Part 1: Enterprise Architecture for design

Question 1

EA consist of four architectural models, which ones?

Answer 1

1. Business architecture
2. Information architecture (a.k.a. data architecture)
3. Application architecture (a.k.a. functional architecture
4. Technology architecture

Question 2

Describe the business architecture.

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Describe the information architecture (a.k.a. data architecture).

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Describe the application architecture (a.k.a. functional architecture).

Answer 4

Focuses on the application portfolio required to support the business mission and information needs of the organization. At the next level of detail, it addresses the common business components and business services that can be leveraged by multiple applications.

Question 5

Describe the technology architecture.

Answer 5

Defines the technology services needed to support the application portfolio of the business. It also documents the software, hardware, and network product standards.

Question 6

Name the 5 core components of EA.

Answer 6

1. As-is
2. To-be
3. Migration plan
4. Principles
5. Decision Log

Question 7

What means ‘As-is’ as core component of EA?

Answer 7

Describes how processes/organizations/data looks now. The current state assessment of the organization.

Question 8

What means ‘To-be’ as core component of EA?

Answer 8

What it should look like. The future state and, generally, the main focus of en EA assignment.

Question 9

What means the ‘Migration plan’ as core component of EA?

Answer 9

Route from as-is to to-be. Without a viable route from as-is to to-be the architecture has already failed.

Question 10

What means ‘principles’ as core component of EA?

Answer 10

The guidelines for users of the architecture such as ‘buy not build’ or ‘adherence to published data standards’.

Question 11

What means ‘Decision Log’ as core component of EA?

Answer 11

What decisions do you take on principles, migration plan, as-is and to-be when starting to create an EA. Started during the development of the EA but a key part of the ‘living’ architecture.

Question 12

Define EA as a discipline.

Answer 12

EA is a discipline for systematic understanding, planning, aligning and enabling relationships among strategy, business capabilities, information and technology.

Question 13

Define EA as a set of deliverables.

Answer 13

EA document directions and standards on how the organization should be designed and transformed to achieve a desired outcome. These deliverables are then used to govern enterprise transformation.

Question 14

Define EA as a depiction.

Answer 14

EA is a set of integrated models at appropriate levels of abstractions that represent the current and/or future functioning of the organization.

Question 15

Define EA as a management practice.

Answer 15

EAM established, maintains and used a coherent set of guidelines, architecture principles and governance regimes that provide direction for and practical help with the design and the development of an enterprise’s architecture in order to achieve its vision and strategy.

Question 16

What is Enterprise Architecture?

Answer 16

EA is a combination of

• tens to thousand of artifacts (list, tables, and diagrams)
• that describe a business and its systems.

Question 17

What is an Enterprise Architecture Framework?

Answer 17

EA Framework states

• what “artifacts” or what “ types of artifacts” should be created, and
• (sometimes) in what order, and
• (sometimes) by whom

You have a current and future state, and the migration from current to future state.

Question 18

Explain the Zachman Framework

Answer 18

This framework describes the enterprise architecture of an organisation and its systems. Each cell describes what “type of artifacts” should be created.

Question 19

Which columns does the Zachman Framework have?

Answer 19

1. What (the architecture is in terms of data)
2. How (the organization/processes works)
3. Where (it operates)
4. Who (works with it, who does what)
5. When (do things happen)
6. Why (are choices made)

Question 20

Which rows (roles) does the Zachman Framework have?

Answer 20

1. Planner/Executive Perspective: This view describes the business purpose and strategy, which defines the playing field for the other views. It serves as the context within which the other views will be derived and managed
2. Owner/Business Manager Perspective: This is a description of the organization within which the
   information system must function. Analyzing this view reveals which parts of the enterprise can be automated.
3. Designer/Architect Perspective: This view outlines how the system will satisfy the organization’s information needs. The representation is free from solution specific aspects or production specific constraints
4. Builder/Engineer Perspective: This is a representation of how the system will be implemented. It makes specific solutions and technologies apparent and addresses production constraints.
5. Sub-contractor/Technician Perspective:These representations illustrate the implementation-specific details of certain system elements: parts that need further clarification before production can begin. This view is less architecturally significant than the others because it is more concerned with a part of the system than with the whole

Question 21

Give examples of models in the ‘what’ column

Answer 21

1. Planner/Executive Perspective: List of important information and inventory required for business
2. Owner/Business Manager Perspective: Conceptual Data (ER) Model
3. Designer/Architect Perspective: Relational Data Model
4. Builder/Engineer Perspective: Physical Data Model
5. Sub-contractor/Technician Perspective: SQL

Question 22

Give examples of models in the ‘how’ column

Answer 22

1. Planner/Executive Perspective: List of important processes for organization
2. Owner/Business Manager Perspective: Business Use-Case Diagram (bird-view), Business Activity Diagram (details)
3. Designer/Architect Perspective: System Use-Case Diagram (bird-view), System Activity Diagram (details), Flowchart (if language-independent)
4. Builder/Engineer Perspective: Flowchart (if includes language commands)
5. Sub-contractor/Technician Perspective: Program (codes) in C, Pyhton, or Java

Question 23

Give examples of models in the ‘where’ column

Answer 23

1. Planner/Executive Perspective: List of important locations
2. Owner/Business Manager Perspective: Operational Node Connectivity (OV-2)
3. Designer/Architect Perspective: Systems Resource Flow Description (SV-2), 3-tier architecture

Question 24

What are the three rules of the Zachman Framework?

Answer 24

1. Flexibility
2. Consistency
3. Alignment

Question 25

Explain what ‘flexibility’ means regarding the Zachman Framework

Answer 25

There is flexibility in the level of detail for each
cell. For example, in the business perspective of the how column, you can provide an “overview”
via only one “use-case” diagram. Or you can
provide “details” via several “activity
diagrams” (one for each process.), in the architect perspective of the how column. Or you can provide both types of diagrams.

Question 26

Explain what ‘consistency’ means regarding the rows of the Zachman Framework

Answer 26

Cells in columns & rows should be associated. Thus, models in those cells must be consistent with one
another. CRUD matrix is an example for how to integrate cells in a row to have consistent diagrams.

Question 27

Explain what ‘consistency’ means regarding the columns of the Zachman Framework

Answer 27

Consistency in a column ensures operational
alignment between business and IT; that is IT is at the service of business. Example: Aligning information in executive and business rows with data in the next four
rows ensures operational alignment between business and IT.

Question 28

Can you give more rules of the Zachman Framework (Roger Sessions, 2008)?

Answer 28

• Columns have no order
• Each column has a simple, basic model
• The basic model of a column must be unique
• Each row represents a distinct unique perspective
• Each cell is unique
• The total of all cells in one row is a complete model for that actor
• The framework logic can be used to describe any creation/building

Question 29

What are some limitations of the Zachman Framework?

Answer 29

• Each artifact ‘lives’ in one cell
• A complete architecture requires every cell to be populated
• Cells in columns & rows should be associated

Question 30

What value can Enterprise Architecture bring (5 things)?

Answer 30

• Clarifying the relationship between business and IT
• Cost avoidance and reduction by leveraging existing investment and reducing duplication and waste
• Shortened development and deployment time reducing time to market
• Reduced support and maintenance cost, including learning and support staff
• Some intangible things - such as common principles between business and IT; open discussion of issues; common language; technology inventory

Question 31

What is the design debt?

Answer 31

Technical debt/design debt is “a concept in programming that reflects the extra development work that arises when code that is easy to implement in the short run is used instead of applying the best overall solution”.

Question 32

What is the architectural debt?

Answer 32

The architectural debt that is accumulated by applying a quick fix without proper refactoring. The theory being that a system’s complexity increases non linearly each time a quick fix is applied.

Question 33

What are the Top Four Enterprise Architecture Methodologies (by Roger Sessions)?

Answer 33

• Zachman framework: a taxonomy of related models for different stakeholders and aspects (next lecture)
• TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework): four architectures (business, application, data, technical) and Architecture Development Methodology (ADM) to develop the EA for a firm using the current
  (As Is) EA of the firm, the firm strategy, and Industry (Reference) Architectures
• FEA (Federal Enterprise Architecture): an extensive (USA based) EA method including a taxonomy, a process, a series of models (including reference models, ‘as is’ and target (‘to be’) models), a migration path, EA maturity levels, and success indicators to assess business value of EA
• Gartner (‘business consulting – EA practice’)