Why Enterprise Architecture is key for Innovation

How Agile and Architecture can work together

I headed in parallel the Architecture and Innovation team when I was with Zurich.  This was more an interim solution than a thought long-term strategy. Over the years I learnt this ‘accident’ was, besides all the problems we faced, a lucky chance. Architecture, as I knew and practiced before, was typically more an independent and often isolated governance discipline. It was neither a delivery unit nor was it bound and connected to business development and innovation. Managing both disciplines empowered architecture in an unknown way. This new mix provided a different way of understanding business and innovation. Supporting the implementation of ideation and incubation directly payed back into the enterprise continuum and increased acceptance.  Yes, we could have done better. From a retrospective view our activities  haven’t been synchronised with this kind of thinking and strategy.  But our experiences now can be. Possessing this knowledge now I would directly start from scratch with this mix. Provided the upper management also believes in this story like I do now. This referenced white paper about Agile Architecture addresses a comparable approach. Nice read by the CIO magazine.