Enterprise Architecture Methods and Frameworks

title

Enterprise Architecture Methods and Frameworks

author

Bernard Szlachta (bs@NobleProg.co.uk)

Framework and Methodologies ⌘

• Architecture Frameworks structure architecture description
• It can prescribe views and viewpoints
• Can suggest or enforce specific language

• Architecture Methodology is a structure collection of techniques and processes
• Methodologies usually are more restrictive than frameworks
• They specify processes for creating and maintaining an EA

RUP ⌘

• IBM RUP although heavy, is considered iterative and Agile (as oppose to waterfall)
• Enterprise Unified Process extends RUP in the area of system support and system retirement
• It is still mostly focus on Software Development, Rational Software Architect supports EA modelling extensions

UN/CEFACT ⌘

• UN/CEFACT's Modeling Methodology (aka UMM)
• Developed by UN/CEFACT - United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business
• Capture business requirements of inter-organizational business processes
• The UMM model can then be used to derive deployment artifacts for the IT systems of the participating business partners
• Restricted to business operations (technology independent)

ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2011 ⌘

• "ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2011 addresses the creation, analysis and sustainment of architectures of systems through the use of architecture descriptions"
• "A conceptual model of architecture description is established."
• "The required contents of an architecture description are specified."
• "Architecture viewpoints, architecture frameworks and architecture description languages are introduced for codifying conventions and common practices of architecture description."
• "The required content of architecture viewpoints, architecture frameworks and architecture description languages is specified."
• http://standards.ieee.org/findstds/standard/42010-2011.html

• Supersedes IEEE 1471
• Clearly separates Architectures and Architecture Descriptions

Definitions ⌘

• Architecting: process of conceiving, defining, expressing, documenting, communicating, certifying proper implementation of, maintaining and improving an architecture throughout a system’s life cycle
• Architecture: fundamental concepts or properties of a system in its environment embodied in its elements, relationships, and in the principles of its design and evolution
• Architecture description (abbreviation 'AD'): work product used to express an architecture
• Architecture description language (abbreviation 'ADL'): any form of expression for use in architecture descriptions
• Architecture framework: conventions, principles and practices for the description of architectures established within a specific domain of application and/or community of stakeholders
• Architecture viewpoint: work product establishing the conventions for the construction, interpretation and use of architecture views to frame specific system concerns
• Architecture view: work product expressing the architecture of a system from the perspective of specific system concerns
• Concern: interest in a system relevant to one or more of its stakeholders
• Stakeholder: individual, team, organization, or classes thereof, having an interest in a system

Zachman Framework ⌘

• Created by John zachman in 1987
• First comprehensive EA framework
• Limited practical applicability
• Enterprise Architecture framework for enterprise
• Provides a formal and structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise
• It consists of a two dimensional classification matrix based on the intersection of six communication questions (What, Where, When, Why, Who and How) with six rows according to reification transformations
• It does not imply any specific method or process (pure framework)

UAF

• OMG standard
• derived from UPDM

TOGAF® ⌘

• Developed by The Open Group
• EA Framework + Methodology: Architecture Development Method (ADM)
• Provides a comprehensive approach for designing, planning, implementation, and governance of an enterprise information architecture
• Typically modelled at four levels:
  • Business, Application,
  • Data,
  • Technology

• Latest Enterprise Edition release 9.1 (2011)
• TOGAF taxonomy of views is compliant with the IEEE standard

OMG MDA⌘

• Model-Driven Architecture
• Released by OMG in 2001
• Latest version released in 2003 (some frameworks where still developed as to the 2008 http://www.andromda.org)
• Idea is that the model stays the same, and the software is generated from the model using the newest technologies available
• This allows for seamless migration from a technology to new technology
• Though the standard itself is not actively developed, the idea of Model-Driven Architecture is still developing for example in case of BPMN and BPMNS (jBPM, Intalio, etc...)

SOA ⌘

see SOA materials

Category:SOA

Military Related Frameworks ⌘

• Nato Architecture Framework
• MoDAF
• DoDAF
• UPDM

US Government Frameworks ⌘

• FEAF
• FEA
• FEAPMO
• Treasury Architecture Development Process

Other Frameworks ⌘

• RM-0ODP
• GERAM
• Nolan Norton Framework