Enterprise Architecture as a Decision-Making Framework

Enterprise Architecture as a Decision-Making FrameworkSEARCH Symposium SOA WorkshopWashington, DCMarch 12, 2006Scott CameChief Enterprise ArchitectWashington Department of Information Servicesscottca@dis.wa.gov(360) 902-3519What is Enterprise Architecture?Tool that informs and guides technology decision-makingPlanning decisionsInvestment decisionsSolution Design decisionsTool consists of principles, policies, standards, guidelines, processes, reference models/architectures—anything that can help us make better decisions!Why the focus on decisions?Decisions move us from the “as-is” to the “to-be”, one frequent step at a timeWe want to make our decision-making as effective as possibleFocus on decisions makes EA action-oriented, real, and practical…rather than theoreticalValue of Enterprise ArchitectureEA promotes decisions that:Align plans and investments with business priorities and needsResult in more citizen-friendly, integrated servicesPromote a more efficient IT infrastructureFacilitate cross-organizational sharing of enterprise informationRecognize innovations and best practices from across the enterpriseAre more consistent and predictableTrace back to principles and rulesEA FrameworksHelp organize the elements we build to support decisions (the principles, policies, standards, reference models, etc.)Easier to include new elementsEasier to find existing elementsPromote reuse of architectural best practicesExamples: NASCIO, TOGAF, Zachman, Federal EANASCIO Framework (simplified)BusinessArchitectureInformationArchitectureTechnologyArchitectureSolution ArchitectureOver-arching Principles, Drivers, TrendsDocumentReviewCommunicationComplianceVitalityRoles:•Approver•Reviewer•Documenter•Champion•Manager•etc.Add: ReferenceArchitecturesReference SOAIntegration:EA, SOA, and Information SharingBusinessArchitectureInformationArchitectureTechnologyArchitectureSolution ArchitecturePrinciplesEnvironmental TrendsBusiness DriversService Interaction Profile GuidelinesService Interaction ProfilesService Interaction RequirementsMessage Exchange PatternsMessagesService InterfacesServicesService ConsumersReal-World EffectsCapabilitiesVisibilityExecution ContextInteractionOrchestration MechanismsTransformersEdge CapabilitiesRoutersOrchestrationsare types ofproduceprovide access touseseekprovide access toare the means ofdepends onleverage information contained incan be supported bycomposeaccomplished by exchange ofis described byare composed ofInterface Description RequirementsPolicies and Contractsstructure and content determined byconstrain use of orexpected result of usingguide design anddescription ofMessage Definition Mechanismsgovern content ofrequire support fordefine interoperableimplementations ofdefine common rules ofenables and determines essential aspects ofcan be implemented bycan constrainact asEnterprise Integration Patternsidentify commontypes ofcan be described byprovidersystemsRepositorydefine semantics ofhostsassistshostsstandardizeimplementationofcan implementconsumersystemsact asAgreementscan be specified inestablish some requirements forService ModelsInformation ModelBehavior Modelcan contain someDomain Vocabulariesconform to,useconform to, are assembled fromBusiness Process ModelsdefineCommon CapabilitiesFunctionalNon-FunctionalDefine RequirementsDefines ApproachInformation Sharing