For decades, Enterprise Architecture (EA) has been viewed through an IT-centric lens, just like how early medicine misunderstood the complexity of the human body.
But what happens when an entire profession is built on partial knowledge?
The 1820s Doctor: A Dangerous Analogy for IT-Centric EA
Imagine a doctor in 1820 who had been trained to believe the body consisted only of nerves and intestines. Every patient that came in, whether suffering from a heart condition, a lung infection, or a broken bone, was treated through the only lens the doctor knew—the intestines.
Then came 1858, when Henry Gray published Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical, proving that the human body had a single, unified anatomy. Not just intestines—one anatomy, one system, all interdependent.
So, let’s ask ourselves: Would you trust a doctor trained in 1820 with your life today?
Enterprise Architecture's 1820s Problem
The same blind spot exists in Enterprise Architecture today.
IT-centric frameworks like TOGAF train architects to focus on only one part of the enterprise—IT systems.
They define EA as something that aligns IT to the business, instead of recognizing that IT is already part of the enterprise anatomy.
Just like the 1820s doctor couldn’t see the heart, lungs, or skeletal system, IT-centric EA fails to see business strategy, operations, financial flows, and decision-making as part of a single, unified system.
For too long, IT-centric frameworks have pushed the idea that HR, Sales, and Finance are the "business," while IT is something separate. This mindset has led to a disconnection, where Enterprise Architecture (EA) became just another governance tool for IT systems, instead of a holistic model for the entire enterprise.
Here’s the brutal truth: One of the recent publication in linkedin highlighted that 74% of respondents in their recent survey, said they’re using TOGAF from The Open Group. But let's be clear—TOGAF is nothing more than an IT certification for IT managers, and there’s nothing enterprise about it.
How many TOGAF architects report to the CEO? Probably 0.001%...
How many Sales strategists use TOGAF in their daily work? 0.000000%.
So why are we still pretending this framework is about anything beyond IT governance?
The truth is, most of the people behind TOGAF had only IT skills. It was created by IT Software/Service Providers, for IT Software Service Providers—and it’s reinforcing the myth that IT and business are separate. TOGAF serves only the IT landscape, while enterprise architecture should serve the entire enterprise.
EA was meant to be about structuring the enterprise as it actually functions—across strategy, processes, systems, components, and business operations across 15 departments. But instead, it became a tool that serves only the IT function.
Still, too many architects are stuck in the same old patterns, obsessed with:
1.System landscapes instead of Business landscapes
2.Technology alignment instead of Enterprise alignment
3. IT compliance checklists instead of Business operational cohesion
This narrow view of EA has eroded its credibility in the eyes of CEOs, HR heads or Sales Director.. What started as an integrated approach to managing the entire enterprise turned into a fragmented IT-driven model, ignoring the true power of an enterprise-wide architecture.
The shift is already happening. The only question is—who will lead the change?
The ICMG One Enterprise, One Anatomy Model: Seeing the Full Picture
Enterprise Anatomy always existed—we just had to observe it.
Just like Henry Gray’s discovery unified medicine, the ICMG Enterprise Anatomy Model unifies EA by treating IT as a natural part of the enterprise anatomy, not something that needs to be "aligned" separately.
Whether you are in finance, HR, supply chain, or IT, every department is part of a single, interconnected enterprise structure—one enterprise, one anatomy.
Are We Still Stuck in 1820?
The world has moved on, and so has the population. In 2025, we’re at 8.2 billion people. Guess what? There’s still just one anatomy.
There could be 100 million enterprises in 2025… but guess what? There’s just one enterprise anatomy.
If we are still using frameworks like TOGAF, which focus only on IT systems and ignore the whole enterprise anatomy, aren’t we just like that 1820 doctor—trying to solve every problem with outdated knowledge?
The world has moved on—it’s time our Enterprise Architecture frameworks do too.