1a - Introduction + Roger Sessions article

Question 1

Which four architectural models exist?

Answer 1

• Business Architecture
• Information architecture
• Application architecture
• Technology architecture

Question 2

What entails Business Architecture?

Answer 2

the business mission, strategy, line of business, organization structure, business process models, functions etc.

Question 3

What entails information architecture?

Answer 3

defines what information needs to be made available to accomplish the mission, to whom, and how.

Question 4

What entails application / functional architecture?

Answer 4

application portfolio required to support the mission and information needs

Question 5

What entails technology architecture?

Answer 5

technology services needed to support the application portfolio. Also documents software, hardware & network product standards.

Question 6

What are some of the main (historic) challenges to (enterprise) architecture?

Answer 6

• IT increasing complexity
• IT increasing migration speed
• increasing business complexity
• increasing business transformation speed
• 2022: security by design

Question 7

What are the core components of EA?

Answer 7

• As-is (IST)
• To-be (SOLL)
• Migration plan
• Principles (guidelines, like ‘buy not build’)
• Decisions log

Question 8

Three key questions in EA?

Answer 8

What do we model?
How do we model?
Why do we model

(and who is we in a firm?)

Question 9

What are the top 4 EA methodologies according to Roger Sessions?

Answer 9

• Zachman Framework
• TOGAF
• FEA
• Gartner

Question 10

What is EA in the Zachman framework?

Answer 10

EA as a set of models (framework).

It is a taxonomy of related models for different stakeholders & aspects.

Question 11

What is EA in TOGAF?

Answer 11

EA as a method for change (process).
It consists of 4 architectures (business, application, data, technical), and an Architecture Development Methodology. ADM uses the As Is, the firm’s strategy and Industry (reference) architectures

Question 12

What is EA in FEA?

Answer 12

EA as a method for change.

An extensive, USA-based method to assess business value of (existing) EA implementation.

Question 13

What is EA according to Gartner?

Answer 13

EA as a method for change.

It can be best described as an EA practice, or to be seen as a consulting party.

Question 14

What is the responsibility of an enterprise architect?

Answer 14

Developing the overall architectural vision for an organization. The architect specializes in the broadest possible view of architecture within the enterprise. He is responsible for coordinating the work of all other architects.

Question 15

What is an Architectural artifact?

Answer 15

A specific document, report, analysis, model, or other tangible that contributes to an architectural description.

Question 16

What is an Architectural description?

Answer 16

A collection of products/artifacts to document an architecture.

Question 17

What is an Architectural framework?

Answer 17

A skeletal structure defining artifacts and describes how those artifacts are related to each other, and provides general definitions for what those artifacts may look like.

Question 18

What is an Architectural process?

Answer 18

A defined series of action directed to the goal of producing either an architecture or an architectural description.

Question 19

What is an Architectural taxonomy?

Answer 19

A methodology for organizing and categorizing architectural artifacts.

Question 20

What is an Architecture?

Answer 20

The fundamental organization of a system embodied in its components, their relationship to each other, and to the environment, and the principles guiding its design and evolution.

Question 21

What is EA?

Answer 21

An architecture in which the system in question is the whole enterprise, especially the business processes, technologies, and information systems of the enterprise.

Question 22

The Zachman framework describes a taxonomy using a 2-dimensional organization. What are they?

Answer 22

1. The different players in the game. Each demands different definitions of ‘completeness’.
2. The descriptive focus of the artifact: the 6 questions.

Question 23

What are the 6 questions describing the descriptive focus of an artifact, according to the Zachman framework?

Answer 23

What, how, where, who, when, why.

Data, function, network, people, time, motivation.

Question 24

What are the 6 player perspectives in the Zachman framework?

Answer 24

Planner, owner, designer, building, subcontractor, enterprise.

Question 25

What is ADM?

Answer 25

Architecture Development Method, from TOGAF. It is a recipe (process) for creating architecture.

Question 26

How does TOGAF complement Zachman?

Answer 26

Zachman is a taxonomy and tells you how to categorize your artifacts, whereas TOGAF gives you a process for creating them.

Question 27

What is the Enterprise Continuum in TOGAF?

Answer 27

They view EA as a continuum of architectures, ranging from highly generic to highly specific views.

Question 28

What are the four architectures in the Enterprise Continuum, according to TOGAF?

Answer 28

• Foundation Architectures: principles that can theoretically be used by any IT organization.
• Common System Architectures: principles that can be expected in many types of enterprises, but not all.
• Industry Architectures: principles specific across many enterprises within the same domain.
• Organizational Architectures: architectures that are specific to a given enterprise.