What is Enterprise Architecture and what does it entail?

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What is Enterprise Architecture?

Enterprise Architecture describes the structures of an organization (business, data, applications, and technology) in both the current and target states. Organizations have certainly described all these aspects before, but Enterprise Architecture aims to present them in a unified manner and to identify the dependencies among different areas. This uniformity and the ability to analyse dependencies are what set it apart from other approaches.

Enterprise Architecture is therefore a comprehensive description of an organization that ties together business, data, applications, and technology. All of these can also be linked to strategy and regulation. So, what can Enterprise Architecture be used for? This can be summarized in two main points:

• Support Planning: Plans are created to support development. A plan serves as the "blueprint" for the target state. It outlines what the new application will look like and how processes have changed as they have been digitized. If we compare this to building a house, the plan describes what kind of new house is under construction.

• Support Decision-Making: For decision-making, both an overview of the current state and various options for the target state are needed. Will option A or B be chosen, and what is the real difference between these options? In decision-making, there is usually never enough time, so having the descriptions of current state ready is essential; we don’t have time to start from scratch.

What does Enterprise Architecture look like in practice? If there is an Enterprise Architecture function within your organization, what can you expect it to do? At the very least, the following:

• Enterprise Architecture includes descriptions – diagrams and illustrations that explain the current state or describe goals. Typically, this involves business, applications, data, and technologies.

• Enterprise Architecture is also a service – for example, supporting projects, creating decision-making materials, and producing analyses. It is often convenient to request these services from enterprise architects.

• Enterprise Architecture is a support function – it provides information and helps other functions succeed.

Enterprise Architecture is becoming increasingly important when the world gets more complicated. Organizations are becoming interconnected, and applications are no longer large monoliths. Thus, Enterprise Architecture helps to communicate and comprehend even more complicated structures. The purpose of the Enterprise Architecture function is not to replace other functions or make decisions on their behalf, but to help other parts of the organization operate better. The essence of Enterprise Architecture is that it is utilized: it is not about describing for the sake of describing but fulfilling a need!

What are the contents of enterprise architecture?

The content of Enterprise Architecture can be created in many different ways. However, it is easier to create content if you choose a tool for content creation and a modelling language and method to follow (see Modelling Languages and Modelling Guides). Traditionally, the contents of Enterprise Architecture consist of various diagrams and supporting explanatory texts. Typically, the things to be modelled are divided into the following six categories:

• Motivation: At the motivation level, things such as strategy and other factors affecting the organization’s direction and future can be modelled. Typically, governing legislation and principles that the architecture has decided to adhere to are modelled.

• Business: At the business level, we model what the organization visibly does: its customers and partners, services, and internal processes that drive operations. The business level is modelled using the terminology the business actually uses.

• Applications/Information Systems: At the applications level, the applications used by the organization, their functions and services, and dependencies are modelled. The architecture can also be refined to cover the most critical solution descriptions, such as modelling interfaces and integration solutions.

• Technologies: At the technology level, the organization’s technological infrastructure and technology choices are described. Technology architecture includes servers, workstations, telecommunications and networks, and server rooms. The need for describing technology architecture is influenced by the extent to which you have outsourced technology solutions. In such cases, even rough descriptions may suffice.

• Data: The data architecture describes what data the organization produces and needs. This includes both the data required for business (main data groups, concepts, data repositories, etc.) and more detailed data processed by systems (database design, etc.).

• Implementation: The implementation level refers to modelling projects and initiatives within the architecture. These can be further linked to applications, providing insights into interesting dependencies.

The essence of Enterprise Architecture is thus to identify the dependencies among the areas mentioned above: which applications are used in which processes, which technology solutions a system depends on, where and who handles certain data etc. This way, we can produce content that aids in planning and decision-making.