Enterprise architecture (EA)
Enterprise architecture (EA) is a strategic framework aimed at planning, implementing, coordinating, and managing the technology and information systems within an organization. It plays a critical role in aligning technology with business objectives and ensuring that various corporate disciplines—such as communication, security, development, and maintenance—work cohesively. The concept, first articulated by John Zachman in the 1980s, emphasizes the need for a structured approach to integrate different areas of a business, enabling parts of the organization to evolve independently without necessitating widespread changes across the entire system.
EA is particularly vital in today’s rapidly changing technological landscape, as it allows companies to avoid being locked into specific technologies, enabling more agile responses to evolving business needs. The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a key part of establishing an effective enterprise architecture, guiding organizations through assessing current systems, planning for future needs, and implementing changes. While proponents advocate for EA as essential for organizational success, critics argue that it can slow down innovation and adaptation, likening businesses to living organisms that require more fluidity than rigid structures. This ongoing debate highlights the varying perspectives on the role and necessity of enterprise architecture in modern organizations.
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Enterprise architecture (EA)
Enterprise architecture refers to an overall strategy for planning, implementing, coordinating, and managing the control structure of a company or organization. It specifically applies to the information technology used by the company or organization and how this is integrated into its overall function. It encompasses several corporate disciplines, including information technology, communication, security, development, and technical maintenance. Enterprise architecture affects nearly all areas of operations, including policies, programs, procedures, culture, technology, and finances.
Background
The concept of enterprise architecture originated in 1987 with an article in the IBM Systems Journal titled "A Framework for Information Systems Architecture." The article's author, John Zachman, an American businessperson and information technology expert, first began working on the concept in the 1960s. The basic premise came about after Zachman, a marketing account executive with IBM, was asked to help with the integration of three companies that had just joined in what was at the time the largest corporate merger in history. The new corporation, Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), needed a way to combine the infrastructures of the three companies.
With help from Dewey Walker, a colleague from IBM's Information Systems Control and Planning Group, Zachman determined that it was necessary to separate the data that the company needed to function from the processes that used the data. Walker and Zachman worked together until Walker left IBM.
Zachman wanted to find a way to organize a business so that different areas could be integrated yet changed independently. This would mean that changing one area would not require a wholesale change in every other area. For example, he felt it would be important to be able to add a new product without the company having to add new computers and upgrade the phone system. Building on his experience with Walker, Zachman wondered if building an enterprise on a framework, much like an architect designs a building, would be a good way to design a corporate structure.
Zachman contacted several architects who designed buildings and large vehicles and asked for the drawings, descriptions, and engineering specifications that they used in their designs. As he sorted through the information they sent him, Zachman made a discovery. While the details and the final structures were different, the way the architects described the specifications for their designs was very similar. After studying these similarities, Zachman determined that the same structure and descriptions could be applied to companies and organizations, often referred to as enterprises. The method that Zachman devised for organizing enterprises became known as the Zachman framework, or enterprise architecture.
Overview
Zachman believed his framework was the key to avoiding and solving management problems in a company or organization. Enterprise architecture is particularly applicable to the technology side of an operation, including the computers, communications systems, and other support devices, such as smart boards, handheld electronics, and cell phones. Technology changes rapidly. An architecture that does not lock a company into using a particular brand of computer or mobile device provides more flexibility to make changes as business needs change. The enterprise architecture provides this type of flexible framework.
An important step in determining a company's enterprise architecture is the systems development life cycle (SDLC). This multistep process allows the company to assess its needs, determine the feasibility of options, design a system that is practical and meets its needs, implement the system, test it, and maintain and update it as time goes on. The cost of implementing a system means that it is imperative that a company make good choices in designing its architecture.
Some of the steps that are involved in designing an architecture include identifying and assessing what the company currently uses. The goal is to determine the value of the existing system and the potential benefits of a change. If the architecture is for a new company, the architects might look to existing businesses for guidance.
The enterprise architects would then look at the company's goals and objectives, especially any new planned initiatives, to see if and how they will affect and be affected by technology changes. For instance, if a company is planning to increase its delivery service, there might be greater need for mobile technology for drivers. These upcoming goals should be considered as new technology plans are devised.
The next step would be to consider what would happen if the current architecture stays in place and the new goals are implemented. Similarly, the enterprise architects would try to look ahead to see how things will work out with new technology in place. This is a time for envisioning how adding new or different technology could improve and enhance the business. For instance, a company that is equipping sales representatives with laptops and projectors to do presentations may discover that many of their clients' offices have wireless internet and televisions that can be used to stream video. This might allow the company to purchase fewer projectors and put the money saved toward better laptops.
After determining where the company stands and where it wants to be, the next step for the enterprise architects would be to decide the best way to move from one system to another. This involves assessing the resources available for the change and designing a system to make it happen. Once the plan is designed, the architects will supervise the process as the system is built and implemented. They will also be called on to monitor the system once it is in place and to assist with planning and implementing any changes, much like a building architect might be called in to help with remodeling a structure.
While proponents believe any company or large organization would be foolish to try to implement or change a business without an enterprise architecture plan, others feel the concept is not necessary. Those who feel this way say that unlike a building or a plane, a business is similar to a living organism. They believe the time taken up by data analysis, planning, and implementation prevents businesses from keeping up with change.
Bibliography
Bloomberg, Jason. "Is Enterprise Architecture Completely Broken?" Forbes, 11 July 2014, www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbloomberg/2014/07/11/is-enterprise-architecture-completely-broken/#9c4138a2f30c. Accessed 30 Dec. 2022.
Ellinger, Robert S. "The Role and Development of an Enterprise Architect: A Devil's Advocate Perspective." Carnegie Mellon University,May 2009, www.sei.cmu.edu/saturn/2009/images/Developing‗Enterprise‗Architects.pdf. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.
"A Historical Look at Enterprise Architecture with John Zachman." The Open Group, 23 Jan. 2015, blog.opengroup.org/2015/01/23/a-historical-look-at-enterprise-architecture-with-john-zachman/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.
"John A. Zachman: Biographical Sketch." Zachman International Enterprise Architecture,www.zachman.com/about-us/about-john-a-zachman. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.
White, Sarah K. "What is Enterprise Architecture? A Framework for Transformation." CIO, 23 Nov. 2022, www.cio.com/article/222421/what-is-enterprise-architecture-a-framework-for-transformation.html. Accessed 30 Dec. 2022.
"What Is Enterprise Architecture?" Orbus Software, www.orbussoftware.com/resources/videos/togaf-distilled/what-is-enterprise-architecture/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.
"What Is Enterprise Architecture? A Framework for Transformation." CIO, 23 Nov. 2022, www.cio.com/article/222421/what-is-enterprise-architecture-a-framework-for-transformation.html. Accessed 16 Nov. 2024.
Zachman, J.A. "A Framework for Information Systems Architecture." IBM Systems Journal, 1987, domino.research.ibm.com/tchjr/journalindex.nsf/a3807c5b4823c53f85256561006324be/d9d379f60c3859fd85256bfa00685bd7?OpenDocument. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.
Zachman, John A. "The Framework for Enterprise Architecture: Background, Description, and Utility." Zachman International Enterprise Architecture, www.zachman.com/resources/ea-articles-reference/327-the-framework-for-enterprise-architecture-background-description-and-utility-by-john-a-zachman. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.