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- Written by: Tim Milbourne
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The use of data within an enterprise imparts context and meaning to it, creating information. This data, used in analysis and reports, and as raw material in processes and products, has a cost that must be managed to drive efficiencies and increase net benefits. Describing the data from an information perspective (meaning and usage) provides a common architecture for the enterprise, facilitating improvements in design and reuse across the enterprise and so facilitating efficiency savings, and delivering benefits through insights into new opportunities.
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- Written by: Tim Milbourne
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A functional architecture consists of a description and design for the set of capabilities/functions that the enterprise utilises in pursuit of its aims and goals. Assuming that the aims and goals are well understood, the capabilities/functions required to deliver them can be designed and described using a consistent frame of reference. Furthermore, there is a choice of mature approaches for accomplishing this task that have been employed successfully across a broad range of industries. We will briefly consider two of them:
- Zachman Framework
- The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF)
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- Written by: Tim Milbourne
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An enterprise, organised for a particular purpose, will be more assured of successful delivery if:
- The characteristics and capabilities of its people and resources are understood and applied to their best advantage
- Processes can be broken down into constituent parts and made more efficient
- Problems can be consistently analysed and solutions developed from reusable and composable tools and materials
- Decisions can be made using consistent measurements and evaluation frameworks.
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- Written by: Tim Milbourne
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The purpose of an enterprise architecture is to bring concrete, measurable benefits to the enterprise by providing insights into its management and operation that guide investment and change. Let us first explore what we mean by ‘enterprise’ and ‘architecture’.
Read more: How do you define “enterprise architecture” and why do you need it?
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- Written by: Tim Milbourne
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An enterprise’s architecture is fundamentally a description of the components and structures that are used to deliver its purpose. More specifically it is the classification of its processes, people, tools, raw materials, metrics/data, and products/outcomes so that they can be consistently used in designs and solutions utilised by the enterprise. The aim is to improve efficacy and efficiency, to optimise how the enterprise works and makes decisions. The benefit will be better management and assurance of success.