In the previous installations of this post we looked at the basics of SOA and Cloud Computing. In this concluding post of the 3 part series we will explore the concepts behing Enterprise Architecture.
What is Enterprise ?
Enterprise is a very broad term which not only includes a Organization it can also mean an independent organization unit like a division or department. On the other it can also include the concept of an extended organization to account for third part interactions.
What is architecture ?
Architecture is the fundamental organization of a system, embodied in its components, their relationships to each other and the environment, and the principles governing its design and evolution(described in ANSI/IEEE Std 1471-2000)
What is Enterprise Architecture?
The terms used in IT Industry are not always intuitive Enterprise Architecture is no exception !! (another misleading but interesting term I find is ‘cookies’ !! This is used to denote the session information stored in client browser). If in its conventional sense enterprise means an organization, what does Enterprise Architecture mean?Does it mean a single architecture for the entire organization?Is that really possible because in an organizations there are so many applications build to cater various needs. There is an architecture which exists for a system or for an application or for integration between various applications.What does it mean to have the architecture for an entire organization?
Enterprise architecture doesn’t represent a single entity or a single monolithic architecture but it encompasses various models and architectures of the enterprise ensuring they are aligned towards the organization business strategy.It encompasses the architecture of business functions, applications, business data entities and IT resources of the organization.
In a sense individual architectures fall under the broad spectrum of Enterprise Architecture.It is the primary function of EA to ensure that individual architectures follow a common architecture standard, guidelines, framework and principles.
Enterprise Architecture acts as the bridge between the business needs and its translation into IT artifacts ensuring alignment with business goals and organization strategy.
The following diagram depicts how the EA takes various inputs like Architecture Principles, Frameworks, Business Strategy and come up with the formulation of current architecture and defines the target (future) architecture to meet the business strategy .It also provides a blue print and a road map to achieve the target architecture
As mentioned earlier Enterprise Architecture comprises of various architecture as mentioned below
Business Architecture
Includes a representation of organization business capabilities functions and services.It also includes business governance structure and business elements.
Information Architecture
This is further divided into Application and Data architecture.
Data Architecture
Includes the data,data flow, data function which model the business entities and which are required to support the business functions and services.This also includes the correlation between various data entities ,data categorization and data models.
Application Architecture
The individual applications which implement the desired business functions.This includes both custom developed and COTS application.This also includes all package applications like ERP solutions.
Technology architecture
The complete IT infrastructure required to support the development and deployment of business functions .Includes hardware ,storage architecture and network architecture.
Goals/Benefits of EA
- To facilitate informed decision in decision making process.
- To help in Business IT alignment
- To provide the blue print for change
- To help with management of IT Portfolio
- To support budget prioritization
Enterprise Architecture is always forward looking and guides the organization towards the future.Sometimes it initiates the changes to meet the business strategy while it strives to support the constant changes driven by business needs and external factors.
In a future post we will discuss the relationships between Enterprise Architecture,SOA and EA.
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