This chapter provides an understanding of enterprise architecture in action. We provide planning guidelines for developing organizational enterprise architecture and governance that is associated with it. Further details are then provided on developing an organization’s architecture, and how we can define the enterprise’s current and future state. We discuss net-centric enterprise architecture principles and discuss DoD integrated architecture views according to the current DoDAF that includes the System View, Operational View and Technical Standards View. The last section acknowledges that having enterprise architecture qualifies as a Net-Ready Key Performance Parameter, and then discusses how document an NR-KPP should be documented.
TopChapter Content
As you explore Chapter 9, it will cover the following topics:
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An Understanding of Enterprise Architecture
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Developing the Organization’s EA
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EA Planning Guidelines
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Defining the EA Current and Future State
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Net-Centric Enterprise Architecture
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Integrated DoD EA Views
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Guidance for Net-Ready Key Performance Parameters
TopAn Understanding Of Enterprise Architecture
The practice of developing, implementing, and managing an Enterprise Architecture (EA) is recognized by both private and public organizations as critical to accomplishing organizational goals. Within the federal government, the topic of managing and planning business and technology resources was first addressed within the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996, which is better known as the Clinger-Cohen Act. The Clinger-Cohen Act mandates that federal agencies consider creating an enterprise architecture framework upon which to assess their information technology investments. The E-Government (E-Gov) Act of 2002 then gave broad EA oversight responsibilities to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) which then placed EA mandates for each federal agency as part of their yearly federal budget submissions.
Successful enterprises use an EA to provide a clear and comprehensive picture of how the organization operates today, how it plans to operate in the future, and how it plans to transition to its future state. For any large organization, the preparation of an EA is critical to leveraging Information Technology (IT) in support of business objectives, particularly for organizational transformation initiatives. When used in conjunction with other important IT management controls such as portfolio-based capital planning and investment control practices, an EA can greatly increase the likelihood that an organization’s business and IT environments will be effectively integrated so as to optimize the performance of the organization.
An EA helps an organization to recognize and balance the trade-offs between:
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satisfying immediate operational needs,
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and positioning the organization to achieve its longer-term strategic goals.
Here are a set of four precepts that help you understand the structure of an EA within the organization:
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It is best recognize that EA addresses both business and technology needs.
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Planning initiatives recognize that business planning drives the need for automation, which drives the need for information technology infrastructure.
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In preparing the architecture for the enterprise, both the current state and the desired end state EA must be understood and documented.
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There has to be an implementation plan put together to move forward from the current state to the target state the sequences the path to the future based on both business and technology elements.