Enterprise architecture (EA) is not a new discipline. But it has been attracting recent attention as companies try to come to grips with rapid change and the problem of delivering business value while remaining agile.

How does proper adoption of enterprise architecture deliver business value? Where do South African companies stand? Brainstorm invited local EA experts to give their opinions and share their experience on the enterprise architecture question. Present were: Ari Kotze and Mike Steyn, enterprise architecture consultants from TriVector Consulting (formerly CPi Services); Rudi Leibbrandt, practice manager at Sybase SA; Bruce Bond-Myatt, PSD director at SAS Institute; Freda du Toit, architect at SDT Financial Software Solutions; Marc Scheepbouwer, MD of Intellient; Pierre Viljoen, EMEA architect for technology services at CA; Stuart Macgregor, MD of RealIRM and representative for The Open Group; Ken Hales, corporate consultant, enterprise architecture at Eskom; Ashraf Suleman, information and knowledge management practice head at e.com Insititute; Malcom Rabson, MD of Dariel Solutions; and Alvin Paules, chief technology architect at SAP SA.