Last Updated on Monday, 07 February 2011 00:03
Can we put all of the above under the same framework so that all these peoples and initiatives are aligned? Certainly!
When we look at most EA frameworks, they end-up handling similar Aspects. Some frameworks cover more aspects than others but in general there is a level of alignment across the frameworks. So why the confusion? Probably because it is very difficult for us to be both experts and generalists at the same time!
Having said that does not mean that it is impossible! So let’s go back to these Architectural Aspects and let’s identified them:
- Business Process (here the intent is to describe what the company does: functions to process, BPM can be associated here, ITIL as well and eTOM)
- Data (Data is what we store, Information is when we process data to make it meaningful! Producing information = BI)
- Application (is what people buy or build! These must be mapped to the Business Processes so that they be streamlined and under control)
- Integration (loosely coupled applications is key and requires an Integration Framework based on SOA principles)
- Technology, includes Location of IT Centers and Resources (all these applications must run somewhere: IT Center Optimization, on some standard hardware, on-demand, virtualized, with SAN or not and so on)
Now, to these 5 aspects let’s add the followings Requirements:
- Regulations Requirements (Laws and Regulations to respect for example Sox, Piped Act, CFIUS, HIPA)
- Security Requirements (essentially for confidentiality reasons, respect of SOX principles, alignment of work description with access)
- Applications Requirements (what users want the applications to do: via Use Cases for example)
- Business Intelligence Requirements (which metrics/indicators users need to manage a business function)
Using Architecture Principles (must be defined and agreed at the beginning) and Requirements it is now possible to describe the IT Strategy, which covers the 5 Aspects and is made of:
- Architecture Vision
- EA Targets and related EA Roadmaps
- M&A Migration Plan,
- Implementation Governance
- Change Management.
As you can see I took a mixture of TOGAF, FEAF, NGOSS and IAF. There are reasons why I did not stick totally within one framework. For example, IAF does not make Integration an explicit aspect. NGOSS does but NGOSS does not really cover Technology per se. FEAF recognizes the Integration via the SRM (Service Component Reference Model) and it covers all aspects but have removed the applications aspect, I like it but companies still buy COTS being SOA or not and I still think that we should minimize the number of applications and related DB. IAF makes clear that Governance and Security cut across the Aspects which is good, it also has a notion of levels Why, What, How and With What! From this view it is similar to Zachman. As you can see we can debate which framework is the best or create a brand new one!
The selection of a framework can lead to many long discussions, which is not the intent of this article. Suffice to say that in some case a selection is not too difficult, for very pragmatic reasons (not covered in this article) if you are a Telecom company take NGOSS and make sure that you add the Technology Aspect to cover the 5 aspects. And nothing prevents you to complement NGOSS with any additional framework.
Looking back at the original list, everything has been covered but COBIT so:
COBIT: The Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) is a set of best practices (framework) for information technology (IT) management created by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), and the IT Governance Institute (ITGI) in 1992. COBIT provides managers, auditors, and IT users with a set of generally accepted measures, indicators, processes and best practices to assist them in maximizing the benefits derived through the use of information technology and developing appropriate IT governance and control in a company.
And yes we can implement COBIT on the EA Framework described in this article