Hello, my name is Richard...

...and I work for Ernst & Young in the UK.

This isn't particularly relevant as this is my personal blog and I don't post here on behalf of the firm; the disclaimer is not just for show. However, this blog isn't about me, it's about stuff I'm coming across in the IT industry that catches my eye. Obviously, much of what catches my eye does so because of my job at EY.

I have an internal blog that has been running for nearly two years. It was the first internal blog, as far as I know, at EY (there are now many). So why post stuff externally? Well, blogs help to build ties, and, as McAfee recently posted, it is the weak ties that add the most value. By blogging publically I hope that I will build ties with people beyond the boundaries of the firm.

So how does EY feel about me doing this? Well, I guess I'll find out, however, there is no policy expressly forbidding me to do this. I'm making no gigantic leap as a simple search for my name will quickly lead you to my LinkedIn profile where all is revealed anyway.

Certainly, I will not bring harm to the firm by blogging because I am absolutely loving my job. Is there the potential that I will reveal something about what we are doing within EY? Sure there is. But I will choose carefully and continue to post internally when appropriate. However, I want to walk near to the edge of that cliff on the basis that revealing more will build better ties.

I can't claim to be the first blogger to declare openly that he works for Ernst & Young. Rod Boothby of Innovation Creators is one of whom I am aware, although he no longer works for the firm and his blog now says 'one of the big 4', although if you follow on to his personal blog it still says Ernst & Young.

So to fully introduce myself; I work in the Enterprise Architecture Office, which has been in existence for less than a year. The EA Office follows the pattern of a small core team with a wider networked team drawn from across the IT organisation. I feel very strongly that this model is important because it prevents EA from becoming an ivory tower and seen as an obstruction to be avoided.

In future posts I'll write in more detail about the things we have done in establishing EA; our framework, reference architecture and the different roles we perform. If you're on the same journey I look forward to hearing your story.