Editing Enterprise architecture (section)

==Introduction==
As a discipline, EA "proactively and holistically lead[s] enterprise responses to disruptive forces by identifying and analyzing the execution of change" towards organizational goals. EA gives business and IT leaders recommendations for policy adjustments and provides best strategies to support and enable business development and change within the information systems the business depends on. EA provides a guide for [[decision making]] towards these objectives.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/enterprise-architecture-ea/|title=Enterprise Architecture (EA) |publisher=Gartner |access-date=July 29, 2013}}</ref> The [[National Computing Centre]]'s EA best practice guidance states that an EA typically "takes the form of a comprehensive set of cohesive models that describe the structure and functions of an enterprise. The individual models in an EA are arranged in a logical manner that provides an ever-increasing level of detail about the enterprise."<ref>{{cite book|last=Jarvis|first=Bob|title=Enterprise Architecture: Understanding the Bigger Picture – A Best Practice Guide for Decision Makers in IT|publisher=The UK National Computing Centre|location=Manchester, England, United Kingdom|page=9|year=2003}}</ref>

Important players within EA include enterprise architects and solutions architects. Enterprise architects are at the top level of the architect hierarchy, meaning they have more responsibilities than solutions architects. While solutions architects focus on their own relevant solutions, enterprise architects focus on solutions for and the impact on the whole organization. Enterprise architects oversee many solution architects and business functions. As practitioners of EA, enterprise architects support an organization's strategic vision by acting to align people, process, and technology decisions with actionable goals and objectives that result in quantifiable improvements toward achieving that vision. The practice of EA "analyzes areas of common activity within or between organizations, where information and other resources are exchanged to guide future states from an integrated viewpoint of strategy, business, and technology."<ref>{{cite web |work=Enterprise Architecture Book of Knowledge|title=Planning an EA – Purpose|url=http://www2.mitre.org/public/eabok/planning_an_ea/purpose.html |publisher=Mitre Corporation |access-date=2014-10-03|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001215616/http://www2.mitre.org/public/eabok/planning_an_ea/purpose.html|archive-date=2013-10-01}}</ref>

===Definitions===

The term ''enterprise'' can be defined as an [[organizational unit]], [[organization]], or collection of organizations that share a set of common goals and collaborate to provide specific products or services to customers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iiba.org/babok-guide.aspx|title=Business Analysis Body of Knowledge|publisher=International Institute of Business Analysis|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624233443/http://www.iiba.org/babok-guide.aspx|archive-date=2017-06-24}}</ref> In that sense, the term enterprise covers various types of organizations, regardless of their size, ownership model, operational model, or geographical distribution. It includes those organizations' complete [[sociotechnical system]],<ref name="Giachetti">{{cite book|last=Giachett|first=R.E.|title=Design of Enterprise Systems, Theory, Architecture, and Methods|publisher=CRC Press|location=Boca Raton, Florida, USA|year=2010}}</ref> including people, information, processes, and technologies. Enterprise as a sociotechnical system defines the scope of EA.

The term ''architecture'' refers to fundamental concepts or properties of a system in its environment; and embodied in its elements, relationships, and in the principles of its design and evolution.<ref name="ISO42010">{{cite web|url=https://www.iso.org/standard/50508.html|title=ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2011: Systems and software engineering — Architecture description|date=2011-11-24|publisher=International Organization for Standardization|access-date=2023-03-04}}</ref> A methodology for developing and using architecture to guide the [[Business transformation|transformation of a business]] from a baseline state to a target state, sometimes through several transition states, is usually known as an [[enterprise architecture framework]]. A framework provides a structured collection of processes, techniques, [[Enterprise architecture artifacts|artifact descriptions]], reference models, and guidance for the production and use of an enterprise-specific architecture description.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Paramount to ''changing'' the EA is the identification of a [[:wikt:sponsor|sponsor]]. Their mission, [[vision (business)|vision]], strategy, and the governance framework define all roles, responsibilities, and relationships involved in the anticipated transformation. Changes considered by enterprise architects typically include innovations in the structure or processes of an organization; innovations in the use of information systems or technologies; the integration and/or [[standardization]] of business processes; and improvement of the quality and timeliness of business information.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

According to the standard [[ISO/IEC 42010|ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010]],<ref name="ISO42010"/> the product used to describe the architecture of a system is called an ''architectural description''.  In practice, an architectural description contains a variety of lists, tables, and diagrams. These are models known as ''[[View model|views]]''.  In the case of EA, these models describe the logical business functions or capabilities, [[business process]]es, human roles and actors, the physical organization structure, [[data flow]]s and [[data store]]s, [[business application]]s and platform applications, hardware, and communications infrastructure.

The first use of the term "enterprise architecture" is often incorrectly attributed to [[John Zachman]]'s 1987 ''A framework for information systems architecture''.<ref name=zachman>{{cite journal|last=Zachman|first=John A.|title=A framework for information systems architecture.|journal=IBM Systems Journal|edition=reprint|year=1999|volume=38|issue=2/3|pages=454–470|doi=10.1147/sj.382.0454|s2cid=12191060 }}</ref> The first publication to use it was instead a [[National Institute of Standards and Technology|National Institute of Standards]] (NIST) Special Publication<ref name="NIST SP 500-167">{{cite journal|last=Fong|first=E. N.|author2=Goldfine, E.H.|title=Information management directions: the integration challenge.|journal=SIGMOD Record|date=December 1989|volume= 18|issue= 4|pages=40–43|url=http://www.itl.nist.gov/lab/specpubs/NIST%20SP%20500-167.pdf|doi=10.1145/74120.74125|s2cid=23939840}}</ref> on the challenges of information system integration.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} The NIST article describes EA as consisting of several levels. [[Business architecture|Business unit architecture]] is the top level and might be a total corporate entity or a sub-unit. It establishes for the whole organization necessary frameworks for "satisfying both internal information needs" as well as the needs of external entities, which include [[Cooperate|cooperating organizations]], [[customers]], and [[Government agency|federal agencies]]. The lower levels of the EA that provide information to higher levels are more attentive to detail on behalf of their superiors. In addition to this structure, business unit architecture establishes [[Technical standard|standards]], [[policies]], and [[procedure (business)|procedure]]s that either enhance or stymie the organization's mission.<ref name="NIST SP 500-167"/>

The main difference between these two definitions is that Zachman's concept was the creation of individual information systems optimized for business, while NIST's described the management of all information systems within a business unit. The definitions in both publications, however, agreed that due to the "increasing size and complexity of the [i]mplementations of [i]nformation systems... logical construct[s] (or architecture) for defining and controlling the interfaces and... [i]ntegration of all the components of a system" is necessary. Zachman in particular urged for a "[[strategic planning]] [[methodology]]."<ref name=zachman/>