Introducing Enterprise Architecture
What is Enterprise Architecture?
Enterprise Architecture (EA) is an enterprise-wide approach for aligning ICT strategy and implementation with organisation strategy, so that ICT services work together properly and enable the organisation's vision. The EA approach enables consistency between business processes and all the elements of an ICT architecture - information, applications, services, data, infrastructure and security.
For an introduction to EA and its origins, read the excellent introduction in 'Doing Enterprise Architecture - Enabling the agile institution', a JISC early adopter study of the EA Pilot Project; and browse other useful industry web resources. Above all, take the opportunity to talk with and pick the brains of colleagues in other institutions who have already started down the road to value!
EA is driven with business requirements, involves strong governance and is supported by proven frameworks and open standards, and is always associated with major change. EA is often described as a new way of thinking about and implementing change involving ICT, and its benefits are measured through the impact on service, flexibility, cost and the impact of the new business and organisational processes EA enables.
An established professional practice in major businesses and government departments with established technical and process frameworks, EA is now being adopted by smaller organisations, with UK institutions among the pioneers. Though Enterprise Architecture can be regarded as heavyweight, complex and expensive in large scale corporate applications, the JISC pilot project showed that committed EA Pilot Project ICT leaders in higher education can bootstrap EA activities by working together, achieving significant impact within a year.
