Understanding Enterprise Architecture (EA)

• Enterprise Architecture(EA) concept defines the practice of leveraging it to improve alignment between business and IT sectors.
• EA artifacts are essential to enterprise architecture with essential properties.
• Architects play key roles in enterprise architecture practices.
• Architecture function places are in organizations.

What is Enterprise Architecture

• EA is a set of documents (artifacts) describing the organization from business and IT perspectives.
• EA intends to bridge the communication gap between stakeholders in business and IT.
• EA facilitates information systems planning, thereby improving business and IT alignment.
• EA often illustrates business, applications, data, infrastructure and, at times, other areas relevant to business and IT integration, security, etc.

The Essence of Enterprise Architecture

• EA offers effective means to communication, collaboration, and a mutual understanding between various groups.
• Documentation from EA for discussion aids in alleviating communication issues resulting from differing goals of those involved.
• EA is a way to communicate information between business and IT stakeholders in organizations.

EA Documents and Organizational Actors

• For business executives, EA documents explain decision-making and its implications for business strategies.
• For IT executives, EA documents explain decision-making and its implications for IT strategies.
• To business unit managers, EA documents explain the impact of planning decisions on their business processes.
• To IT project teams, EA documents explain decision-making for IT projects.
• To third parties, EA documents explain decision-making for specific contracts.

EA as an Instrument for Communication

• EA facilitates business and IT alignment.
• It enables effective coordination of strategic management and projects.
• EA involves all actors in IT systems decision-making and implementation.

Specifics of Enterprise Architecture

• EA has little in common with building architecture.
• Organizations are dynamic socio-technical systems that are not built through engineering.
• Organizations evolve over a period as entities that are complex, organic, and living.
• EA is a pragmatic set of descriptions used to manage the evolution of organizations.
• The term “enterprise architecture” is purely metaphorical, acting as an umbrella term used for information systems planning.

Domains of Enterprise Architecture

• EA commonly encompasses EA domains, including:
• Business domains cover customers, capabilities, processes, roles, etc.
• Applications domains cover programs, systems, custom software, vendor products, etc.
• Data domains cover entities, structures, sources, etc.
• Integration domains cover interfaces, connections, interaction protocols, integration platforms, etc.
• Infrastructure domains cover hardware, servers, operating systems, networks, etc.
• Security domains cover firewalls, authentication mechanisms, identity and access management systems, encryption, etc.

EA Domains as a Stack

• Common EA domains are multilayered stacks where the lower layer support the top which include:
• Applications automate business processes.
• Data is used by applications.
• Integration links all applications and data.
• Infrastructure hosts all applications, databases, and integration platforms.
• Security permeates all EA domains.
• Business domains are non-technical, whereas other EA domains are technical domains related to technologies.

Enabling and Supporting EA Domains

• All EA domains may be used to separate business-enabling domains and business-supporting domains.
• Business-enabling EA domains take up the top layers, which represent practical domains.
• These domains are relevant to business stakeholders, defining core functional IT systems.
• Business-supporting EA domains take up the layers, which represent non-functional domains.
• These domains are irrelevant to business stakeholders, unrelated to business functionality in IT systems.

An EA Practice and Organization

• EA practice is integral to any organizational organism.
• EA practice integrate with organizational processes with strategic management and project management.
• EA practice translates abstract business considerations into designs, implementing these considerations.

An EA Practice and Other Processes

• The strategic managements takes information external to an environment as input that gives abstract business considerations.
• The EA practice takes these abstract considerations and produces specific implementable designs of IT solutions.
• Project management takes these implementable designs and forms IT solutions through these designs.
• These processes should be streamlined with constant feedback.

The Position of an EA Practice

• An EA practice enables coordination of decision-making and implementation of IT systems.
• An EA practice serves as a mediator between strategic management and project management.

Enterprise Architecture Artifacts

• EA artifacts are separate documents constituting enterprise architecture.
• EA artifacts provide descriptions of organizations for strategic decision-making and IT implementation.
• EA practice implies utilizing specific EA artifacts for improving communication
• EA artifacts are very diverse in information, details, meanings and lifecycles.

Informational Contents of EA Artifacts

• EA artifacts can have different:
  • Representation formats from textual to images.
  • Levels of detail with various abstractions.
  • Organizational scopes, ranging from organizations to IT projects.
  • EA domains that pertain to business, applications, data, integration, infrastructure, and security.
  • Temporal states such as the current state, future state (<1 year), mid-term (2-3 years) and long-term (3-5 years) etc.

Duality of EA Artifacts

• Duality of EA artifacts implies it serves information needs in a convenient format to both audiences.
• Duality uses EA artifacts for communication.
• Explicit duality occurs when EA artifacts serve different groups.
• Implicit duality occurs when the same parts are interpreted differently.

Two Meanings of EA Artifacts

• All EA artifacts are separated into decisions EA artifacts and facts EA artifacts.
• Decisions EA artifacts represent planning made involving various stakeholders regarding the future
• Facts EA artifacts documented i.e. reflections of the current situation of organization.

Decisions EA Artifacts

• EA artifacts can define
  • How an organization works from IT perspectives.
  • IT dollars investment of an organization.
  • How particular IT solutions should be implemented.
• They always have certain implications on the future.
• These EA artifacts are updated by all involved stakeholders.
• After approval by stakeholders, all should comply with these decisions.
• All EA artifacts describing futures are considered decisions EA artifacts.

Facts EA Artifacts

• EA artifacts document:
  • Technologies within an IT landscape.
  • IT assets possessed, run and maintained.
  • Existing IT systems and database interconnections.
• They have no implications on the future.
• Artifacts are updated by specific actors.
• Created facts can be used by actors referencing for planning.
• EA artifacts describing the current state can be considered as facts.

Two Lifecycles of EA Artifacts

• All EA artifacts are separated into permanent EA artifacts and temporary EA artifacts.
• Permanent EA Artifacts exist for many years.
• Temporary EA Artifacts are short-lived, ranging from months or weeks.

Permanent EA Artifacts

• The artifacts undergo changes in business environments.
• They evolve together and are updated with ongoing changes.
• After development, they are maintained and discarded if irrelevant.
• IT initiatives tend to be permanent EA artifacts.

Temporary EA Artifacts

• Temporary EA artifacts are disposable.
• They are created immediately for purposes.
• Update is not needed due to its lifespan.
• These artifacts cover scopes such as IT projects.

The Role of Architects in an EA Practice

• The key actors of EA practice are architects.
• Architects act as IT planners.
• Ideal architects are effective communicators, team players and innovators with IT knowledge.
• Architects find optimal IT strategies to IT solutions and business needs.

General Responsibilities of Architects

• Architects should be able to:
  • Communicate with business and IT stakeholders and understand concerns
  • Facilitate the conversation between stakeholders
  • Consider planning decisions that satisfy stakeholders
  • Update EA artifacts relating to agreements made
  • Maintain a repository of EA artifacts
  • Streamline EA-related processes

Architects as Developers of EA Artifacts

• Architects drive development and updates for EA artifacts.
• The typical process varies significantly for decision EA artifacts and facts EA artifacts.

Developing Decisions EA Artifacts

• The development of decisions EA artifacts is tricky.
• Decisions EA artifacts are collaboratively developed.
• EA artifacts is key to IT planning.
• Architects serve as facilitators, as decisions EA artifacts come from collective teamwork.
• Artifacts created normally act in a proactive manner.

Developing Facts EA Artifacts

• Facts EA artifacts are streamlined processes.
• Artefacts may be developed solely but require minimal involvement.
• Artifacts are often in a reactive manner.

Architecture Functions in Organizations

• Architecture is implemented by an architecture function.
• An organization function separates reports to the CIO for organization-wide IT planning.
• An architecture function is a planning subunit.
• The key roles of architecture function is to support primary activities e.g. product and sales.

Architecture Functions and Architects

• All employed architects reside in their architecture roles.
• An architecture function consists of types of architects and architecture managers.
• Architects focus on EA domains and scopes.
• Architects include chief architects, enterprise architects, and more
• Include architecture governance bodies