As a business systems analyst in IT, I realized years ago that we needed an enterprise-level version of what business systems analyst do. I was excited to learn about EA, and I read in several places that it was the term for enterprise-level analyst. I was disappointed to learn that it had been co-opted by IT as another term for defining common objects for reuse in systems.

I think businesses need 'enterprise business systems analysts'. These analysts should be able to look across the enterprise and see where common business systems (not necessarily computer-related) can be improved. Of course, one of the big problem areas where they could start would be analyzing across IT projects to see where they overlap or impact each other.

I think these analysts will probably have to come from IT because business people generally are not trained or experienced in the analysis skills necessary. But they also need to have a business focus as well as a technical one.

Does anyone have a different term we can use for this level of analysis? 'Enterprise business systems analysis' doesn't seem to have the zing we need!

I resonate fully with the views expressed here. I currently lead a newly set up office of business transformation, the charter of which is precisely some of the stuff talked about - look at the organization as a whole, see whether processes and metrics are congruent with each other and with the strategy of the organization,how knowledge is shared and whether it is used to have a multiplier effect or not. Till last year, I headed the IT function - one of the reasons why I made the move to the current role is that I realized that IT is not going to provide answers to many of the organization's problems. A key learning for me in the last few months of my new role has been that it is not 'what an organization does or does not do' that is important as much as 'how an organization thinks' . In the latter is embedded its culture, structure, processes, collaboration etc. Information Systems have no role to play if the fundamental problem is that accountability is not clearly defined or if decision-clarity is not there.My overarching charter is to capture how the organization thinks - how it plans, takes decisions, collaborates, communicates , the processes and policies that it has - and see whether these are good enough for the future or not.

Enterprise Architecture is about designing and building successful enterprises and therefore many business disciplines are involved in this field of expertise. The ultimate responsibility of the success of an enterprise lies with the CEO, so we could argue if the CEO is the Chief Architect of the Enterprise.

The career path of most enterprise architects started in the information technology (IT) domain, which is also the origin of this relatively new profession. However, IT sits amongs other elements of the business, such as organisational behaviour, politics, culture, finance, HR, accounting, marketing and economics.

Without a solid understanding of these elements of the business, and how they work together, the Architects of the Enterprise (Enterprise Architects) will be severely challenged.

A business is built on its technology (and always has been). Whether it was typewriters and telephones from the "old" days or the present blade servers and VOIP
Enterprise Architecture does not need to move out of IT, it just needs to be recognized for the value it can add to the long term bottom line of a comapny.