Some enterprise architecture programs become a key capability for the success of their business: ensuring aligned plans, shaping business transformations, or boosting the business value of IT. But other EA programs struggle, with nebulous missions, immature practices, and limited impact.

If the first statement describes your EA program, I’d like to invite you to submit your story for the InfoWorld/Forrester Enterprise Architecture Award.InfoWorld/Forrester Enterprise Architecture Award image

This will be the third year of the awards program. Past winners have ranged from global banks to government ministries, from American Express to USAA, and from Singapore to Switzerland. These organizations have become a rich source of best practices and a demonstration of what a high-performance EA program is capable of.

We have a theme for the 2012 awards: EA programs that are business-focused, strategic, and pragmatic — and demonstrate this through their practices and the value they deliver. There are many ways in which EA can show this: partnering with business transformation efforts, developing business-relevant road maps, orchestrating their business’s information assets, increasing business agility — the list is long. As with past years, submissions will be judged by your peers — heads of successful EA programs, including previous winners.

This year, Forrester and InfoWorld are partnering with the Pennsylvania State University Center for Enterprise Architecture. The Center for Enterprise Architecture is an innovative program, advised by a consortium of 60 organizations, which is advancing the practice of EA through research, degree programs, and continuing education. The center will be using the 2012 winners as the basis for its continuing research on effective EA.

Are you an enterprise architecture success story? Then share it with your peers!