From the book: Green Technology Strategies

Enterprise Architecture

This week we will conclude our study of Business/IS strategy and planning, looking at Enterprise Architecture (EA) as one of the strategic tools for business. Green ICT needs to be incorporated into the models and plans used improve business performance.

Enterprise Architecture refers to the structure of a business, the documentation (typically using diagrams) that describe the structure and process used to create and document the structure. The Wikipedia entry for Enterprise architecture uses the the MIT Center for Information Systems Research definition:

Enterprise Architecture is the organizing logic for business processes and IT infrastructure reflecting the integration and standardization requirements of the firm's operating model.[1]

Neil Ward-Dutton in his blog on Real-world Enterprise Architecture part I: journey vs destination (Tuesday, May 15, 2007) argues that it should not focus too much on the technical nature of EA outputs (diagrams and reports) and concentrate on communicating with business people and stakeholder engagement. In Part 2 (Tuesday, May 15, 2007) he argues that large organisations are rarely truly centralised and actually use a federated style of IT work.

Methods and Areas of Practice

Enterprise Architecture is divided into four practice areas:

  1. Business:
    1. Strategy maps, goals, corporate policies, Operating Model
    2. Functional decompositions, capabilities and organizational models
    3. Business processes
    4. Organization cycles, periods and timing
    5. Suppliers of hardware, software, and services
  2. Applications:
    1. Application software inventories and diagrams
    2. Interfaces between applications
    3. Links with parties within and outside of the organisation
  3. Information:
    1. Metadata - data that describes your enterprise data
    2. Data models: conceptual, logical, and physical models
  4. Technology:
    1. Hardware, platforms, and hosting servers
    2. Networks: local and wide area, documented with connectivity diagrams
    3. Operating systems
    4. Infrastructure software: Application servers, DBMS

Business Enterprise Architecture (BEA)

An example of an EA, is the Business Enterprise Architecture (BEA) of the US Department of Defense (DoD). The BEA covers activities, processes, data, information exchanges, business rules, system functions, system data exchanges, terms, and relationships to law and policy.

The BEA has an annual release cycle, with BEA 5.0, released March 2008. It focuses on tangible outcomes and a limited set of priorities. There are six Business Enterprise Priorities (BEPs).

The BEA Development Methodology describes the overall process of developing the BEA and the BEA Architecture Product Guide which describes the methods and modeling conventions for the development of the Operational View (OV), Systems and Services View (SV), and Technical Standards View (TV).

The BEA 5.0 is documented using:

  1. Overview and Summary Information
  2. Integrated Dictionary
  3. Operational Node Connectivity Diagrams
  4. Operational Information Exchange Matrix
  5. Operational Activity Model
  6. Operational Rules Model
  7. Business Process Model
  8. Logical Data Model
  9. Systems Interface Description
  10. Operational Activity to Systems Function Traceability Matrix
  11. Systems Data Exchange Matrix
  12. Technical Standards Profile

References:

Read now:

  1. Enterprise architecture, Wikipedia, 2008.
  2. Business Enterprise Architecture (BEA) 5.0 Summary, US Department of Defense, March 14, 2008
  3. Real-world Enterprise Architecture part I: journey vs destination, Donna Burbank May 15, 2007.
  4. Real-world Enterprise Architecture part II: conversation, federation, road trips and tools, Neil Ward-Dutton, May 15, 2007.

Questions

  1. Centralised and decentralised use of ICT: The MIT Centre for Information Systems Research define Enterprise Architecture as:

    "... the organizing logic for business processes and IT infrastructure reflecting the integration and standardization requirements of the firm's operating model. ..."

    This implies the organisation has just one way of working. But Neil Ward-Dutton in his blog "Real-world Enterprise Architecture part II" that large organisations are rarely truly centralised and actually use a federated style of IT work. Give examples from your organisation, or an organisation you are familiar with, of centralised or decentralised use of ICT (maximum three paragraphs).

  2. Implications for energy saving of centralisation: What are the implications for energy savings strategies of the level of centralisation, or otherwise, of ICT in your organisation, or or an organisation you are familiar with (maximum three paragraphs).
  3. EA for sustainability: EA has a bewildering range of reports and diagrams to describe the business of an organisation. Pick one report or diagram from the EA of your organisation, or one you are familiar with and explain how sustainability goals can be advanced using it (maximum three paragraphs).. If you do not have access to EA for an organisation, use the Business Enterprise Architecture (BEA) of the US Department of Defense (DoD).

From the book: Green Technology Strategies

This book is about how to reduce carbon emissions and achieve other environmental benefits by using computers and telecommunications technology. It is designed to be used within an online course for professionals, using mentored and collaborative learning techniques.

Title: Green Technology Strategies: Using computers and telecommunications to reduce carbon emissions

Copyright © , 2009

Publisher: Tomw Communications, PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia. Website: http://www.tomw.net.au/green

New edition available: ICT Sustainability: Assessment and Strategies for a Low Carbon Future, September 2011.

These notes are used for the courses:

  1. Green ICT Strategies (ACS25): offered in the Postgraduate Program of Open Universities Australia and available from 2010 to students of Curtin University, Griffith University, Macquarie University, Monash University, RMIT University, Swinburne University and the University of South Australia,

  2. Green Technology Strategies: offered in the Computer Professional Education Program, Australian Computer Society (first run as "Green ICT Strategies" in February 2009), and

  3. Green Information Technology Strategies (COMP7310), in the Graduate Studies Select program, Australian National University (first run July 2009).

The notes were first published as an electronic and paperback book in 2009 (Green ICT, Tom Worthington, Tomw Communications, 2009). Students can download or print their own copy of the e-book from the course learning management system, which is likely to be more up to date.

Green Technology Strategies: Using computers and telecommunications to reduce carbon emissions by Tom Worthington is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License, except for institutions covered by a Copyright Agency Ltd Statutory Licence.