I like this comment from Shaman:

Methodology is killing software development. Pre-occupations with standards and enterprise architecture are taking away the creativity from software. Instead of being the software developer’s best friend, architecture oversight groups are assuming the role of armchair dictators and throwing a spanner in the software development life cycle. When was the last time an enterprise software architect actually coded the recommended reference architecture to see if it was even feasible? And how often is the software architecture updated to keep it relevant with business and technology advances?

Now, I do understand the point behind standards, and why businesses should pay (some) attention to them. As Shaman notes though, too many outfits go overboard, and empower standards groups beyond all reason. The first question you need to ask yourself is this:

Is this helping the customer (internal or external) get their solution sooner?

If the answer is no, then you probably have a problem on your hands.

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