July 22, 2008 4:43 PM
Posted by: Anton
Enterprise architectureWhat is the difference between a Solution and an Application? For me there is no difference, as they both exist as a result of some business requirement, they both might consist of programming code (albeit bought or custom written), they very likely need data to be kept somewhere and they both need...
July 20, 2008 7:31 PM
Posted by: Anton
Enterprise architectureLet's briefly examine the role of the "Chief Enterprise Architect". This role, as expected, is a leadership role where the EA programme of developing, maintaining, governing and evolving the architecture, is managed by the Chief EA. The person in this role will benefit from deep experience in...
July 20, 2008 7:30 PM
Posted by: Anton
Enterprise architectureHow are EA teams structured? Many smaller organisations do not even bother with teams, yet have good EA practices in place. In my experience it does help in a large organisation to have some team structure and processes in place to deal with the multitude of interactions with the IT and Business...
July 14, 2008 6:27 PM
Posted by: Anton
Enterprise architectureTalking about roles within EA, there are opnions about the "personality types" suited to the disciplines of EA. Characteristics such as extroversion, introversion, "sensing", intuition, thinking, feeling, judging, perceiving, directive, analytical, conceptual and behavioural have been used. I...
July 14, 2008 6:07 PM
Posted by: Anton
Enterprise architectureWithin an Enterprise Architecture there are, as alluded to earlier, various roles such as that of the Enterprise Architect. Where the EA has an Information point of departure, IT analysts, business analysts and data analysts might focus on business processes and information requirements, creating...
July 10, 2008 6:12 PM
Posted by: Anton
Enterprise architectureBefore exploring the Information domain of EA, here's an interesting thought: What about approaching an EA framework from an Information point of view? One could argue that EA is all about Information, and Paul Sturlis put forward the EIA Framework ("breakdown") as illustrated below. The purely...
July 8, 2008 7:31 PM
Posted by: Anton
Enterprise architectureAs mentioned before, EA starts with the Business and typically EA work should start at the Business level of an EA Framework. Although generally IT people are less concerned with this layer (sadly!!), it is worthwhile making some statements about Business Architecture before we continue with other...
July 5, 2008 8:31 PM
Posted by: Anton
Enterprise architectureWhat is the role of the Enterprise Architect? The enterprise architect must map, define and standardize technology, information and business processes to facilitate the bridging of the gap between business and IT. This means that the architect must have both a macro and micro view: He must...
July 4, 2008 5:07 PM
Posted by: Anton
Enterprise architectureEven the views taken of an IT Solution (i.e. a "System") can benefit from the use of an EA Framework. A solution also has its business, information (data), application and infrastructure aspects that together make up a System. The following diagram illustrates this concept, using the example EA...
