In my experiences, Enterprise Information Architecture (EIA) tends to be a massively overlooked discipline. Most organizations I work with have different tiers of data architects, all aligned differently and developing differently. I often find organizations with silo’d standards and information models, regardless if there is a mature enterprise architecture in place. This fragmented EIA costs the organization money. Creating inefficiencies, redundancies, and inhibiting business strategies.

Often times this is a product of organizational growth that requires significant effort to right the ship, especially with large enterprises, but there are still opportunities for positive change. Focusing on creating a sharing environment, increases the value that can derived from information. With a collaborative data culture, information is shared among those who have it and those who need it (Newman & Gall, 2009). Allowing lines of business to integrate with one another; reminiscent of the benefits of InnerSourcing. Of course scope still needs to be maintained with principles of governance and structure, but advanced data sharing capabilities as part of a unified EIA will allow organizations to exploit information as a strategic asset and not just a by-product.

Here is a helpful guide for architecting information shareability:

(Gartner for IT Leaders Toolkit: How to Develop an Enterprise Information Architecture)

References:

• Newman, D. (2011) Overcoming Silos: Evolving From Stand-Alone Information Architectures to Shared Information Architectures for the Emerging Data Economy. Gartner
• Newman, D. & Gall, N. (2009) Architecting for Participation: How Information Sharing Environments Overcome Information Silos. Gartner.
• Newman, D. Gall, N. & Lapkin, A. (2008)Gartner Defines Enterprise Information Architecture. Gartner.