George Paras and Tim Westbrock featured guests on A&G Webinar Nov. 16

Join George and Tim for a webinar on November 16, hosted by A&G Magazine.  We’ll also be joined by special guest Dave Baker, a longtime friend and industry colleague from PwC.

We’ll review the findings from the A&G 2011 Year-End Survey, discuss trends we see shaping the role of enterprise architect going in to 2012, and answer listener questions.

Follow this link to the Architecture and Governance Website for more information and to register.

Tim Westbrock to Speak at IT Leadership Forum, Dec. 13, in Atlanta

Join Tim at the IT Leadership Forum, Dec. 13, in Atlanta, sponsored by alfabet.

Tim will be presenting “Expanding Enterprise Architecture into the Business.”

The ultimate promise of Enterprise Architecture has always been the alignment of business and IT strategies, activities, assets and direction.  In order for EA to bridge the gap between the desired business future state and the work that must be done to achieve that future state, EA must evolve to include a business architecture sponsored by business leadership and developed by business professionals.

Tim will facilitate a discussion on the many facets of business-enabled EA, while also adding their experiences relating to the challenges of approaching the business, how EA and ITA work together, the goals, organization and outputs of a business enabled EA approach and how to get started.

This is an invitation-only event, so if you are going to be in the Atlanta area Dec. 13th, click here to get more information on the event and how to register your interest in attending.

Hope to see you!

Thanks to Troux for a Great Event

George and I participated in the inaugural Troux Worldwide Conference two weeks ago in Austin, TX.  We felt that it was a wonderful collection of interesting speakers, spirited debate, and professionalism among peers.  While many events sponsored by a vendor can be dominated with tool demonstrations and sales presentations, Troux’s program was full of thought-provoking presentations from user case studies, to industry experts, to executive supporters.

Thanks to David Hood, Bertrand Hazard and the rest of Troux’s sales, events, and marketing staff for a truly professional, first class, worthwhile and downright fun event.  Looking forward to the next one!

IASA Chicago Chapter Inaugural Event April 7- George Paras Featured Speaker

Thursday evening, April 7, marks the inaugural event for the new IASA Chicago Chapter.  The meeting will be from 6:00pm-7:30pm at Illinois Technology Association (ITA), 200 S. Wacker, 15th Floor, Chicago.  The new chapter provides a networking and educational forum for IT and Enterprise Architects from across the Chicago area.  I will be leading a session on “Changing Architects’ Conversations”, sharing tips and techniques on how architects can create and take advantage of opportunities to engage enterprise leadership in strategic conversations.

In addition to speaking at the event, I am honored to have been asked to serve on the Advisory Board for this new chapter.  Please invite your architecture colleagues to come and join us!

Event and Registration Details

EAdirections’ Views on Business Architecture at Troux Worldwide Conference

Tim Westbrock will be sharing his views on Business Architecture with attendees at the upcoming Troux Worldwide Conference in Austin on March 23rd and 24th.  For those able to attend, you will be intrigued by Tim’s perspectives on Enterprise Architecture as it is commonly practiced today and on his thoughts on how the discipline of EA is fundamentally altered by the addition of business architecture practices.

George Paras will also be in attendance, serving as Master of Ceremonies for the event in his role as Editor-in-Chief of Architecture and Governance Magazine, the event’s main media sponsor.

We both look forward to the opportunity to meet with our subscribers and blog readers while in Austin.  If you plan to attend,  please contact us ahead of time and we’ll be happy to arrange for a time to meet, or just be sure to come up and say hello at the event.  

Here are some more details:

The Troux Worldwide Conference is a must attend conference for companies involved in Strategic IT Planning and Enterprise Architecture (EA) programs. Set for March 23-24, 2011 in Austin, Texas and sponsored by Architecture and Governance Magazine, the conference will include some cutting edge case studies from some of the most innovative and successful companies in the industry.

This is your chance to hear the latest on how to make your EA programs sing with success and most importantly – deliver value!

The Troux Worldwide User Conference is also a great opportunity to network face-to-face with your peers and industry thought leaders. For more information and to request your invitation, please visit www.troux.com/conference

Reminder – Join us at IASA World Summit NY for “Variations on the Architecture Theme”

In a Keynote Presentation at the upcoming IASA World Summit 2010, September 22-24 in New York, Tim Westbrock and George Paras will be sharing ideas and leading a discussion on the dynamics that exist between the roles of Solutions, IT, and Enterprise Architects, what they mean to your enterprise, and what they mean to practitioners and IT leaders.  We hope you can join us.

Abstract: Most organizations that claim to be practicing “enterprise” architecture are really just doing “IT” architecture (ITA), and many of those are primarily focused on “solution” architecture.  If they are all “architecture”, do the distinctions matter?  Absolutely! And all these variations of “architecture” are important.  Our research and client observations reveal that most organizations do not have clarity on how to leverage these roles or even how to set expectations and measure their contributions.  For an organization to extract the highest value from architecture, and for the practitioners to get the most satisfaction and rewards for their work, it is critical that the stakeholders understand the differences.  It is also imperative that the organization learn that all these roles must exist and that they must work together to achieve the organization’s objectives.         

Topics will include:

• The key characteristics of EA, ITA and Solutions Architect roles and practices
• Leveraging your Solutions Architecture and ITA work to move up to holistic EA – preparing yourself for your next leap
• Moving from the Traditional to the Transformational View of EA to lead true business transformation
• Getting Started with Business Architecture and Strategic Capabilities Analysis as part of EA
• Tips on what to do if your organization does not yet have an EA or ITA practice
• The personal skills required for each role, and how to move from one to another

If you’d like to contact us and arrange a time to meet at the event, please us the form below:

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Updated Registration Info – EAdirections speaking at AOGEA Collaboration Event in Southfield, MI

UPDATE: It is still not too late to join us at this multidisciplinary event in Michigan.   A Registration Site is now available with full event details and information on how to register.  Allen Brown, CEO and President of The Open Group will be delivering the opening keynote presentation.  If you have any questions, or would just like to chat before the event or on-site, drop us a note via the attached form.

George Paras and Tim Westbrock are scheduled to speak at the upcoming Collaboration Event sponsored by the AOGEA Michigan Chapter (Association of Open Group Enterprise Architects) on September 16, 2010 from 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, MI.  The theme of the event is “Interoperability between various disciplines in an enterprise”.

In our session titled, “Don’t Call It EA if It Isn’t EA!: Holistic EA for a Tightly Integrated Enterprise” we’ll be discussing the dynamics of Enterprise Architecture as it evolves from an IT-oriented discipline into a necessary part of a compelling and successful business transformation effort.

This event is a collaboration between the AOGEA Michigan Chapter and the ABPMP SE Michigan Chapter (The Association of Business Process Management), itSMF Great Lakes Chapter (Information Technology Service Management Forum), and the SE Michigan IIBA Chapter (International Institute of Business Analysis).

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Variations on the Architecture Theme: Solutions, IT and Enterprise Architectures – IASA World Summit 2010 New York

In a Keynote Presentation at the upcoming IASA World Summit 2010, September 22-24 in New York, Tim Westbrock and George Paras will be sharing ideas and leading a discussion on the dynamics that exist between the roles of Solutions, IT, and Enterprise Architects, what they mean to your enterprise, and what they mean to practitioners and IT leaders.  We hope you can join us.

Abstract: Most organizations that claim to be practicing “enterprise” architecture are really just doing “IT” architecture (ITA), and many of those are primarily focused on “solution” architecture.  If they are all “architecture”, do the distinctions matter?  Absolutely! And all these variations of “architecture” are important.  Our research and client observations reveal that most organizations do not have clarity on how to leverage these roles or even how to set expectations and measure their contributions.  For an organization to extract the highest value from architecture, and for the practitioners to get the most satisfaction and rewards for their work, it is critical that the stakeholders understand the differences.  It is also imperative that the organization learn that all these roles must exist and that they must work together to achieve the organization’s objectives.         

Topics will include:

• The key characteristics of EA, ITA and Solutions Architect roles and practices
• Leveraging your Solutions Architecture and ITA work to move up to holistic EA – preparing yourself for your next leap
• Moving from the Traditional to the Transformational View of EA to lead true business transformation
• Getting Started with Business Architecture and Strategic Capabilities Analysis as part of EA
• Tips on what to do if your organization does not yet have an EA or ITA practice
• The personal skills required for each role, and how to move from one to another

EAdirections speaking at AOGEA Collaboration Event in Southfield, MI

George Paras and Tim Westbrock are scheduled to speak at the upcoming Collaboration Event sponsored by the AOGEA Michigan Chapter (Association of Open Group Enterprise Architects) on September 16, 2010 from 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, MI.  The theme of the event is “Interoperability between various disciplines in an enterprise”.

In our session titled, “Don’t Call It EA if It Isn’t EA!: Holistic EA for a Tightly Integrated Enterprise” we’ll be discussing the dynamics of Enterprise Architecture as it evolves from an IT-oriented discipline into a necessary part of a compelling and successful business transformation effort.

This event is a collaboration between the AOGEA Michigan Chapter and the ABPMP SE Michigan Chapter (The Association of Business Process Management), itSMF Great Lakes Chapter (Information Technology Service Management Forum), SE Michigan IIBA Chapter (International Institute of Business Analysis) and the local PMI Chapter (Project Management Institute).

Further details will be posted shortly on the AOGEA Michigan Chapter site or use the attached form to contact us for more information.

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