Enterprise architecture

The enterprise architecture (Enterprise Architecture) under the Information Technology (IT) describes the interaction of elements of information technology and business activity in the company . It differs from terms such as information architecture or software architecture through the holistic view of the role of information technology in the company. This is often accompanied by a higher degree of abstraction. The corporate strategy or IT strategy is specified and detailed in the corporate architecture initiative. An enterprise architecture initiative always comes from the top management level.

In some cases, the corporate architecture only refers to the key processes and their IT needs. In this case, it is created by management without involving IT. In this case, the development of the strategy and the IT strategy is part of the enterprise architecture development.

Contrary to their name, enterprise architectures are not limited to companies, but are also used by governments and the military .

history

The Zachman Framework is considered the origin of corporate architectures and a model for many corporate architectures . It was published by John Zachman in 1987 . The further development of the corporate architecture was driven primarily by the military and the government of the United States in the following years :

Based on Zachman's considerations, the US Department of Defense developed an enterprise architecture that was presented in 1994 under the name Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management (TAFIM) .

In 1996, the US Congress passed the Clinger-Cohen Act , which obliges all US government agencies to increase the effectiveness of their IT investments. This led to the publication of the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF) in 1999 , which has been further developed into the Federal Enterprise Architecture since 2002 .

The Open Group developed The Open Group Architecture Framework ( TOGAF ) from TAFIM, version 9 of which has been available since February 2009.

definition

So far, there is no generally accepted definition of the term enterprise architecture. Nevertheless, characteristics of an enterprise architecture can be derived from the common features of the definitions. One approach to this is the ISO standard ISO / IEC / IEEE 42010, which defines general requirements for the corporate architecture. In this standard, architecture is understood as a description ( model ) of the basic structure of the parts of a system as well as the relationships between the individual elements. On this basis, a distinction is made between two types of enterprise architecture:

Type 1 architectures deal with the description of the enterprise architecture at a specific point in time (snapshot).
Type 2 architectures focus on the process for further developing the enterprise architecture.

Structure for describing the corporate architecture

The enterprise architecture deals with the business activities of the company and the support of these activities by information technology (IT). The following architecture areas are often considered here:

Business architecture: The business architecture considers the business processes and the business objects of the company. The business process architecture is the result of business process modeling .
Information and data architecture: In the information and data architecture, the data and their relationships, which are required for the implementation of business processes, are identified and described. This takes place in a model and a form of representation that is stable , complete , consistent and understandable for all parties involved (see data model ) . The information architecture represents information, information groups and their information needs. Various roles that have the same information needs (e.g. controller) are summarized under information groups.
Application architecture

These basic architectures can be supplemented by further architectures, depending on the perspective. TOGAF supplements, for example, the security architecture (description of the security processes , security systems and the tasks of the organizational units involved with which the information security suitable for the organization is achieved) and the operating architecture (operation and management of the software, hardware and communication infrastructure).

Process for further development

The structure can be used to represent the current (actual architecture) or a desired future state (target architecture) of the corporate architecture. The further development of the corporate architecture, from the IS to the TARGET, is a cycle. It is related to the ISO 9000 quality process. As a first step, the target architecture is derived from the business and IT strategy. The next step is the planning, conception and implementation of projects for the transformation of the current architecture. The results are then checked. As soon as the business or IT strategy changes, it is necessary to run through the cycle again to update the company architecture. The approaches of the individual Enterprise Architecture Frameworks can be used for further detailing (cf. Architecture Development Method (ADM) from the TOGAF ) .

Results

The results of the enterprise architecture include:

Representation of the corporate architecture in suitable models as part of a holistic corporate image .
Documentation of corporate architecture principles. These are principles at the highest level that determine the main features of the architecture. As few principles as necessary should be used, otherwise the architecture development will be hindered or impossible. The architecture principles do not deal with specific technologies or applications.
Uniform vocabulary for naming the components of the corporate architecture.

aims

A corporate architecture should ensure that corporate IT is aligned with the business goals. It shows the individual architectures and their interrelationships in order to make the complexity manageable. This should make the company's IT more flexible. In addition, IT investments should be better assessed and unnecessary investments avoided. Furthermore, the corporate architecture can be used for training and further education of employees. In the case of mergers and acquisitions in particular - but also when a company is divided into several companies - corporate architectures can provide valuable services and save time and money.

The enterprise architecture process is intended to create value for everyone involved, which unfortunately is not taken into account by many methods. Kluge, Dietzsch and Rosemann provide an approach as to how this realization of value can be measured.

Tools

Enterprise Architecture Frameworks (EAF)

Enterprise Architecture Frameworks support the enterprise architecture. They represent a basis from which a specific corporate architecture can be derived. Depending on the framework, the focus is on the structuring (by describing an architecture reference model) or development (by adding a procedural reference model) of the corporate architecture. These independent EAFs are supplemented in their application by so-called add-on frameworks. The add-on frameworks include, for example, the Department of Defense Joint Technical Architecture (DoD JTA), which supplies standards, interfaces and services that are intended to simplify the flow of information during implementations. The OMB Enterprise Architecture Assessment Framework (EAAF) supports the measurement and evaluation of an enterprise architecture. With the help of the Enterprise Architecture Management Maturity Framework (EAMMF), the enterprise architecture development progress can be classified and monitored.

There are over fifty enterprise architecture frameworks in total.

Programming frameworks are not enterprise architecture frameworks. Programming frameworks support programming and can determine the architecture of an application - but not an enterprise architecture.

There is little reliable information about the use of Enterprise Architecture Frameworks. According to a survey by the Institute For Enterprise Architecture Developments from 2005, the following frameworks are used to a relevant extent in practice:

Zachman Framework : The Zachman Framework was published in 1987 by John Zachman. It is considered one of the most famous frameworks and influenced today's understanding of corporate architectures as well as many later developed enterprise architecture frameworks.

The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) : TOGAF is a framework developed by the Open Group . In essence, it provides a methodology for developing an enterprise architecture. A first version was published in 1995, the current version is 9.2.

US Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF) : The FEAF is a framework that was developed for the US government. Version 1.1 was released in 1999. It defines a structure for the corporate architecture of US authorities and thus enables the development of uniform processes. This is intended to simplify the exchange of information within the authorities.

Extended Enterprise Architecture Framework (E2AF) : E2AF was published in a first version in 2003. It is based on existing frameworks such as FEAF and TOGAF as well as on practical experience from the application of enterprise architecture frameworks.

Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF) : Version 1.5 of the DoDAF dates from 2007. It is used, among other things, for corporate architectures in the US military. It is particularly suitable for large systems with complex integration and communication tasks. Therefore, DoDAF is also used outside the military sector by large authorities and companies.

NATO Architecture Framework (NAF): The NATO Architecture Framework v3 (NAF v3) is the current architecture framework of NATO. NAF v3 regards NATO as a company and thus follows the holistic approach of the company architecture. The previous version, NATO C3 System Architecture Framework v2 (NAF v2) only considered so-called C3 systems. Like NAF v2, NAF v3 is an implementation of the NATO Interoperability Directive (NID). Each NAF v3 architecture should correspond to an architecture type defined in the NID. The NATO C3 Systems Architecture Framework was developed on the basis of the DoDAF and comparable frameworks of other member states of NATO.

Tools

In addition to the Enterprise Architecture Frameworks, Enterprise Architecture Tools also support the enterprise architecture. With their help, the different models of the enterprise architecture can be created and managed. In addition, they enable the coordination of the projects that further develop the corporate architecture. The first enterprise architecture tools emerged in the 1980s as a combination of data modeling and process modeling tools. In the course of time, additional views were added. According to a 2019 study by Forrester Research , the following tools are rated as leaders:

ABACUS (Avolution), Alfabet (Software AG), ADOIT (BOC Group), iServer (Orbus Software), HOPEX (MEGA International) and BiZZdesign Enterprise Studio (BiZZdesign).

The Archi tool, for example, is available as an open source solution .

Most of these tools also support the ArchiMate modeling language , which is maintained as a standard by the Open Group and was specially designed for the modeling of corporate architectures.

In addition to such special solutions, tools for corporate architecture are also used that actually have a different orientation: drawing programs such as Microsoft Visio , UML tools or collaboration software such as wikis .

Governance and enterprise architecture

The corporate architecture developed for the individual company can serve as a communication basis for the various forms of governance in the company, such as B. BPM governance , corporate governance , data governance , IT governance or SOA governance . These different forms of governance also define the roles / responsibilities / decisions within the framework of the enterprise architecture.

Problem

If an enterprise architecture is to be successful, it must always be initiated by top management. At the same time, however, a purely top-down approach is also problematic, as support from the entire organization is just as crucial for success. The establishment of a corporate architecture should therefore rely on a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches. The corporate architecture is created in a long process (often 6-18 months, depending on the company, longer) and does not lead to higher profits in the short term, but to additional effort. A prerequisite for a corporate architecture is a team that develops the corporate architecture full-time. This team must be supported by the cooperation of the other departments. It is unrealistic to create a complete enterprise architecture. This would take years or even decades. Therefore, the company architecture should only represent the relevant areas of the company in a suitable granularity.

With the advent of lightweight and agile processes in IT, enterprise architecture management is sometimes seen as a hindrance, especially when it is done with a lot of bureaucracy and regardless of what is strictly necessary. Therefore, there is the challenge of doing pragmatic architectural work.

literature

S. Aier, C. Riege, R. Winter: Enterprise architecture - literature overview and state of practice. In: Business Informatics. Vol. 50, issue 4, 2008, pp. 292-304. online (PDF, 700kb) . An overview of the state-of-the-art in terms of both practical implementation and the relevant literature.

Sabine Buckl, Alexander Ernst, Josef Lankes, Florian Matthes, Christian Schweda: EAM Pattern Catalog. Web link . The EAM Pattern Catalog was published in March 2008 by the Chair of Computer Science 19 at the Technical University of Munich. He applies the concept of patterns for the documentation of proven solutions to recurring problems in a given context to the management of corporate architectures.

Inge Hanschke: Enterprise Architecture Management - simple and effective. Carl Hanser Verlag , 2011, ISBN 978-3-446-42694-8 .

S. Herden, U. Zenner: Classification of Enterprise Architecture Frameworks (No .: FIN-007-2011). In: Technical Reports of the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. 2011. online (PDF, 2 MB) . ISSN 1869-5078

Dirk Matthes: Enterprise Architecture Frameworks Compendium. Springer Science + Business Media , 2011, ISBN 978-3-642-12954-4 . Weblink Over fifty frameworks for IT management are briefly presented in their respective uses. Then Matthes describes in detail over thirty frameworks available on the market. The focus is on the presentation of the respective framework metamodels with the architecture and procedural reference models offered therein.

G. Riempp, S. Strahringer (Eds.): Enterprise Architectures . (= HMD - Praxis der Wirtschaftsinformatik. Issue 262). 2008, ISBN 978-3-89864-510-2 .

Wolfgang Keller: IT enterprise architecture: From business strategy to optimal IT support. dpunkt , edition: 3rd revised. u. exp. (March 27, 2017), ISBN 978-3864904066

Individual evidence

^ Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, David C. Robertson: Enterprise Architecture as a Strategy. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts 2006, ISBN 1-59139-839-8 .

^ J. Zachman: A framework for information systems architecture ( Memento from January 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: IBM Systems Journal. Vol. 26, No. 3, 1987, pp. 277-293. ( PDF )

↑ J. Löhe, C. Legner: Overcoming implementation challenges in enterprise architecture management: A design theory for architecture-driven IT Management (ADRIMA). In: Information Systems and E-Business Management. 12 (1), 2014, pp. 101-137.

↑ J. Leitel: Development and application of evaluation criteria for enterprise architecture frameworks. Master thesis . Technical University of Munich, Faculty of Computer Science, 2007. Web link (PDF; 1.5 MB) ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2
↑ Ronny Fischer: Organization of the corporate architecture. Development of the organizational structures and processes with special consideration of the design goal of maintaining consistency. Publishing house Dr. Kovač, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8300-3770-5 . (see dissertation University of St. Gallen)
^ C. Kluge, A. Dietzsch, M. Rosemann: How to Realize Corporate Value from Enterprise Architecture. In: Conference Proceedings of the 14th European Conference on Information Systems, Göteborg, Sweden. 2006. (PDF; 291 kB)
↑ Dirk Matthes: Enterprise Architecture Frameworks Compendium. Over 50 frameworks for IT management. Springer Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-642-12954-4 .
↑ D. Matthes: EAF included in Springer's Enterprise Architecture Frameworks Compendium. 2011. Weblink (PDF; 16 kB)
^ Institute For Enterprise Architecture Developments: Trends in Enterprise Architecture 2005: How are Organizations Progressing? Weblink (PDF; 2.4 MB)
↑ The Forrester Wave ™: Enterprise Architecture Management Suites, Q1 2019. March 5, 2019, accessed January 1, 2020 .
↑ Wolfgang Keller: IT enterprise architecture: From business strategy to optimal IT support. dpunkt, edition: 3rd revised. u. exp. (March 27, 2017), ISBN 978-3864904066 , pp. 361-362

[1] Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, David C. Robertson: Enterprise Architecture as a Strategy. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts 2006, ISBN 1-59139-839-8 .

[2] J. Zachman: A framework for information systems architecture ( Memento from January 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: IBM Systems Journal. Vol. 26, No. 3, 1987, pp. 277-293. ( PDF )

[3] J. Löhe, C. Legner: Overcoming implementation challenges in enterprise architecture management: A design theory for architecture-driven IT Management (ADRIMA). In: Information Systems and E-Business Management. 12 (1), 2014, pp. 101-137.