Summary

Discovering the value of strategic flexibility involves IT and business linkage and an architectural view. Chapter 8 begins a more detailed discussion of the functional architecture. As the first step in the building-block architecture, infrastructure optimization builds the foundation of strategic flexibility. As this step and subsequent steps are taken, the details must not obscure the vision. The details are important, but the goals are principles that guide the success of implementing a strategically flexible architecture. Simply summarized, the architecture:

• Links business needs to IT through strategic flexibility

• Enables IT through the value of strategic flexibility

• Guides IT through the architectural process

• Refactors IT through the functional architecture

• Saves IT cost through the implementation of the architecture