Enterprise Architecture

Enterprise Architecture has become a common practice for large IT organizations. For the first time there is a methodology to encompass all of the various IT aspects and processes into a single practice. However, realizing the full potential of Enterprise Architecture (EA) can be challenging. There are many aspects to EA, including architecture planning, governance, taxonomies and ontologies, all of which impact its success. Without the right guidance, tools, frameworks and methodologies EA can quickly become unwieldy.

Architecture in Turbulent Times

This article aims to show architects a way to understand key forces on the business of IT, what they can do to add value, and the key areas of focus and technologies that will help them deliver value back to the business.

Pragmatic Approach to Describing Solution Architectures

This article aims to provide guidance on how to solve common challenges with current architecture documentation by going over a series of add-ins and templates that the Enterprise Architecture Toolkit (EATK) provides.

Integration of Enterprise Architecture and Application Portfolio Management

This article describes how application portfolio management (APM) compliments an enterprise architect's multi-faceted role. APM provides key information into the IT enterprise architect (EA) management process. It answers questions such as "Can yesterday's applications meet tomorrow's needs?"

A Day in the life of an Enterprise Architect

An enterprise architect’s role is multi-faceted and extremely dynamic. Not only must they keep track of IT concerns, but also those of the business. Through the work performed on strategic initiative, EAs strive to make alignment between IT and the business more transparent.

A Better Path to Enterprise Architectures

When enterprise architectures work well, they are a tremendous asset in finding effective ways to better use technology. When they don't work well, they can be a huge counterproductive drain on precious organizational resources. All too often, it is the latter case that is realized.

Recommended Resources

	Enterprise Architecture Alignment Heuristics The alignment between Business Processes (BP) and Information Technologies (IT) is a major issue in most organizations, as it directly impacts on the organization's agility and flexibility to change according to business needs. The focus of this paper is to show how alignment between Business and IT can be stated in terms of the components found in most Enterprise Architectures.
	What is an Enterprise Architecture? This document is intended for business, software, and infrastructure architects who want to understand Microsoft's approach to enterprise, application, and technology architectures. It covers architectural terminology, patterns, concepts, and definitions as a series of views or levels of architecture.
	Quality Data Through Enterprise Information Architecture For a significant class of data issues (semantics), it is not possible to solve the "data-quality problem" by just working with data. Unfortunately, this solution is not commonly understood at all. This discussion proposes how to deal with this problem through correct information architecture.
	Skyscrapr on Enterprise Architecture Skyscrapr is tailored to people interested in learning about or becoming architects. The articles on Enterprise Architecture help to illustrate how Enterprise Architects create the master blueprint that guides their organization’s business and IT systems.
	The Architecture Journal The Architecture Journal is an independent platform for free thinkers and practitioners of IT architecture. New editions are issued quarterly with articles designed to offer perspective, share knowledge, and help you learn the discipline and pursue the art of IT architecture.
	Patterns & Practices Developer Center Microsoft patterns & practices are Microsoft's recommendations for how to design, develop, deploy, and operate architecturally sound applications for the Microsoft application platform.

Mike Walker on Enterprise Architecture
My name is Mike Walker and I'm an Industry Architect on the Architecture Strategy team. In this special coverage section you'll find the most recent Enterprise Architecture related activities and resources.

Opinions

Enterprise Architecture

Mapping Current State Architectures across the Enterprise
All the time I get the questions about how to do current state architecture or “as-is” architecture at executive briefings (EBC), at events or through our customers. Recently I was asked about this in regards to an effort a large enterprise that is u... more

Infosys' Enterprise Architecture Survey 2008 - 2009
Last week Sohel Aziz’s Enterprise Architecture (EA) team at Infosys released there annual EA survey from their very large customer base. You can download the comprehensive report of the EA survey from their Enterprise Architecture Services portal. A... more

Open Group merger with the Global Enterprise Architecture Organization (GEAO)
There is more big news on the Open Group front these days with the just announced a merger with the Global Enterprise Architecture Organization (GEAO) that will affect the worldwide Enterprise Architecture (EA) professional community. The union bet... more

Pragmatic Approach to Describing Solution Architectures
I just published a new article on the Microsoft Enterprise Architecture Center entitled, A Pragmatic Approach to Describing Solution Architectures. In this article, we will explore how architectures traditionally have been designed and described. By... more

TOGAF 9 Release and Impressions
Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of talking with Allen Brown, president of the Open Group regarding the latest TOGAF release. Thanks to Allen and his team for taking the time to chat about the new aspects of TOGAF 9. All the details of this release w... more

Enterprise Architecture

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