAF is a substantial body of knowledge.
TOGAF 9 is close now to being released and is a significant evolutionary step, as you might expect.

To evolve TOGAF 8 to TOGAF 9 has been a task of mammoth proportions…… and has only been achieved due to the huge amount of work, effort and unyielding commitment of the participants in the Architecture Forum.

TOGAF 9 represents another step, building on the progress of the past, in the march towards the emerging profession of the enterprise architect.

More than 7,500 individuals have demonstrated sufficient knowledge of TOGAF by achieving certification to the TOGAF 8 standard. 

The global coverage of certification includes individuals that reside in 67 countries.  These begin the alphabet with Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic and end it with Venezuela and Vietnam.

Much of the credit for this must go to those training organizations who have trained the vast majority of these people, and who are also among the greatest evangelists for TOGAF and among some of the most diligent contributors to the work of the Architecture Forum.

TOGAF alone though is still insufficient.  To only recognize TOGAF as the theoretical knowledge needed by enterprise architects would be like recognizing accountants as professionals if they were only examined in book-keeping and were not required to know anything of other subjects, such as taxation, economics, company law, corporate governance etc.

The Open Group itself is a rich source of other bodies of knowledge.   

The SOA Work Group, for example, including the Japan SOA Work Group is doing outstanding work on relating SOA to TOGAF and on a SOA reference architecture.

The Semantic Interoperability Work Group and in particular the work it is doing on UDEF.

The Business Architecture Work Group is tackling one of the most complex issues facing enterprise architects: what is business architecture and what best practices and methodologies does it require.

And I am pleased to be able to welcome the ArchiMate® Forum, previously the Archimate Foundation to The Open Group.

Vertical industry groups are also starting to emerge to focus on their specific piece of the enterprise continuum.  As such I am delighted to announce the launch of the Exploration, Mining, Metals and Minerals vertical formed through The Open Group South Africa.

But since we are The Open Group, we also recognize that we do not have to do everything ourselves.  Instead, we can reach out to other consortia and standards bodies.

Model Driven Architecture in its various forms is an essential piece of the puzzle, and the added value of using the TOGAF ADM with MDA is strongly demonstrated in the results of the Synergy Project that brought together The Open Group, OMG and the Integration Consortium as part of the TEAMS initiative (the Torpedo Enterprise Advanced Modeling and Simulation initiative) funded by the US Navy, Naval Underwater Warfare Center and which also involved Penn State University. 

COBIT and ITIL are highly respected bodies of knowledge, already recognized by The Open Group in White Papers that relate them to TOGAF. 

DoDAF is the mandated framework by the United States Department of Defense again recognized by The Open Group in a White Paper that relates it to TOGAF.

In each of these cases, it must be remembered that the deliverables have only been achieved through the outstanding efforts of our members and staff and the willingness to collaborate with others.

Each of these represents a potential contribution to the curriculum.  Yet there are other pieces we could adopt and pieces that seem to be wholly missing in action.

Prince 2 is a candidate for addition to the curriculum as is the work of the Center for Information Systems Research at MIT on the operating model.

Seemingly missing pieces might include but are not limited to:

• the training needed by enterprise architects to reduce all of their models and charts to information that can be communicated to executives;
• training on organizational design, organizational behavior and other subjects, often within the domain of business schools.

So, we have come a long way but now that we are seeing the result of our efforts turning to success, we must continue to make progress. 

Evidence of practical experience is essential to establish the professional attributes of an individual.

A key element of the new mission that we established for The Open Group, those years ago, was developing and operating the industry’s premier certification service.

Based on extensive experience of certifying conformance to the Single UNIX Specification, The Open Group has since certified conformance to the standards not only of The Open Group, such as TOGAF, but also of organizations and standards as diverse as the Wireless Application Protocol, the Schools Interoperability Framework and the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.  The underlying standards include specifications for software, best practices and people skills and capabilities.

Recognizing the need for a vendor neutral, global certification of skills and capabilities, the Platinum Members of The Open Group came together with representatives elected to The Open Group Governing Board from the Customer Council and Supplier Council to develop a certification program for addressing the skills and competencies of IT Architects - ITAC.  This is based on applicants submitting a comprehensive package detailing their experience followed by a peer review. 

ITAC gives
End user organizations:

• A mark of assurance when contracting architecture services,
• A professional level qualification when hiring staff, and
• A benchmark for assessing the skill levels of staff

It gives vendor organizations:

• Assurance to customers of the skills of their IT Architects,
• Cost savings as compared to an in-house certification program and
• … in the training of new IT Architects

For IT Architects:

• It elevates the practice and quality control of IT architecture in the industry and the professionals who perform it
• It provides an industry credential that is not specific to a single employer, and
• Recognition for practitioners

ITAC sets out, not only to test for an applicant’s knowledge but also her grasp of the soft skills critical to the success of enterprise architecture projects.

This program has three levels to address the needs of:

• The Certified IT Architect – who can demonstrate an ability to perform as a contributing architect
• The Master Certified IT Architect – who can demonstrate an ability to perform as lead architect
• The Distinguished Certified IT Architect – who can show significant impact on the business as a: Chief/Lead Architect, Enterprise Architect or IT Architect Profession Leader

There are now more than 2,600 individuals certified under The Open Group’s IT Architect Certification Program.  It is publicly endorsed by a number of leading enterprises, and is beginning to show up in recruitment ads and, we are told, in procurements as a requirement when contracting for skills and capabilities.

For this I would like to commend the ITAC Work Group of The Open Group Governing Board for their determination to take this program to market and make it successful and to do so in a timely manner.

So successful has ITAC been that we have extended the model to IT Specialists.

Let me now turn to the development of a professional body.

In January of 2007 The Open Group launched the Association of Open Group Enterprise Architects (AOGEA).

Already it has over 7,500 members, with Chapters in the United States, Canada, India, Australia, and several more in the organization stage.

When professions emerge and often for long periods of time thereafter, a number of professional bodies are established.  In the UK for example, there are three professional bodies for accountants, each recognized by employers as having value, each with a slightly different certification program and process.

The same should be true of Enterprise Architecture, and we should welcome the diversity.

If only one such body appeared, at the outset, we would have to wonder whether a profession was, in reality, emerging.  As any good marketing person will tell you – if there is a gap in the market – it might well be for a very good reason: that there is no market there.

Outside of The Open Group, one association that has emerged is called the International Association of Software Architects (IASA).  Although this organization had its roots in software architecture it is moving towards enterprise architecture and we are in the early stages of working out how to collaborate.

Other fledgling professional bodies in this space tend to be much smaller, even though their names may suggest otherwise.  These are often more geographically limited, or focused on an industry vertical.  However, we would want to reach out to all of them.

A critical role of the professional body is the development of a code of ethics.  I am pleased to report that the AOGEA has a work group focused on that activity.

…….. and, we need to acknowledge the Wikipedia statement that training also requires regular updating of skills through continuing education …. and in this regard I am pleased to let you know of a new collaboration with Penn State to develop an enterprise architecture curriculum for continued professional development – CPD.

So using the Wikipedia definition of a profession as a benchmark, the enterprise architect has come a long way.

• Enterprise Architecture is “A profession is an occupation, vocation or career where specialized knowledge of a subject, field, or science is applied.”
• Enteprsise Architecutre increasingly involves systematic knowledge and proficiency."
• Enterprise Architecture is developing its own professional bodies that may, in the future, set examinations of competence, act as a licensing authority for practitioners, and enforce adherence to an ethical code of practice.”
• And we recognize that, “Training also requires regular updating of skills through continuing education.

So, in conclusion ……

The state of enterprise architecture in general is good.

The state of enterprise architecture in The Open Group in particular is very good.

In the last 5 years we have come a long way, but now is not the time to sit back – now is the time to strengthen our resolve – we still have a long way to go and we have a responsibility to those who come after us to build a solid foundation and to finish the job of elevating enterprise architecture to the status of a profession, recognized throughout the industry.

Thank you.

© The Open Group, 2008