Snap polls reflect questions posed by members of the Celent Executive Panel, a group of C level executives in the insurance industry. This snap poll came from an insurer that is looking for insights on enterprise architecture practices.

This deck provides a summary of the responses to a Snap Poll conducted Jan 23 – Jan 29 2025. Questions for a snap poll come from one of the other members of the panel. The snap poll was fielded to select members of the Celent Executive Panel, a group of C level executives in the insurance industry. 21 insurers responded to this survey over the course of five days.

If you are an insurer and are interested in participating and receiving these snap polls, please email kcarnahan@celent.com to verify eligibility.

The question that was posed was:

Background:

This insurer is hoping to gain insight into how other organizations in our industry have structured their Enterprise Architecture (EA) practices, including team size, governance, tools, frameworks, and any critical insights that might inform or improve a company’s EA function.

Questions:

What level of Enterprise Architecture exists in your organization?

• We have a fully defined and implemented EA practice
• We are in the process of establishing our EA practice
• We do not have an EA practice, but we do have one or more architects (software architect, data architect, solution architect, data architect, etc.)
• We do not have a practice or any architects but plan to hire & establish architecture in the future
• We do not have a practice or any architects and have no plans to establish or hire either.

Approximately how many full-time professionals are dedicated to your Enterprise Architecture (EA) team?

• 1–2
• 3–5
• 6–10
• 11–20
• More than 20

Where does your EA function primarily report within your organization?

• Directly under the Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
• Under the Chief Information Officer (CIO)
• Within a standalone EA department
• Matrixed across multiple business units
• Other (please specify)

Which framework or methodology do you most commonly use to guide your EA activities?

• TOGAF
• Zachman
• SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)
• Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF)
• A custom or hybrid approach
• None (ad hoc or not standardized)
• Other (Please specify)

Which technology tools do you rely on for modeling, documentation, or repository management?

• Mega Hopex
• Bizzdesign Horrizzon
• OrbusInfinity
• Ardoq
• SAP LEanIX
• Standard productivity tools (e.g., Visio, SharePoint, Excel)
• Another tool (Please Specify)

What is the biggest challenge your organization faces in maintaining an effective EA practice?

• Securing consistent executive sponsorship
• Aligning EA efforts with Agile/DevOps processes
• Managing budget and resource constraints
• Overcoming cultural or organizational resistance
• Other (please specify)

Which accomplishment best represents the greatest success of your EA practice so far?

• Significantly improving alignment between IT and the business
• Reducing technical complexity and operating costs
• Establishing standardized architecture governance and processes
• Enabling faster delivery of strategic initiatives
• Mining, modeling, and defining relationships between capabilities, value streams, technology, applications, and processes to enable better decision making throughout the entire company.
• Other (please specify)

From your experience, what has been the biggest and most important lesson learned in implementing or maturing Enterprise Architecture in your organization?