How does DevOps affect Enterprise Architecture?
Let’s try to describe a few terms.
DevOps is a software development methodology that aims to increase the communications and collaboration between software developers and other IT professionals.
Software Architecture is a high level structure for developing software.
Information Technology (IT) Architecture is the process of developing IT specifications that includes software and systems.
Enterprise Architecture (EA) sits in between the Business and IT that captures the capabilities across the organization. EA helps determine strategy and intends to create alignment. This alignment may or may not result in the creation of system integration, system of systems, systems and/or software but if done correctly always results in business transformation across people, processes, products/ services and technologies.
As we can see from these descriptions, an “organization’s architecture stack” would start from
Strategy -> Enterprise Architecture -> IT architecture -> Software Architecture -> DevOps.
From this understanding, following are the ways how DevOps affects EA:
- It shouldn’t. EA is driven by and creates strategy while DevOps is the software/system implementation aspect of the strategy
- DevOps affects EA if it deviates from the organization’s strategy
- If DevOps is being used as a feedback mechanism to improve the strategy then that’s a totally different ball game
However, nothing is written in stone and there are exceptions in every organization based on how they execute the strategy, the feedback loop, their culture, competency of people across the organization’s architectural stack and of course politics.
Originally published at http://arsalankhan.com on August 4, 2020.
