A shared single vision of the future

Formulating the IT Architecture for any company is about strategy not technology. Business owners and IT folks have to come together and unify behind a vision that will drive business value for the company.
If there is a common consensus as to where the Organization is going, it will be easier to plan how to get there, but this is a lot easier said than done. Often times Companies don't have a clear and defined strategic plan and/or they don't involve their IT office on the discussion. I think this is a recipe for failure.

A few months ago, after doing some research, I presented an idea to the CFO to invite Gartner to help the Organization in creating an Enterprise Architecture that would focus in putting together a strategy for IT that would drive value for the business in the short and long term. The idea was simple, get every decision maker together and make sure that everybody has the same goals and the same vision and start building an IT strategy from that point. Although the idea was rejected at the end, the premise is the right one, for IT to succeed a shared vision for the future has to exist between the business leadership and IT.

Without a proper Architecture you will not be able to address increasing system complexity, The IT function will not be funded properly, and the IT systems will not be aligned with business strategies.