Affiliate of The Open Group joins with GEAO; the merged organization will focus on advancing enterprise architecture Two industry organizations focused on enterprise architecture have merged.The Association of Open Group Enterprise Architects (AOGEA), an affiliate of The Open Group, has merged with the Global Enterprise Architecture Organization (GEAO), the two groups announced this week.The merged organization now has more than 9,000 members in 72 countries and will focus on advancing enterprise architecture, such as SOA, by helping to develop standards of “excellence and ethics” for members, according to a statement from the groups. [ Earlier this month, The Open Group upgraded its enterprise architecture offering. ]“From my point of view, there are a lot of complementary strengths in both organizations,” said Allan Brown, president and CEO of The Open Group.While GEAO has more businesspeople who use IT, AOGEA members tend to be enterprise architects who are more IT-focused. The Open Group has sponsored TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework), which has been used by more than 60 percent of Fortune 50 and 80 percent of global Forbes 50 companies, according to The Open Group. “I see [the merger] as the maturing of the profession and starting to add much more of the business goals to the profession,” Brown said.GEOA will get access to a huge base of members from The Open Group, said Ben Ponne, GEAO president.Although GEOA becomes part of AOGEA, both organizations will retain their names for the foreseeable future and retain their identity. Software DevelopmentTechnology IndustrySmall and Medium Business