Foundation for Execution: Hardwiring Business with Enterprise Architecture

Date:  September 23, 2005

Location:  Room 124, Monroe Hall, University of Virginia,
                    Charlottesville, Va.

Synopsis:
Although information technology should enable organizations to respond rapidly to new customer demands and market opportunities, more often IT is a bottleneck inhibiting organizational change. However, research at 150 companies suggests that an enterprise architecture can guide development an effective foundation for business change. We define enterprise architecture as the organizing logic for business processes, data, and information technology designed to address the integration and standardization requirements of the firm. The process of building a foundation for execution consistent with an enterprise architecture is a lengthy journey. But firms like UPS, ING DIRECT, and 7-11 Japan provide evidence of the potential for enterprise architecture to enable business change. This talk describes the journey through four stages of architecture maturity that leads to more modular, innovative businesses.

Agenda

Speakers:

Jeanne W. Ross

Principal Research Scientist, Center for Information Systems Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Jeanne W. Ross is Principal Research Scientist at MIT’s Center for Information Systems Research where she lectures, conducts research, and directs executive education courses on IT management practices. Her research examines organizational and performance implications of enterprise initiatives related to IT architecture, governance, and new IT management practices. Her work has appeared in major practitioner and academic journals, including Sloan Management Review, Harvard Business Review, MISQ Executive, and CIO Magazine. She is coauthor, with Peter Weill of IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results published by Harvard Business School Press. In 2006 HBS Press will publish her second book Foundation for Execution: Hardwiring Business with Enterprise Architecture which she coauthored with Peter Weill and David Robertson.
 

Suzanne J. Peck
Chief Technology Officer, District of Columbia

Prior to her appointment as Chief Technology Officer for the District of Columbia, Suzanne Peck served as senior technology and operations executive for several Fortune 500 companies. She has expanded and strengthened existing businesses, has established technology start-ups, and is now helping revitalize the District's technology infrastructure.

Ms. Peck's expertise is in the conception and implementation of large-scale technology operations. Her decade-long service as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae) helped transform the $46 billion corporation into one of the nation's largest wholesale credit providers. More recently, Ms.Peck was Senior Vice President of Corestates Financial Corp. and Chief Executive Officer of its $50 million technology start-up subsidiary Transys. Her previous employer before joining the Government of the District of Columbia was Systems and Computer Technology Corp. of Malvern, Pennsylvania, where she served as Vice President of Marketing. Ms. Peck began her professional career with Honeywell Information Systems and Bankers Trust New York Corp.

Ms. Peck graduated cum laude from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and received a Master's in Business Administration with distinction from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Peck is a lecturer and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland and has developed curricula and taught classes in systems development, applications programming, management, and marketing at a number of area universities, including The George Washington University, American University, the Catholic University of America, and the University of Virginia.

She sits on the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia-based Concerto Soloists, a professional concert orchestra.