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John Anderson

Class is in session in John Anderson's office—and the former high school teacher and industrial trainer is drawing a diagram showing how an Enterprise Architecture (EA) supports an organization's mission and goals.

"I'm just a teacher—that's all I am," says Anderson, principal software systems engineer with MITRE's Washington Command, Control, and Communications (WC3) Center. "Bringing people together to learn from each other is a teacher's role. We can leverage so much by sharing. It comes second nature."

Anderson has a well of expertise on the nascent subject of EA—and at MITRE, he has found an environment that has encouraged him to share that knowledge with others. The result has been a growing body of reference materials and seminars that MITRE's employees and customers can draw on to understand how EA can enhance an organization. For Anderson, the results have been a way to fulfill what he calls "those lofty, idealistic goals of being a teacher."

Anderson's work in educating colleagues and customers came at a time when EA was still emerging as a key component of the federal government's efforts toward modernization. Anderson, who worked for MITRE from 1985 to 1988, returned to the company in 1997 at a time when many of MITRE's federal clients were facing requirements to deliver EAs along with their budget requests.

"When I came back to MITRE, it was about the same time that the Center for Enterprise Modernization (CEM) was being set up, and it started looking for enterprise architects," says Anderson. "It was a hard task because the concept of EA was still being developed and, at the time, there was very little published on it. Our goal at that point was to clarify the concept, to get it away from being a buzzword and make it a practical, usable, pragmatic approach to change management."

Anderson put many of his reference materials on a Web site that serves as a clearinghouse of EA information, including federal and state guidelines, papers, articles, and information on upcoming conferences. The subscription list has grown from about 25 people to well over 100.

In addition, Anderson helped write The Practical Guide to Federal Enterprise Architecture, which standardized terminology and practices for implementing EAs for federal agencies. He also worked with others to put together a series of technical exchange meetings—each focused on different aspects of EA—which led to more information sharing and interaction among people working on EA projects.

"John has contributed significantly to the world of EA by showing people how it relates to other disciplines such as investment management," says Elaine Ward, principal information systems engineer with CEM and one of Anderson's collaborators on the Practical Guide. " John and I have tried very much to make it clear that EA is not another silver bullet, but a tool to help an organization understand the big picture view of its purpose, goals, and objectives so that it can make better investment decisions."

For Anderson, the results of his work in shaping the EA concept and spreading knowledge of it goes to the heart of what makes MITRE unique.

"I've often used MITRE as a benchmark for other jobs that I've held," he says. "It's a great mix of smart, talented people always challenging each other and typically sharing. It's a great environment to work in."

—by W. Russell Woolard