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Enterprise architecture is a process that enables organizations to standardize and organize the IT infrastructure to align with business goals. The following strategies can be used to support the digital transformation of enterprises, the development of IT and the modernization of IT departments.

What is enterprise architecture?

Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a practice of analyzing, designing, planning, and implementing enterprise analysis to successfully implement business strategies. EA is used to help enterprises build IT projects and strategies to achieve desired business results, and to use architectural principles and practices to understand industry trends and the risk of disruption, a process also known as enterprise architecture planning (enterprise architecture planning, EAP).

EA began in the 1960s and, according to the Enterprise Architecture knowledge Manual (EABOK), was born from "various architecture manuscripts on business system planning written by Professor Dewey Walker". John Zachmann, one of Walker's students, helped make these documents into a more structured EA format. During this time, both men have worked at IBM, and Zachman published the framework in the journal IBM Systems in 1987.

The emergence of the EA framework is a response to the growth of business technology, especially in the 1980s, when computer systems were just gaining a foothold in the workplace. Companies soon realized that they needed a plan and a long-term strategy to support the rapid growth of technology, which is still the case today.

Modern EA strategies extend this concept to the entire business, not just IT, to ensure that the business is consistent with digital transformation strategies and technology growth. EA is particularly useful for large enterprises undergoing a digital transformation because it focuses on integrating legacy processes and applications to create a more seamless environment.

Goals of Enterprise Architectur

EA is guided by the business needs of the organization and can be used to plan how information, business, and technology flow together. This has become a priority for new technology companies trying to keep up with cloud computing, the Internet of things, machine learning and other new technology companies that will drive the digital transformation in the future.

"the framework successfully combines people, data and technology to provide a comprehensive view of the interrelationships within the information technology organization," says EABOK.

This process is driven by a "comprehensive understanding of the entire enterprise from the perspective of owners, designers and builders". Unlike other frameworks, it does not contain a formal document structure; instead, according to EABOK, it is designed to provide a more comprehensive enterprise perspective.

A good EAP strategy takes into account the latest innovations in business processes, organizational structure, information systems and technology. It will also include standard languages and best practices for business processes, including the analysis of processes that can be integrated or eliminated throughout the organization. The ultimate goal of any EAP strategy is to improve the efficiency, timeliness and reliability of business information.

Benefits of Enterprise Architectur

EA can provide support for business redesign and restructuring, especially during major organizational changes, mergers, or acquisitions. This also helps to improve consistency through standardization and integration processes, thereby bringing more discipline to the organization.

EA can also be used for system development, IT management, decision-making, and IT risk management to eliminate errors, system failures, and security violations. It can also help enterprises navigate complex IT structures or make it easier for other business units to access IT.

According to CompTIA, the biggest benefits of EAP include:

● allows more open collaboration between IT and business units

● enables companies to prioritize their investments

● makes it easier to evaluate existing architectures based on long-term goals

● establishes a process for evaluation and procurement technology

● provides a comprehensive view of the IT architecture for all business units except IT

● provides a benchmark framework to compare results with other organizations or standards

Enterprise architecture methodology

Enterprise architecture can be vague as a framework because it is designed to solve the problems of the entire organization, not individual needs, problems, or business units. Therefore, there are several specific frameworks that can help companies implement and track EAP effectively.

● Open organizational Architecture Framework (TOGAF): TOGAF provides principles for designing, planning, implementing, and managing enterprise IT architectures. The TOGAF framework helps enterprises create a standardized EA approach that includes common vocabulary, recommendations, compliance methods, recommendation tools and software, and ways to define best practices. The TOGAF framework is widely popular as an enterprise architect framework, and according to Open Group, it has been adopted by more than 80% of the world's leading enterprises.

● Zachman Enterprise Architecture Framework: the Zachman framework, named after one of the original founders of enterprise architecture, is another popular EA approach. From CompTIA's point of view, it is better understood as a "taxonomy" that covers six architectural focuses and six key stakeholders to help standardize and define IT architectural components and outputs.

● Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF): FEAF was launched in 1996 in response to the Clinger-Cohen Act, which introduced authorization for the effectiveness of federal agencies IT. It is designed for the United States government, but it also applies to private companies that want to use the framework.

● Gartner: after acquiring Meta Group in 2005, Gartner established an EAP best practice and incorporated it into the company's general consulting practice. Although it is not a separate framework, CompTIA sees it as a "practical" approach that focuses on achieving business results through "a few clear steps or components".

These are just the four most frequently cited and approved EA methods, but there are others. For example, there are also the European Space Agency Architecture Framework (ESAAF), the Ministry of Defense Architecture Framework (MODAF) and the SAP Enterprise Architecture Framework. These frameworks are specific to a single industry or product and are more targeted than the more common EA approaches listed above.

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