The Concept Of Enterprise Architecture From Theory To Practice

Even though the field of enterprise architecture (EA) has matured, many organisations still struggle with its development and implementation, particularly those organisations involved in continuous transformational cycles and subjected to different environmental trends. This book is intended to assist organisations in getting a grip on the factors influencing EA implementation and gaining a deeper understanding of why things happen the way they do in the practice of EA. It is a comprehensive and definitive resource that is useful to both business professionals and academics. The book presents an approach for the development, implementation, or institutionalisation of EA that is independent of any method or other architecture frameworks. It can be applied directly using a realistic selection of organizational variables. The approach has two distinctive features that support EA, even in complex environments: From both technical and non-technical perspectives, it identifies influencing factors and how they manifest in the practice of EA in an organization. It offers linear and practical mechanisms for developing and implementing EA to fortify the practice of the concept in an organisation. This approach represents a significant contribution to EA. Starting with descriptions for EA, the book offers deepened models and frameworks for the development and implementation of EA at the domain level. It also covers factors upon which a model is built for the institutionalisation of the concept. Additionally, the book discusses the implications of EA for sponsors, architects, and other stakeholders responsible for EA development, implementation, and institutionalisation.

Based on an extensive study of the actual industry best practices, this book provides a systematic conceptual description of an EA practice and offers practically actionable answers to the key questions related to enterprise architecture.

This book provides practical advice on how to develop an enterprise architecture practice. The authors developed different tools and models to support organizations in implementing and professionalizing an enterprise architecture function. Coverage applies these tools and models to a number of different organizations and, as a result, will help readers avoid potential pitfalls and achieve success with enterprise architecture.

This Enterprise Architecture Good Practices Guide is the "Must Read" primer on theory, terminology, good practices and implementation methods of Enterprise Architectures.

Bridge the gap between theory and reality by implementing real-world examples using the Sparx EA tool and ArchiMate® 3.1 specification to develop sophisticated enterprise architecture models serving every unit in your organization Key Features • Discover the various artifacts that enterprise architects need to develop for stakeholders to make sound decisions • Build a functional enterprise architecture repository that is rich in information, references, and metamodels • Learn how to use Sparx Enterprise Architect from scratch Book Description Most organizations face challenges in defining and achieving evolved enterprise architecture practices, which can be a very lengthy process even if implemented correctly. Developers, for example, can build better solutions only if they receive the necessary design information from architects, and decision-makers can make appropriate changes within the organization only if they know the implications of doing so. The book starts by addressing the problems faced by enterprise architecture practitioners and provides solutions based on an agile approach to enterprise architecture, using ArchiMate® 3.1 as an industry standard and Sparx EA as the modeling tool. You'll learn with the help of a fictional organization that has three business units, each expecting something different from you as the enterprise architect. You'll build the practice, satisfy the different requirements of each business unit, and share the knowledge with others so they can follow your steps. Toward the end, you'll learn how to put the diagrams and the content that you have developed into documents, presentations, and web pages that can be published and shared with any stakeholder. By the end of this book, you'll be able to build a functional enterprise architecture practice that supports every part of your organization. You'll also have developed the necessary skills to populate your enterprise architecture repository with references and artifacts. What you will learn • Discover how enterprise architects can contribute to projects and departments within organizations • Use Sparx Enterprise Architect to build a rich architecture repository • Learn about the ArchiMate® 3.1 specification as you apply it in real-world projects • Use the focused metamodel technique to build the information necessary for maintaining your repository's consistency and accuracy • Understand the importance of keeping architectural artifacts simple yet eye-catching • Define an operational model that fits your initial needs and expands as required Who this book is for This book is for enterprise architects at all architectural layers and practices of any maturity level. Many of the artifacts suggested in this book are inspired by The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF®); however, familiarity with TOGAF® is not required. Whether you work within the business, applications, data, or technology layers, this book covers examples that apply to your work. Although not mandatory, experience modeling in Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect using any modeling language will be helpful. No prior knowledge of ArchiMate® is required to get started with this book.

This book provides a method to plan, develop, validate, or evolve the design of an enterprise architecture function so that it fully meets the organization’s needs. The reader will benefit from this book in two ways. First, it provides a structured overview and orientation to the subject of architecture from an architecture function perspective. Second, it guides through the process of planning, building, and operating your own architecture organization based on a generic architecture function blueprint presented in the form of a pattern language offering a structured means for navigating, contextualizing, combining, and composing the architecture function patterns. The book is structured in six chapters. Chapter 1 “Introduction” explains the starting position and objectives of the book and introduces key concepts that will be explained further in subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 “Architecture Function Pattern Language” introduces the concepts of pattern, pattern catalogue, pattern topology, and ontology and explains how these concepts are combined to form a pattern language for planning, designing, and operating an architecture function. Next, Chapter 3 “Architecture Function – Context“ introduces concepts that are crucial for understanding the challenges that an architecture function faces and presents a generic schema for the business organizations and value chain. Chapter 4 “Architecture Function – Challenge” looks at an architecture function from a black box perspective and outlines the expectations and requirements that companies place on architecture organizations. It discusses the building blocks of an architecture function, the services it provides along the enterprise value chain, and the quality attributes that enterprises expect from their functions. Chapter 5 “Architecture Function – Constitution” then shifts from a black-box perspective to a white-box perspective and outlines the generic design of an architecture function in order to realize functional and quality-related requirements. Chapter 6 “Pattern Catalogue“ eventually introduces the pattern catalogue with a total of 48 architecture function patterns. These patterns suggest designs for collaboration between the architecture function and enterprise organizations, for the elaboration and development of enterprise services along the enterprise value chain, or for aligning architecture governance with enterprise governance. The book is intended for a broad readership, including enterprise, domain, and solution architects, lecturers and students, and anyone else interested in understanding the value proposition, responsibilities, outcomes, methods, and practices of architecture functions. It introduces the basic concepts and theories needed to understand the pattern language presented and the patterns it summarizes.

bull; Written by expert practitioners who have hands-on experience solving real-world problems for large corporations bull; Helps enterprise architects make sense of data, systems, software, services, product lines, methodologies, and much more bull; Provides explanation of theory and implementation with real-world business examples to support key points