The Enterprise Architecture Experience

NOTE: During the editing process, we realised that Hassan and Jon refer to the "City/Town planning metaphor" rather than analogy! We really do mean analogy, however we didn't have time to re-record - hopefully this doesn't spoil your enjoyment!

On this Field Notes episode of the Enterprise Architecture Experience podcast, Hassan and Jon discuss the use of the City or Town Planning as an analogy for the work that Enterprise Architecture do within a business. They get into the detail of how they've used it previously, and some of the things to watch out for in its use.

We have created a couple of slides which talk about a high-level way in which the analogy can be used which you can download from Google Drive here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11Gx5xuYBOdGnM8a_Ma-H6opkBDc_ZDCN5cI-dWlkuDw/edit?usp=sharing

Field Notes is a shorter, more informal version of the Enterprise Architecture Experience where Hassan and Jon chat about a more operational topic for Enterprise Architecture Leadership.

Listen to other episodes of the EA Experience Podcast by searching for “Enterprise Architecture Experience” wherever you get your podcasts
Join our LinkedIn group for early notification of new episodes and some slide materials to summarise and accompany the podcast here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13125822/

Jon Hill is currently doing IT Strategy Consultancy, mentoring and podcast creation having worked for 30 years in laboratory and scientific companies with a strong pharmaceutical focus and 10+ years working in Enterprise Architecture - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-hill-it-leader/
Hassan Abba is the Head of Architecture for R&D in AstraZeneca having previously worked for Royal Mail, Vodaphone and Sky - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassanabba/
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On this episode of the Enterprise Architecture Experience Podcast, we get into the benefits and challenges of running a large EA team. We focus on managing federated EA, being part of an organization that doesn't have all its Enterprise Architecture in one place, how to manage ever-changing operating models and discuss methods of working effectively in a large organisation.

Our discussion is with Gareth Lewis, Head of Architecture for Enterprise Infrastructure at AstraZeneca, a global Pharmaceutical company. Gareth gives us insight into his 20+ years in AstraZeneca, and the processes that they use and how they have developed over time..

Podcast Overview
Introduction - 00:00 - 01:33
Interview with Gareth Lewis - 01:40 - 46:29
Recap of key points - Jon and Hassan talk about some of the interesting points from the interview - 46:34 - 51:29

You can follow Gareth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-lewis-1876918/
Listen to other episodes of the EA Experience Podcast by searching for “Enterprise Architecture Experience” wherever you get your podcasts
Join our LinkedIn group for early notification of new episodes and some slide materials to summarise and accompany the podcast here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13125822/

Jon Hill is currently doing IT Consultancy, mentoring and podcast creation having worked for 30 years in laboratory and scientific companies with a strong pharmaceutical focus, with 10+ years working in Enterprise Architecture - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-hill-it-leader/
Hassan Abba is the Head of Architecture for R&D in AstraZeneca having previously worked for Royal Mail, Vodaphone and Sky - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassanabba/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our new occasional format: Field Notes. Rather than talking with a guest, Field Notes is a conversation between Jon and Hassan about a specific topic. These topics will be a deeper dive into the management of Architecture teams, and on this episode we're talking about Goal and Objective setting. We discuss the challenges associated with setting objectives for architects, about "soft skills" versus "hard skills", and discuss ways to cascade and monitor goals across the team.

Field notes is a slightly shorter, more conversational format - we hope you enjoy it!

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Hassan and Jon reflect on a year of the Enterprise Architecture Podcast, and go back over some of the topics covered in the six episodes that have been put out there.

Thank you to everyone who has listened through 2025 - wishing you a very happy and prosperous 2026!

Listen to other episodes of the EA Experience Podcast by searching for “Enterprise Architecture Experience” wherever you get your podcasts
Join our LinkedIn group for early notification of new episodes and some slide materials to summarise and accompany the podcast here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13125822/
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This month we start on our journey around the four quadrants of Enterprise Architecture planning starting with Strategic Planning, in future episodes we will be covering Business Case Development, Solution Delivery and IT Operation and Optimisation.

We start by defining Strategy Planning, and then discuss good practice, and Hassan gives insight into how his team do it in AstraZeneca.

Our Interview is with Semra Kandemir, Chief Strategy Officer (Product Strategy, Aviation Solutions) at Hitit Computer Services, an Airline and Travel IT Solutions provider. Semra walks us through the important cornerstones of the planning activity, and talks about the planning cadence and processes.

Podcast Overview
Introduction and discussion about what Strategic Planning is, and how it works at AstraZeneca - 00:00 - 12:05
Interview with Semra Kandemir - 12:05 - 53:21
Recap of key points - Jon and Hassan talk about some of the interesting points from the interview - 53.21 - 58:47

You can follow Semra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/semra-kandemir-b506211a/
Listen to other episodes of the EA Experience Podcast by searching for “Enterprise Architecture Experience” wherever you get your podcasts
Join our LinkedIn group for early notification of new episodes and some slide materials to summarise and accompany the podcast here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13125822/

Wishing all our listeners a very happy holiday season!
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