1st week journal for the EA

To be honest, the EA class in CMU is the first time I do some work in this field. It is also the first time I have heard the word “EA”.I will record what I have learned in the first class and my opinion about EA in this article.

In the first class, the professor introduced the concept of EA to us by the definition of two experts in this field. And I know that EA is a subject that could help organizations to handle the development of each part wisely. Then the professor introduces the problems existed in the organizations. He used the picture of Spaghetti, and then cited the Spaghetti syndrome to tell us the problems in the organizations. When the organization becomes large enough, the management will be extremely valuable for them. Without the good management, the different departments can hardly work together in harmony. Then, I also got that EA plays an crucial role in connecting IT with the Business. It has made considerable waste because business people do not know IT. And, the EA could offer the organization a large picture of the whole organization. It tells how money should be invested to each department, and how to deal with the connection between the different departments. Even, some companies fail not because the lacking of technology, but because of failure EA work instead.

Then, I learned further about the EA. I learned the history of EA and the EA cube model. EA model offers a comprehensive way to solve the problems lie in organizations. Later, the professor gave some practical examples such as the Federal Enterprise Architecture Program of the Whitehouse, and the EA program made by the MIT.

The professor left as the assignment of case study with the article from the MIT Sloan. By reading and analyzing the article, I got to know that the companies have got serious problem with the IT departments. These departments cost too much on IT because IT has becoming too complex and risky. Then I did the case study on that topic to detailed analyze the problems with the company and provide some possible solutions.

I just feel excited to learn EA because I want to analyze the technology in a higher position and provide the solution to the possible problems. Also, the practical projects with the SA government are truly exciting. I will try my best to study this lesson well.