Applying architecture to an enterprise - Enterprise Architecture
Enterprise architecture (EA) is the representation of the structure and behavior of an enterprise’s IT landscape in relation to its business environment. It reflects the current and future use of IT in the enterprise and provides a roadmap to reach a future state.
The architectural thinking help us understand and manage a complex system:
1. Modeling: provides an abstraction of a complex system for the purpose of understanding it before building or changing it.
2. Visualization: Visualization is the depiction of the architecture model of a complex system, preferably using a formalized and precise notation.
3. Communication: The architecture models and viewpoints provide a mechanism via which to communicate knowledge about the system among system stakeholders, using a common vocabulary.
EA deals with a socio-technical system. This difference is like the difference between a house and a home. A house is a mere structure that provides shelter; a home is a place where a family lives. The people element brings complex behavioral attributes into the functioning of an enterprise in the same way as it turns a house into a home.
Digital Transformation is not about technology, but is actually about a new way of doing business, and a new way of approaching corporate models. As George Westerman states: “When it comes to digital transformation, digital is not the answer. Transformation is”
The challenge for Digital Transformation is still more than 50% of companies lack a digital strategy & transformation roadmap creating a major challenge to overcome.
The Open Group’s Architecture Framework (TOGAF) has developed standards for the kinds of information that might be included in a comprehensive enterprise architecture. The TOGAF Architecture Development Method (ADM) is pictured as following which include:
Preliminary, A - Getting the enterprise Committed and Involved
B, C , D - Getting the architecture Right
E, F - Getting the architecture Work
G, H - Getting the architecture Running
Reference: Collaborative Enterprise Architecture by Stefan Bente, Uwe Bombosch and Shailendra Langade
https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780124159341/collaborative-enterprise-architecture#book-description
Image credit: The Open Group’s Architecture Framework (TOGAF)
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