Blog 10

Write about EA tools. What do you think of them? Are they really useful? How about cost?

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When people talk about EA tools, everyone can talk for hours. And the talking all seems making sense. Analyzing every component in your company, allocating them on the framework, integrating the information, access to the real-time database at anytime and anywhere, optimizing the distribution of the resources, saving IT cost, and etc. Of course, this is what bosses want in their business.

But if we see a EA from the point of view of an employee, things will be much more fun. I will explain this idea in a personal experience. I worked for an electronic company two years ago. My division had over 100 personnel, but those who really did something, who really made production, only accounted for 30%. And the division merely had a productivity of ten workers.

It might be a little tricky at the beginning, but it is always true. In a company, the points of view of the boss (owner), the manager, and the level employees are totally different. The things level employees want are very simple, such as raising salary, promotion, less pressure, going home on time. The things a boss wants are also simple, such as lower cost, higher profit, higher efficiency, and cutting everything unneeded. The key is the managers between the two. If the efficiency of the company goes high, they will be in a terrible disadvantage.

There is no General, if there is no soldier. There is a unit of ten employees, and then there is a manager. There is a division of one hundred employees, and then there is a director. There is a department of one thousand employees, and then there is a vice president. Therefore, from the point of view of a manager, he needs more men in his division to get himself promoted.

Based on this logic, there is no wonder why so many EA cases failed. It is not because the company use Zachman or TOGAF framework, and either not because of the software the company use. It is because that in the company, the only one man who wants the EA succeeds is the boss!