Inspired from Seth’s Blog: Alignment:

Seth Godin made me think about the alignment of iteraplan – the OpenSource EA Tool and the rest of EA Tools in the market.

So here are my thoughts on it – the good side:

iteraplan: You want a EA Starter Tool. You are growing out of Visio/Excel/Powerpoint/etc., but your organisation does not have a high EA maturity level yet. iteraplan wants to be a QuickStart solution which you can testdrive since it is OpenSource. It is not covering all EA Management areas, which keeps you focussed.

alfabet/planningIT: You want to be seen as a great planner and IT Portfolio Manager. Normally Excel and Gantt-Charts are your world. planningIT shows you how you should do it, according to what they think IT planning is about, charging a lot, since you might also benefit this.

Troux: You want the Full-Monty, a prestige product that covers all possibilities in the EA World. And Troux wants to reliably and consistently charge a lot for an EA Tool that sends a message to everyone else.

Same with no alignment:

iteraplan: You want the Mercedes of EA Tools, but want to pay only for a bike. iteraplan don’t wants to loose you and tells you that enhancing the car to a Mercedes is on the Roadmap. You could sponsor it, since it is OpenSource!

alfabet/planningIT: You want to be seen as a great planner and IT Portfolio Manager. Normally Excel and Gantt-Charts are your world. planningIT imposes their thinking and you have to follow them or leave it. Wait, haven’t I been doing this for years?

Troux: You want a EA Tool. You are growing out of Visio/Excel/Powerpoint/etc., but your organisation does not have a high EA maturity level yet. And Troux wants to reliably and consistently charge a lot for an EA Tool that sends a message to everyone else.

What are your thoughts? How do you perceive alignment in the EnterpriseArchitecture tool market?