What is Enterprise Architecture?

by

John Chi-Zong WuE-main : peaitce@yahoo.com

Website :www.liteea.comDate 1/30/2015

EA is a holistic architecture method.

Presentation Goal

The main goal of this presentation is to propose EA as a holistic architecture approach to overcome the challenge of redundant effort in silo culture.

To clarify the confusion of EA and enable EA to become an emerging paradigm.

To use both part of Left/Right brain, to see the whole and know the parts.

To integrate the Eastern holistic culture and Western atomistic culture by adapting

The philosophy of “Zen” to define EA from the essence of EA goals rather from title of “Enterprise Architecture”

The “Wu-Xing” schema from the Holistic culture in China to support the Organic Enterprise.

It is essential to comprehend this presentation with an open mind and tie your seat belt for a paradigm shift.

The tough question of “What is EA?”

For the EA community, “What is EA?” has been a tough question to answer.

It has been the most popular discussion on many Enterprise Network discussions.

Robert  McIlree have collected the various definition in 2007

Enterprise Architecture Definition Collection – Part I Enterprise Architecture Definition Collection – Part II

And the debate going on without a consensus.

Similar to the story of the blind man and the elephant, every EA experts define EA base on the parts they have touched. They claim:

EA is all about IT because it is initiated in information age.

EA is nothing new but a large scale solution architecture.

EA is about business because the word of enterprise.

EA to architect the Enterprise.

The big elephant of EA

Source : The blind man and the Zoo By: Jenna Hasson

EA is going no where without a consensus on the definition of EA.

Scott Ambler, in Enterprise Architecture: Reality over Rhetoric, says  ”the reality of enterprise architecture is nowhere close to fulfilling some of the rhetoric around it. “

Ian Rowland says in Why Isn’t Enterprise Architecture In The Big Time? “Let’s confess, then, what we really know in our heart of hearts … Enterprise Architecture is a discipline that hasn’t really made it to the big time. If that’s the case, what are the causes? Is EA a rocket that hasn’t got off the launch pad, or a firework that has fizzled? “

EA is going no where without a consensus

The problem is defining EA by the title

Define EA by the title of “Enterprise Architecture” contribute to the confusion of EA .First of all, “Enterprise Architecture” is a weak title. EA has not evolved as expected because of the weak title. Define around the word of “Architecture”

EA as Enterprise wide IT architecture because for the IT oriented EA community, “Architecture” is narrowly defined as “IT architecture”

EA is about understanding all of the different elements that go to make up the enterprise and how those elements interrelate.”

EA to architect the enterprise. Confusion often arises from the evolving nature of the term "enterprise". It is defined as boldness or readiness in undertaking; adventurous spirit; ingenuity or a company organized for commercial purposes; business firm. EA is frequently defined as a business effort.

Define EA based on the goals of EA This presentation adapt the “Zen”

philosophy to define EA by the goals rather than based on touch or presentation.

Zen is a school of Buddhism that developed in China during the 6th century. It emphasizes insight into the essence of a subject instead of chasing after different phenomenon.

Zen and its culture are unique to the East, and until recently the West knew little about them.

Western culture is oriented primarily toward Being; Eastern culture, toward non-Being.

The goals of EA EA was to align IT and business and overcome

the challenge of redundant effort in silo approach, the goals of EA are:

Align IT to Business. To enable enterprise agility in adapting to change via

interoperability, reuse and sharing. Adapting to change.

Define EA to satisfy the EA goals Enterprise Architecture is the holistic

Architecture in contrast to Silo architecture approach to align IT with Business, overcome the challenge of redundant effort.

It is defined as: “Enterprise Architecture is a holistic architecture

method to achieve the EA goal Alignment, Agility and Adaptive via enable common people to see the whole and know the parts. “

“Enterprise” means “the whole”, “Architecture” is the proper arrangement of the parts.

Define EA by title miss the goal of EA

The EA community have defined EA base the title of “Enterprise Architecture”

Microsoft's Michael Platt define “enterprise architecture (EA) is a conceptual blueprint that defines the structure and operation of an organization. The intent of an enterprise architecture is to determine how an organization can most effectively achieve its current and future objectives.

Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, David C. Robertson, Enterprise Architecture As Strategy, Harvard Business School Press, 2006. Posted October 3, 2006. define The enterprise architecture is the organizing logic for business processes and IT infrastructure, reflecting the integration and standardization requirements of the company's operating model.

Define Enterprise Architecture by the title does not fully address the goals of EA to align IT with business, enable enterprise agility via reuse and adapting to change.

EA is more valuable as a method EA is a method rather than an enterprise

blueprint in a big bang approach. EA as a method is more valuable than EA as a

blueprint as said in: "

Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day; teach him how to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime," Anne Isabella Ritchie, in 1885. (phrases.org.uk)

See the whole and know the parts

Holistic Architecture to see the whole and know the parts to use the both part of human brain.

According to the left-brain and right-brain theory by Roger W. Sperry in 1981, the human brain has two very different ways of thinking as shown on the right.

Most people only use one side of their brain, the right brain people see the whole first and left brain people see the parts.

EA as the holistic architecture method is a training for people use both side of their brain to see the whole and also know the parts.

One (the right brain) is visual and processes information in an intuitive and simultaneous way, looking first at the whole picture then the details. The other (the left brain) is verbal and processes information in an analytical and sequential way, looking first at the pieces then putting them together to get the who

Model with Zackman framework and pyramd

Suggest to model EA with both Zackman framework and the architecture pyramid.

Model EA solely in pyramid model leads to the confusion between EA and solution architecture.

Zachman Framework as holistic thinking tool

Silo architecture method is business process centric by model business function, design process and automate the process.

It is designed from the perception of owner view. Zachman framework as holistic thinking tool to design the system

holistically from the six attributes of 5W and H and six level of roles as shown in the following figure.

The definition of Architecture

Architecture is defined as the proper arrangement of parts in many dictionaries.

Gartner define ‘architecture’ as follows; 1. The grand design or overall concept employed in

creating a system, as in the architecture of a city or a customer information system; also “an abstraction or design of a system, its structure, components and how they interrelate”

2. A family of guidelines (concepts, policies, principles, rules, patterns, interfaces and standards) to use when building a new IT capability.

Pyramid model architecture

Zachman framework as holistic thinking tool from the six attributes of 5W and H and six level of roles.

The holistic architecture method is represented via the Zachman framework and pyramid architecture model.

Model EA solely in pyramid model is not sufficient to represent the concept of EA, it lead the confusion between EA and solution architecture.

But EA is not all about Architectue

The EA community have focused on “Architecture” as shown on the NIST EA model.

Popular EA method such as FEAF, TOGAF, PEAF, DODAF and MODAF also emphasize on “Architecture”

The architecture centric approach have contributed to the confusion of EA because it is difficult to tell the difference between EA and Silo architecture approach.

EA is a emerging paradigm rather than to design an enterprise scale silo.

The key of EA is “Enterprise”

EA is an emerging paradigm, “Enterprise” is the key to distinguish EA from silo architecture.

“Architecture” , on the other hand, is the common denominator between EA and Silo architecture.

However, Confusion often arises from the evolving nature of the term "enterprise".

Instead of preaching to the choir by elaborating what is “architecture”, this presentation make special effort to define enterprise.

Define “Enterprise” with visualization

A practical approach to define “Enterprise” is by visualize the enterprise.

By saying the various definition of EA as a whole or as an organization is not enough.

A frequent challenge is “Show me the Enterprise!”

Seeing is believing, the best way to explain what is “Enterprise” is to visualize the enterprise.

LEA developed the Enterprise Map to visualize the “Enterprise”

“Enterprise” is “Organization” for convience

In dictionary, “Enterprise” is defined as a business or company. business, company, firm, venture, organization, operation, concern, corporation, establishment, partnership. The Open Group defines ‘enterprise’ as follows: “An ‘enterprise’ is any collection of organizations that has a common set of goals and/or a single bottom line. In that sense, an enterprise can be a government agency, a whole corporation, a division of a corporation, a single department, or a chain of geographically distant organizations linked together by common ownership.”

“Enterprise” really means “holistic” Enterprise is organic, the word of “Enterprise” really means

holistic. Holism  is the idea that natural systems (physical,

biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic, etc.) and their properties, should be viewed as wholes, not as collections of parts.

Holism and Atomism has been major part of human culture, Atomism have dominate the western culture and Holism has been the primary philosophy in Eastern culture.

EA is the fusion of Western and Eastern culture. The whole is much bigger than the sum of its parts. “Knowing in part may make a fine tale, but wisdom comes

from seeing the whole” - from "Mouse Moral“.

Enterprise does not means “Large” Enterprise does not means large, any

functional whole is consider as enterprise based on the Macro and Microcosm philosophy in holism.

Macrocosm and microcosm is an ancient Greek Neo-Platonic schema of seeing the same patterns reproduced in all levels of the cosmos, from the largest scale (macrocosm or universe-level) all the way down to the smallest scale (microcosm or sub-sub-atomic or even metaphysical-level).However, In the context of EA, “Enterprise” means the functional whole.

EA is not only for large organization, it applies to all functional whole such as the entire corporation, company, section or branches as show on the right.

Enterprise is Organic

The holistic architecture consist of the Organic whole and Mechanic whole as shown in the right.

It is the first step to introduce the concept of the whole from the mechanical aspect via the Zachman framework.

However, the mechanical whole concept does not quite support to support the organic enterprise.

Light EA overcome this challenge by adapting the “Wu-Xing” concept from the holistic culture in China.

Organic is Reality rather than Rhetoric The term of “Organic” is new to the scientist and engineers in

the atomistic culture. It is a reality rather than rhetoric. In 1926, Mr. Jan Smuts in Holism and Evolution  stated that “Nineteenth-

century science went wrong mostly because of the hard and narrow concept of causation which dominated it. It was a fixed dogma that there could be no more in the effect than there was in the cause; hence creativeness and real progress became impossible.

In 1998, Mr. Val Dusek In The holistic Inspiration of Physics:  The Underground History of Electromagnetic Theory , says “In the twentieth century, the atomic model has undergone major supplementation and transformation. Fields were added to the particle model and particles and fields have become aspects of a perplexing physical reality. The straightforward mechanical causality that was part of the earlier atomic model was replaced by indeterminacy and statistical causality in quantum theory”

Chinese Wu-Xing model the organic whole

Enterprise, as a complex system is organic.

Chinese have model the organic whole with Wu-Xing 2000 years ago.

The Wu-Xing model is not static balance, it describe the organic cycle with Five element by incorporating :

Fields theory Time dimension. And Coherence

Architect organic enterprise with organic EA

Enterprise is Organic which can not be architected solely in a mechanical EA approach.

This presentation suggest to Architect the organic Enterprise via a organic EA approach by taking Wu-Xing into consideration.

EA as a holistic architecture method deliver significant and unique value to stakeholders.

It is much easier to explain EA as the counter part of silo architecture approach as part of the relativity theory.

EA as holistic methodology is a shift paradigm, it clearly distinguish EA as a emerging paradigm rather than an enterprise scale silo architecture.

EA as a method is not all about Information Technology, silo system approach is not unique in IT.

EA as holistic architecture to support organic enterprise. EA as a method overcome the EA bottleneck and provide

significant for EA evolution.

Conclusion