The guide, Enterprise Architecture: A Guide to State Government Continual Transformation, calls for organizations to treat enterprise architecture (EA) as a strategic, business-driven tool for ongoing government transformation and stresses that cross-agency collaboration is essential amid political and administrative change. It recommends frameworks for working with government officials and prioritizing EA efforts. Among these are finding and eliminating duplicative investments, and aligning business and technology investments.
The report echoes themes from the March release of Business Architecture Part 1: A Strategic Blueprint for State CIOs, in which NASCIO positioned EA as a way to help tech leaders operate more effectively as enterprise leaders. It emphasizes EA’s role in improving service delivery; identifying opportunities for interoperability, service integration and resource sharing; and supporting a resident-focused approach.
“We’re opening the dialogue on how enterprise architecture and business architecture play a very important part in the continued emerging role of the state CIO as a business executive working on business strategy,” Eric Sweden, NASCIO program director, enterprise architecture and governance, said in March. Sweden, the author of both reports, framed business architecture as a tool for helping CIOs deliver value across agencies by aligning technology with long-term strategic outcomes.
NASCIO took a deep dive into business architecture and its definition two decades ago. This year’s reports update the case for business architecture in state government, showcase real-world applications and provide practical guidance.
