Martine Booth — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:53:01 GMT

One of the first articles I’ve seen that discusses enterprise information architecture (EIA) as opposed to information architecture (IA) which most of us know as web IA. So thanks!

In the last 12 months I’ve taken on a role as an enterprise information architect in a university that has identified the need for and value of Enterprise Architecture. We still don’t have a clear idea of what EIA is, what it means for us, how we resource it or what we actually produce.

James suggests EIA should be part of a broader team in an ideal world. In our environment this is the case, however its not plain sailing. EIA is one of three viewpoints within enterprise architure in our organisation. However our lack of maturity in enterprise architecture means EIA is often overlooked as the more clearly defined and understood areas of application and infrastructure architecture become the focus of the discussion.

The comments about business strategy, lack of clarity around needs and goals, the need for in-depth understanding of staff needs and issues, organisational change issues, and the soft skills required are right on the money. At least based on my limited experience in the area!

I’d like to see more discussion about EIA: what it is, how its done and who’s doing it.

Boxes and Arrows: Comments by Martine Booth