Enterprise

Architecture Trends
S U P P O R T I N G E X E C U T I V E S T O D I G I TA L LY T R A N S F O R M T H E E N T E R P R I S E

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Analyst
Perspective
Enterprise architecture, seen as the glue of the organization, aligns business goals
with all the other aspects of the organization, providing additional effectiveness
and efficiencies while also providing guardrails for safety.

In an accelerated path to digitization, the increasingly important role of enterprise

architecture (EA) is one of collaboration across siloes, inside and outside the
enterprise, in a configurable way that allows for quick adjustment to new threats
and conditions while embracing unprecedented opportunities to scale, stimulating
innovation to increase the organization’s competitive advantage.

Milena Litoiu

Principal/Senior Director, Enterprise Architecture

Info-Tech Research Group

INFO-TECH RESEARCH GROUP ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE TRENDS | 2

Accelerated digital transformation elevates the
importance of EA
More than 70% of
T H E D I G I TA L T R A N S F O R M AT I O N J O U R N E Y B R I N G S organizations revamp their
B U S I N E S S A N D T E C H N O L O G Y I N C R E A S I N G LY C L O S E R .
enterprise architecture
programs.
BECAUSE THE TWO BECOME MORE AND MORE Info-Tech Tech Trends 2022 Survey

I N T E RT W I N E D , T H E R O L E O F E N T E R P R I S E A R C H I T E C T U R E
I N C R E A S E S I N I M P O R TA N C E , A L I G N I N G T H E T W O I N
PROVIDING ADDITIONAL EFFICIENCIES.

T H E C U R R E N T N E E D F O R A N A C C E L E R AT E D D I G I TA L
T R A N S F O R M AT I O N E L E VAT E S T H E I M P O R TA N C E O F
ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE.
Most organizations
still see a significant
gap between the
business and IT.

INFO-TECH RESEARCH GROUP ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE

2022 TECH TRENDS TRENDS
REPORT | 3
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EA Enabling Business Agility
TREND 01 BUSINESS AGILITY IS NEEDED MORE THAN EVER AND THIS
I N C R E A S E S R E L I A N C E O N E N T E R P R I S E S T R AT E G I E S . T O
A C H I E V E N I M B L E N E S S , O R G A N I Z AT I O N S N E E D T O A D A P T
T I M E LY T O C H A N G E S I N T H E E N V I R O N M E N T.

Approaches:

A plethora of approaches are needed (e.g. architecture modularity, data integration, AI/ML) in addition to other
Agile/iterative approaches for the entire organization.
Enterprise architecture and its role in agility
A G I L I T Y I S N O T J U S T A B O U T H AV I N G D A I LY S C R U M S

Enterprise agility is not about meeting in daily in scrums; it is mainly about enabling
the organization to adjust to change and become nimble.

Effective data integration enables the enterprise to build predictive analytics, service
orchestration, and other strategies that are enablers for a built-in nimbleness, so that Enterprise agility/ nimbleness
architecture can evolve in ways that increase its competitive advantage.
is not about meeting daily in
scrums; it is mainly about
enabling the organization to
adjust to change.

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Role of iterative/Agile processes for enterprise
architecture
E N T E R P R I S E A R C H I T E C T U R E N E E D S T O S TAY A G I L E

Agility processes, however, are not just for project, program, or portfolio delivery but
also for architects to slim down their internal processes and overhead.
Enterprise architects play a
Internal processes need to become more efficient and respond to the current maturity critical role in ensuring that
of the organization in step with its agility needs. Agile ceremonies for architects at the digital transformation is
system, portfolio, or enterprise architecture level are good alternatives for lengthy and
carried out in an agile and
scalable manner while also
expensive architectural board meetings.
assuring resiliency and the
required skills.

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Risks and Benefits
BENEFITS
Making the organization act in the spirit of Agility is NOT reserved just to delivery teams and can be
applied to Agile ceremonies for architects as well.
Quicker response
This will allow organizations to focus energies on innovation while allowing them to test new concepts as
Faster learning
soon as possible and accelerate learning.

RISKS
The EA's tasks include standardization and compliance enforcement. Inadequate instruction can lead to

Not seeing the interests of the enterprise due vulnerabilities, noncompliance, and potentially unchecked risks.

to partial, opportunistic approaches

If not done correctly, architecture can become brittle and resistant to modification. EA's duty is to ensure
that the architecture adapts well to change.

Architecture brittleness

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EA-Supported Security
T R E N D 0 2 M O R E S O P H I S T I C AT E D S E C U R I T Y AT TA C K S R E Q U I R E M O R E
E N T E R P R I S E C O O R D I N AT I O N A N D C O N S I S T E N C Y

Enterprise Architecture can play a role in identifying security threats as well as contributing to a
security strategy that anticipates, detects, and mitigates risks. Adequate governance needs to be in
place, ensuring that security controls are in line with the governance security policies and
compliance requirements.
Emerging technologies:

AI-powered threat detection, intelligent predictive insights, etc..

Intensity and variety of security attacks have
grown
R E C E N T LY, T H E I N T E N S I T Y A N D VA R I E T Y O F S E C U R I T Y
AT TA C K S H A S G R O W N . G I V E N T H E C U R R E N T G E O -
P O L I T I C A L C L I M AT E , T H I S T R E N D I S H E R E T O S TAY.
A huge majority of
companies plan to invest
Defining the right strategy, based on a good understanding of the enterprise context and more in security in the
including technology defenses, requires a partnership between Enterprise Architecture and years ahead and enforce
security experts.
it at the enterprise level.
Deciding on security controls and defining enterprise policies and standards as well as
needed governance within agreed guardrails becomes a joint responsibility of the EA and
the CISO office.

EA is also called to do the technical oversight of the implementation, ensuring compliance Scarcity of security skills is significant, for a
to standards and regulations. number of reasons; professionals need to

Security plans are critical for organizations in private and public sectors alike, to protect understand the ever-changing security
customers and sensitive digital assets. landscape and modern techniques used in
increasingly sophisticated attacks.
INFO-TECH RESEARCH GROUP ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE TRENDS | 10
 Recommendations While the engagement model
inside organizations can vary,
one needs to have an agreement
• EA needs to co-create the security strategy, right-sizing it to the conditions/context/circumstances of
on what has to be enforced
the organization.
centrally (at the enterprise
• EA must partner with the security office to decide on security controls to mitigate risks. level) and who oversees it.
• EA should have a governance or enforcement role in security as well as implementation oversight.

• EA has an important role in communicating expectations and requirements to vendors.

• EA brokers relationships across Security and Data in the pursuit of an enterprise classification
scheme for both security and information management. This is equally important for Application and
Infrastructure Security mandated at the enterprise level.

INFO-TECH RESOURCES
• Security Priorities 2022

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Partnerships Between
Innovation and EA
T R E N D 0 3 E A’ S R O L E I N I N N O VAT I O N I N C R E A S E S S Y N E R G I E S AT T H E
ENTERPRISE LEVEL

Innovation may be achieved at every level of the organization, from new

business models to rethinking how technology supports the business.
Approaches:

Business innovation, technology innovation, use of AI/ML, blockchain, etc..

Drivers
D I G I T I Z AT I O N A C C E L E R AT E S B U S I N E S S I N N O VAT I O N .
INCREASED AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF CLOUD
C O M P U T E P O W E R E N A B L E S N E W T E C H N O L O G Y PA R A D I G M S A N D
APPROACHES.
The need to digitize while innovating has been
combined with a plethora of new approaches in the
cloud, for example:
• Affordable storage and compute power
• Easier ways to scale, to migrate from legacy to
modern architectures
• Technologies that have been used for integration
(APIs, event-driven) continue to enable
development of modular and flexible architectures.
• New(er) paradigms: containerization, service mesh,
data mesh, serverless, etc..
• Decentralized services and data that need
orchestration and enterprise governance and
management of services
INFO-TECH RESEARCH GROUP
INDUSTRY EXPERTISE
Industries that are currently technology laggers are
C U S T O M E R E X P E C TAT I O N S
under tremendous pressure to modernize their ways
and reduce costs. We foresee an explosion of
Customers demand support for modern
industry-specific AI/ML-powered applications that
capabilities and easier solutions to complex
will bring the need for domain expertise.
problems. These capabilities are growing, but
they require hard-to-obtain prerequisites (e.g.
integration, availability of data, data quality).
Customers also expect to be guided in making
informed decisions based on changing sets of
circumstances.
In a nutshell, the role of EA in innovation is
becoming increasingly significant in all sectors,
from business processes to technology. ​
ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE
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Collaborative EA
T R E N D 0 4 C O L L A B O R AT I V E E A R E Q U I R E S N E W WAY S O F
W O R K I N G W I T H I N T H E C O M PA N Y A S W E L L A S
N E W P O T E N T I A L R E L AT I O N S H I P S W I T H
VENDORS AND SUPPLIERS

Approaches:

Internal and external collaboration is needed for achieving superior results at the enterprise level
 72%
EA’s collaboration role across siloes of organizations plan to
bring back focus on their
The role of EA evolves from the old “ivory tower” to a practical, proactive, no-nonsense enterprise architecture
approach. efforts to accelerate digital
transformation.
• It becomes, ideally, a trusted advisor as well as co-creator of the strategy.
Info-Tech Tech Trends 2022 Survey

• It balances decisions across guilds (business, data, application, infrastructure,

integration, security) to achieve cross-domain or enterprise optimization.

• It enables collaboration and guidance for programs, platforms, portfolios, projects,

DevSecOps, and Operations.

• It includes vendor and partner management (e.g. setting up collaboration framework “…enterprise architects are
and expectations for suppliers, vendors, and partners). business partners who facilitate
digital business transformation”
(Source: Mega, 2022)

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Shift in roles and responsibilities Enterprise Architecture
SOME TECHNICAL ROLES ARE BECOMING MORE BALANCED,
becomes an ever-more
E N C O M PA S S I N G B O T H B U S I N E S S A N D I T. important tool in creating
the needed handshake
We see a shift in the position of the CTO/CIO. Other roles are being created in
between business and IT.
organizations.

The expectation for EA is to be practical and proactive in collaborating across the

organization to achieve measurable results.

EA evolves from a long-term planning tool to a more agile one. It supports immediate
needs while guiding and balancing long-term decisions.

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Collaboration within/across domain guilds
Enterprise-wide Business units
Info-Tech insight
ata Guild
Enterprise Architecture Bu s i n e s s D
Enterprise Architecture:
Enterprise Architecture Collaboration
Business • Encourages
Fundamentals Collaboration Business
Architecture collaboration within
Architecture
Enterprise – wide domain Business the domain guilds
CollaborationArchitecture Application Collaboration
Data Architecture
Application across different BUs
architectures
Enterprise Business Collaboration
Architecture Data Architecture
Architecture (ideally having a
Architecture Collaboration
Application
Data Architecture
Developmen TechnologyCollaboration
Technology representative from
Enterprise Data Architecture Developmen
Architecture
Enterprise Application t
Collaboration Architecture the business, data,
Solution t
ArchitectureArchitecture DevelopmenTechnology Solution app, infra, security,
Enterprise Collaboration
t Architecture Architecture
DevOps and integration guilds
QADevOps Architecture
Developmen Technology Solution at the enterprise
Stakeholders QA
t Architecture DevOpsArchitecture Stakeholders level).
Solution QA
Stakeholders Proj. Mgmt.. • Orchestrates cross-
DevOps Architecture Proj. Mgmt..
QA domain collaboration
Stakeholders Proj. Mgmt.. at the enterprise level.
i t ect u re Guild re Guild
Proj. Mgmt. Data Arch h n o l o g y Architectu
Tec
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EA Tools and Automation
T R E N D 0 5 M O R E E A A C T I V I T I E S A R E B E I N G A U T O M AT E D
THROUGH INTELLIGENT TOOLS

Be able to adjust in a timely manner to changes in the environment.

Approaches:

Automation, AI/ML
Tools enabling the digital economy

Tools trends appear to welcome some of the previously described trends (e.g. EA collaboration, focusing on automation and agility) powered by
AI/ML in more domains than ever before.

These general trends are witnessed in different domains:

• Enterprise Architecture Tools
• Business Process (Intelligent) Automation
• Business Process Management
• Data Tools
• Business Service Orchestration
• Containers and Orchestrations

The tooling landscape is evolving at high speed. We see breakthroughs made by both long-term players and new entrants in the market.

Vendors are starting to combine capabilities that were previously unique to particular domains but have now been collated into enterprise tools.

We see a tendency that the tool providers are increasingly accommodating an easy drag-and-drop paradigm (low-code or no-code) for the
business user, while others are designed for intense coding with the developer in mind.

Examples of automation include advanced AI/ML approaches, patterns recognition, Visio to Model conversion, automatic and/or intelligent
recommendations, and some optimizations.

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Contributing Experts

MILENA LITOIU ANDY NEILL

SENIOR DIRECTOR, AV P, P R A C T I C E L E A D ,
INFO-TECH INFO-TECH

IGOR IKONNIKOV D AV I D G L A Z E R

DIRECTOR, RESEARCH V P, A N A LY T I C S , K R O L L
ADVISOR, INFO-TECH

INFO-TECH RESEARCH GROUP ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE TRENDS | 20

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