Insight Into A 90-Day Plan For A New Enterprise Architect

The first 90 days in the role of an Enterprise Architect (EA) are crucial for laying the groundwork for success.

By following a structured plan, EAs can learn the intricacies of the organization, build key relationships, define a forward-thinking strategy, and begin execution with early wins.

This plan is broken into three phases: Discovery (Days 1-30), Strategy and Planning (Days 31-60), and Execution and Quick Wins (Days 61-90).

Each phase is designed to ensure the EA's efforts align with the business’s goals while positioning IT as a strategic enabler.

Phase 1: Days 1-30 – Discovery

Primary Objective: Gain a Deep Understanding of the Organization’s IT and Business Ecosystem

The first 30 days should focus on learning, observation, and building relationships.

This period is essential for absorbing as much information as possible to inform future decisions.

1. Learn the Business Environment

Purpose: To understand how IT supports the broader business goals, processes, and challenges.

• Action Steps:
• Business Model Review:
• Analyze the company’s mission, vision, and business model. How does it generate revenue, and what are its key growth drivers?Identify competitive positioning in the market, customer demographics, and value propositions.
• Meetings with Key Business Stakeholders:
• Hold one-on-one meetings with leaders from marketing, finance, HR, operations, and product development to understand their goals and challenges.
• Ask probing questions about their current relationship with IT and how technology is impacting their strategic objectives.
• Document Business Processes:
• Observe key business workflows and processes to map out how IT solutions are enabling or inhibiting operational efficiency.

2. Assess the Current IT Architecture

Purpose: To become intimately familiar with the existing IT landscape, including systems, infrastructure, governance, and pain points.

• Action Steps:
• IT Infrastructure Overview:
• Review the company’s current technology stack: data centers, cloud solutions, servers, networks, and enterprise applications.
• Understand core systems like ERP, CRM, and data management platforms.
• Technology Gap Analysis:
• Identify strengths and weaknesses in the current infrastructure. What systems are outdated, unstable, or overburdened? Are there any bottlenecks or security vulnerabilities?
• Governance and Compliance:
• Review IT governance frameworks, ensuring they align with legal, regulatory, and industry standards (e.g., GDPR, SOX, HIPAA).D
• ata Flow and Integration:
• Analyze how data flows across departments. Are data silos causing inefficiencies? Is there sufficient integration between critical systems?

3. Understand the Organizational Culture

Purpose: To gauge the company’s openness to change, innovation, and the role of IT in the business.

• Action Steps:
• Cultural Fit Assessment:
• Observe how teams collaborate, how decisions are made, and what role IT plays in these decisions.
• Assess the level of digital fluency among business leaders and teams.
• Identify Change Agents and Resistors:
• Identify key stakeholders who are early adopters of new technologies and those who may resist change.Develop strategies to bring skeptics on board through communication and small wins.

4. Build Relationships with IT and Business Leaders

Purpose: To establish credibility and rapport with those who influence and drive change.

• Action Steps:
• One-on-One Meetings:
• Schedule meetings with IT team leads, architects, developers, and business unit heads.
• Gather insights on their pain points, project priorities, and thoughts on the future of IT within the business.
• Build Trust Through Engagement:
• Be visible and proactive in team meetings, strategy sessions, and workshops. This is the time to listen more than speak and gather intel for later phases.

Phase 2: Days 31-60 – Strategy and Planning

Primary Objective: Define the Target State and Build a Strategic Roadmap

The second phase should be dedicated to analyzing the information gathered and creating a strategic IT architecture roadmap. This is where the EA can begin to shape the future of IT within the organization.

1. Define a Vision for Enterprise Architecture

Purpose: To create a long-term vision that aligns IT with the organization’s business goals and innovation needs.

• Action Steps:
• Vision Development:
• Craft a forward-looking vision for the company’s IT architecture, focusing on scalability, agility, innovation, and security.Ensure the vision aligns with business goals such as customer experience enhancement, operational efficiency, and digital transformation.
• Collaborate on the Vision:
• Present the vision to C-suite leaders and department heads, gathering feedback and refining the vision to ensure cross-functional alignment.

2. Conduct a Detailed Gap Analysis

Purpose: To map out the gaps between the current state and the envisioned future state, providing clarity on the strategic direction.

• Action Steps:
• Infrastructure and Capability Gaps:
• Identify gaps in technology, skills, and processes that must be addressed to achieve the target state.
• Analyze legacy systems and define strategies for modernization, cloud migration, or system consolidation.
• Develop Tactical Goals:Break down the long-term vision into short, medium, and long-term goals. This could include immediate needs like improving system stability or longer-term goals like introducing AI or machine learning capabilities.

3. Build a Strategic Roadmap

Purpose: To create a structured plan with clear milestones and deliverables that guide the organization toward the future architecture.

• Action Steps:
• Roadmap Creation:
• Develop a timeline that sequences projects and initiatives, balancing quick wins with long-term value creation.Prioritize initiatives based on their impact on business goals and resources that are available.
• Financial Resource Planning:
• Collaborate with the finance team to align IT initiatives with budget cycles and secure funding for critical projects.Identify resource gaps (both human and technological) and create a plan to fill them, whether through internal development or external hiring.

4. Evaluate and Recommend Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) Tools

Purpose: To streamline architecture management, collaboration, and governance through appropriate tools.

• Action Steps:
• Research EAM Solutions:
• Evaluate tools that enable documentation, collaboration, and analysis of enterprise architecture.Focus on solutions that offer real-time collaboration, scalability, and integrations with existing platforms.
• Tool Selection:
• Present a business case for adopting EAM platforms, highlighting efficiency improvements and governance benefits.

Phase 3: Days 61-90 – Execution and Quick Wins

Primary Objective: Begin Execution with Early Wins and Demonstrate Value

The final phase of the first 90 days focuses on delivering early results that build momentum and set the stage for broader, more transformative projects.

1. Initiate Early-Stage Projects

Purpose: To demonstrate the value of the EA strategy by delivering quick, impactful wins.

• Action Steps:
• Select Low-Risk, High-Reward Projects:
• Choose projects that are small in scope but deliver visible, immediate improvements (e.g., performance optimization, security enhancements).These should be achievable within 30-60 days and provide tangible value to the business.
• Implement Agile Methodologies:
• Use agile approaches to ensure flexibility and rapid iteration. This will allow the team to adapt quickly based on feedback and changing business conditions.

2. Refine IT Governance Processes

Purpose: To establish decision-making frameworks that enable faster, more strategic IT investments.

• Action Steps:
• Update Governance Models:
• Propose changes to IT governance to improve decision-making speed, accountability, and alignment with business goals.Establish clear guidelines for architectural reviews, ensuring new initiatives align with the long-term roadmap.
• Create Feedback Loops: Implement mechanisms for continuous feedback between IT and business units, ensuring ongoing alignment.

3. Communicate Early Wins

Purpose: To reinforce the importance of the EA strategy and secure buy-in for larger, more transformative initiatives.

• Action Steps:
• Regular Status Updates:
• Schedule regular updates with leadership to report on progress, focusing on how early wins have positively impacted the business.
• Showcase the Business Value:
• Highlight quick wins and quantify the business impact (e.g., cost savings, reduced downtime, improved customer satisfaction). Use these examples to reinforce the broader strategic vision.

4. Adjust and Iterate

Purpose: To remain flexible and refine strategies based on initial feedback and results.

• Action Steps
• Gather Feedback:
• Collect insights from stakeholders and team members about the initial projects and architecture updates.Use this feedback to fine-tune the roadmap and adjust the strategy where needed.
• Prepare for Larger Initiatives:Begin laying the groundwork for more complex, transformational projects (e.g., cloud migration, advanced data analytics) that align with the long-term roadmap.

Conclusion: Setting the Stage for Long-Term Success

The first 90 days in an Enterprise Architect role should be a well-orchestrated mix of learning, relationship-building, and strategic execution.

By dedicating the first 30 days to deep discovery and relationship building, the next 30 days to strategic planning, and the final 30 days to execution, EAs can create lasting value.

Early wins not only prove the value of enterprise architecture but also build momentum and trust, setting the stage for more ambitious projects that will drive the business forward.