- 1.1 External Forces: A New World of Volume, Variety, and Velocity
- 1.2 Internal Information Environment Challenges
- 1.3 The Need for a New Enterprise Information Architecture
- 1.4 The Business Vision for the Information-Enabled Enterprise
- 1.5 Building an Enterprise Information Strategy and the Information Agenda
- 1.6 Best Practices in Driving Enterprise Information Planning Success
- 1.7 Relationship to Other Key Industry and IBM Concepts
- 1.8 The Roles of Business Strategy and Technology
- 1.9 References
1.8 The Roles of Business Strategy and Technology
This chapter sets a business and “how-to” context for what is primarily a technical manuscript to both introduce and reinforce the message that an organization’s Enterprise Information Architecture and associated strategy and objectives must be centered around the business value that enterprise information can deliver.
The business value conversation is critically important to even technical audiences. As has been noted throughout this chapter, organizations are not be able to effectively compete without having access to better and more timely information. At the strategic level, IT professionals must partner with business managers in devising, approving, funding, and enabling new capabilities.
At the tactical level, good business knowledge helps the technology professional better understand his or her own priorities and frame of reference as he or she creates technical solutions, by continuing to question “What value is this creating for the organization or our customers? How will this solution best drive innovation, increase revenue, or improve efficiency?” These types of inquiries can keep the Enterprise Information Architecture discussion firmly planted within the reality of the larger business context.
This book is the technology companion to an upcoming business discussion on analytics titled “The Information-Enabled Enterprise: Using Business Analytics to Make Smart Decisions” by Michael Schroeck. Those readers seeking a deeper business understanding of Enterprise Information Management should consider this book, as it will provide a more detailed discussion into the true value of enterprise information and business analytics.