General Questions – EA Fellows

What are some of the academic fields that influence the field of EA?

May 6, 2018

Developing an enterprise-wide architecture involves an evaluation and depiction of people, processes, and resources. Some of the areas of practice and theory that have influenced the EA practices include business administration, public administration, operations research, sociology, organizational theory, management theory, information science, and computer science. Understanding the mission, goals, and culture of an enterprise is…
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How is the Organization Network Model different from the Parsons/Thompson Model?

May 6, 2018

New types of organizations and enterprises are appearing which are based on cooperative networks of local and remote individual workers and semiautonomous teams who carry out key functions. In these enterprises, greater cost efficiency and more mission flexibility are achieved by removing layers of management that are not needed in a decentralized operating mode. These…
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What are some of the areas of value that are generated by an EA program?

May 6, 2018

On the value side, EA is unique in its ability to promote enterprise-wide thinking about resource utilization. EA replaces the systems-level approaches to IT resource development that have characterized the last several decades, and has left many enterprises with stovepipe and/or duplicative IT resources. EA promotes the development of more efficient enterprise-wide common operating environments…
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How does EA help an enterprise view its strategic direction and goals?

May 6, 2018

The EA framework and methodology organizes EA documentation in a way that allows strategy to influence business and technology planning and decision-making. This is important especially in the documentation of future EA views. By first identifying what changes are anticipated in strategic goals and initiatives, subsequent documentation of business activities and technology resources can be…
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How does EA help an enterprise to view its business services?

May 6, 2018

As is reflected in the design of the EA framework, strategy creates business requirements and technology supports solutions for meeting those requirements. EA documents three primary issues at the business level: Supporting Strategic Goals. Touch points between strategic initiatives and business activities need to be clearly documented. Not all business activities are strategic, and it…
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What is the link between EA and Business Planning?

May 6, 2018

As is reflected in the design of the EA framework, strategy creates business requirements and technology supports solutions for meeting those requirements. EA documents three primary issues at the business level: Supporting Strategic Goals. Touch points between strategic initiatives and business activities need to be clearly documented. Not all business activities are strategic, and it…
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How does integrated governance assist EA design, development, and implementation?

May 6, 2018

In that the EA program links to other areas of resource governance (e.g., capital planning, project management, and security), decision-makers can obtain coordinated information on operations, support, and development activities

How does EA link to strategy, business, and technology?

May 6, 2018

For EA to support an enterprise holistically, it must link strategy, business and technology. EA is most effective when it simultaneously supports top-down executive planning and decision-making across the enterprise and bottom-up management planning and decision-making within each LOB. In this way, EA helps to ensure that strategy drives business and technology planning. From a…
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What are some of the differences between enterprise architecture (EA) and a systems-level planning approach?

May 6, 2018

The strategic use of resources is increasingly important to the success of public, private, and non-profit sector enterprises, including extended enterprises involving multiple internal and external participants (i.e., supply chains). How to get the most from business, technology, and human resources requires an enterprise to think in terms of enterprise-wide solutions, rather than individual systems…
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Can EA be used by all types of enterprises? If so, why?

May 6, 2018

Yes. Enterprise Architecture is a management and technology practice that is devoted to improving the performance of enterprises by enabling them to see themselves in terms of a holistic and integrated view of their strategic direction, business practices, information flows, and technology resources. By developing current and future versions of this integrated view, an enterprise…
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FAQ Tag: General Questions