Ensuring IT keeps pace with business change is a growing challenge
Today's businesses face an ever increasing rate of change, and IT
architecture change management works hard to meet the
challenge.
There are many drivers for IT architecture change, such as new
technology, obsolescence, asset management, cost reductions and
standards initiatives. This type of change is manageable through an
enterprise's architecture maintenance and governance processes.
There are also business drivers, such as business developments,
exceptions, innovations, strategic change and new legislation. This
type of change often results in total redevelopment of the
architecture, or at least in an iteration of part of the
development cycle.
It is important to differentiate between IT architecture change
management itself and IT architecture requirements management,
which is another aspect of managing change in the development of IT
architectures.
The goal of an architecture change management process is to ensure
that changes to architecture are managed in a cohesive and planned
way. It also aims to establish and support the implemented
enterprise architecture as a dynamic model - one with the
flexibility to evolve rapidly in response to changes in technology
and business environment.
On the other hand, IT architecture requirements management defines
a process whereby needs for enterprise architecture are identified,
stored, and fed into and out of the relevant architecture
development phases.
The requirements management process itself does not dispose of,
address or prioritise any needs - this is done within the relevant
phase of the development cycle (see diagram); it is just the
process for managing requirements throughout the architecture
development. Both proc- esses are critical.
The IT process of architecture change management monitors changes
in technology and the business environment and determines whether
to initiate a new IT architecture cycle. It should also provide for
changes to the framework used to guide development, and the
architecture principles that are recognised and applied across the
enterprise.
It also determines the circumstances under which the IT
architecture, or parts of it, will be permitted to change after
implementation, how the change will happen, and the circumstances
under which the development cycle will be initiated again to
develop a new architecture.
The change management process determines how to manage changes,
what techniques to apply, and what methodology to use.
A simplification change is often driven by a requirement to reduce
investment. It can usually be handled via normal architecture
maintenance techniques.
An incremental change is often driven by a requirement to derive
additional value from existing investment. It may be handled via
architecture maintenance techniques or require partial architecture
redesign.
A re-architecting change is often driven by increased investment to
create new value. Such a change would necessitate going through the
architecture development cycle again.
John Spencer is director at the Open Group Architecture
Forum