Development of a sound strategy is only half the battle as too many strategies fail when it comes to execution. In complex organisations it is very often difficult to understand the relationship between strategy and execution, more often than not due to poor communication. Having a clearly defined business architecture will also assist with the measurement to ensure that firstly the strategy is still relevant and secondly whether it is being executed effectively. The relationship between strategy, measurement and architecture is vital in understanding the status and impact of various components of complex organisations. This is the fundamental framework for an effective decision support system.
The first challenge is retro fitting an Enterprise Architecture to an ever changing environment, this is like the proverbial wheel change on a moving truck. Even in countries where suppliers have to have a registered architecture to be able to do business with government agencies, these so called architectures have become nothing but a very inaccurate ticket to the game. There are many methods that have been tried and some have even had marginal success. The development of a framework with a mile wide, inch deep approach or ridiculous levels of detail which is never completed and almost impossible to keep up to date are largely dependant on specific circumstances. In fact, every project that is undertaken has an impact on the Enterprise Architecture and as such, should have a section which details changes that should be made to the EA.
In a perfect world, measurement and architecture should guide projects with projects impacting architecture, thus completing the circle. The main problem with this is that most architecture initiatives are treated as projects rather than a vital process in the management of change and all the complexities that change introduces.