Enterprise Architecture Vision Report

Simply stated, an enterprise architecture (EA) shows components of an enterprise, what do they do, and how do they interface/interact with each other. This seems simple enough. The term "enterprise architecture was introduced by Zachman as a way to document the technology attributes of an organization. Modifications and extensions of Zachman's model have included the Department of Defense Architectural Framework (DoDAF), the Open Group Architectural Framework (TOGAF), the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF), and more.

TOGAF Aligned Reports The reports generated by the system could as well be viewed using the TOGAF ADM (Architecture Development Model). Click Here to open

FEAF Aligned Reports The reports generated by the system could as well be viewed using the FEAF Common approach esential artifacts. Click Here to open

Whatever the definition, EA is a consolidation of business and technology that can be of great value to the corporate management as well as CIOs. Figure 1 shows a conceptual view of an EA and its benefits in terms of four broad categories (planning, integration, security, and administration.

Figure 1: Conceptual View of an Enterprise Architecture and its Benefits

The following checklist can be used as requirements to be satisfied by the EA produced by you: 

• Aligns IT to business and leads to integration of business and technical processes. 
• Facilitates the CIO's performance and supports the deliverables by the CIO and the IT organization.  
• Reveals gaps and duplication support impact analysis
• Documents the present method of operation (PMO) as well as the future method of operation (FMO). 
• Helps in evaluation of the quality of IT services and return on investment (ROI) from IT

The framework, shown below, attempts to satisfy these requirements and includes best practices in several disciplines that span the following major areas:

• Enterprise architecture that consists of business architecture, application architecture and technology architecture
• Management architecture that consists of different centers (e.g., cyber-security center, project management net center, integration center, etc)

This framework is largely based on the The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF -- www.opengroup.org/togaf/) and the E-Gov Enterprise Architecture Guidance (www.cio.gov/documents/E-Gov_Guidance_July_25_Final_Draft_2_0a.pdf). proposed in the literature over the years.  

The SPACE Planner constructs the following components of the enterprise architecture through a series of sub-steps:

• High level of the business architecture by showing the business processes needed to deploy and support this service
• High level application architecture by identifying the application software needed and the best strategies to use the software, i.e., buy, rent, outsource-development, develop-inhouse, extend-existing (BRODE)
• Key elements of technologies by showing the computing platforms support (middleware services, Web technologies, utilities) and the network services needed (wired, wireless) to support the deployment of needed services.

The SPACE Planner also constructs the following components of the management architecture:

• Cyber Security Center services needed for successful deployment
• Business continuity planning needed for disaster recovery
• Concepts of Project Management Office and its role in project management.
• The overall governance needed for this service
• Interoperability and integration issues
• Total cost of ownership (TCO) and total time to implement (TTI)