Enterprise Architecture (EA) the design of systems to support change in the enterprise. Another definition is that EA is the process of designing and managing an organization’s structure, systems and processes to achieve its goals. EA aligns the strategy, operations and technology to create a pathway to success. EA provides organizations with timely recommendations for adjusting policies and projects to respond to business opportunities and challenges. Enterprise architecture applies architecture principles and practices.

An effective EA would require enterprise awareness and a thorough business analysis. EA is divided into four parts:

• business architecture
• application architecture
• data architecture
• technical architectures

In other words, the four parts are the business functions, software, data and hardware. Although not formally part of EA, the organization’s environment is also very important.

The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) Guide defines enterprise architecture as a description of an organization’s business processes, computer hardware, computer software, people, operations and projects along with the relationships between them.

Why study EA? EA gives us insights as to why a particular software application is being developed. If we are participating in this project, we want to be able to be sure it is successful. Why does this project exist in our organization? Is there a real need for it who will use it? Is it for our internal processes or are we developing something to sell to outside consumers? Studying EA will help us to ask the right questions.

Have a look at our other post called Enterprise Architecture Frameworks.

Most Significant Challenge

What’s the most significant challenge facing organizations in the 21st century? According to an article by A Common Perspective on Enterprise Architecture Developed and Endorsed by The Federation of Enterprise Architecture Professional Organizations “Poor strategy execution is the most significant management challenge facing public and private organizations in the 21st century according to Gartner (Lapkin & Young, 2011).” The article goes on to say “There are many reasons for the failure of an organization to bring its strategies to life. Escalating complexity and rapid change have made the development and execution of effective strategy increasingly difficult (Kaplan & Norton, 2006). The field of Enterprise Architecture (EA) has rapidly evolved to address these challenges.”

Back to the Definition of EA

The term enterprise can be defined as describing an organizational unit, organization, or collection of organizations that share a set of common goals and collaborate to provide specific products or services to customers. This definition is from the International Institute of Business Analysts, in their publication called Business Analysis Body of Knowledge.

The term architecture refers to fundamental concepts or properties of a system in its environment, embodied in its elements, relationships, and in the principles of its design and evolution.

Enterprise Architecture analyzes the gaps between the future state and the current state, and provides the road maps that support the evolution of the enterprise to the future state by closing the gaps. EA answers the question of the best way to get to where we want to be from where are currently are.

Intersection with Other Disciplines

Wikipedia says: “According to the Federation of EA Professional Organizations (FEAPO), Enterprise Architecture interacts with a wide array of other disciplines commonly found in business settings. According to FEAPO: ‘An Enterprise Architecture practice collaborates with many interconnected disciplines, including performance engineering and management, process engineering and management, IT and enterprise portfolio management, governance and compliance, IT strategic planning, risk analysis, information management, metadata management, and a wide variety of technical disciplines as well as organizational disciplines such as organizational development, transformation, innovation, and learning. Increasingly, many practitioners have stressed the important relationship of Enterprise Architecture with emerging holistic design practices such as design thinking, systems thinking, and user experience design.'”

The next step in our study could be having a look at EA Frameworks.

Learn with YouTube

What is Enterprise Architecture (EA) and why is it important? EA concepts explained in a simple way by Dr. Raj Ramesh.