Enterprise ArchitectureEnterprise Architecture
Note: for references cited in this section see “references ”.
In a series of studies of key IS management issues during the 1980's, it was found that prior to 1985, development of an Information (Systems) Architecture was not ranked as an issue. However in the latter half of the decade it was found that senior IS executives ranked it among their ten most critical issues for the next three to five years (Brancheau and Wetherbe, 1987; Dickson et al., 1984; Hartog and Herbert, 1986).
A continuation of this series into the 1990’s showed Information Architecture as the number one issue in 1990 (Niederman, Brancheau & Wetherbe, 1991), and number four in the interim results from 1994 (Janz, Brancheau & Wetherbe, 1995).
Key IS Management Issues 1990 (Niederman, Brancheau and Wetherbe, 1991)
Information Architecture is defined in these studies as “a high-level map of the information requirements of an organization. It shows how major classes of information are related to major functions of the organization. In its pure form, the information mapping is independent of personnel staffing, organization structures, and technology platforms. (Brancheau, Shuster & March, 1989; Niederman, Brancheau & Wetherbe, 1991)
This definition describes a key part of Enterprise Architecture but by no means includes its full scope. Eight of the top ten issues in the 1994 study are either part of Enterprise Architecture (EA) or dependent upon it. The technical architecture within EA is the design required in order to “build a responsive IT infrastructure”, “develop and manage distributed systems”, and “plan and manage communication networks”. Business process design (and redesign) is a high focus area within the business architecture portion of EA. The form and structure of the application architecture within EA is specifically designed to “improve the effectiveness of software development”. A major design objective of the data architecture within EA is to enable “effective use of the data resource”. In a ‘strategy as design’ environment, EA is one of the primary tools for ‘improving IS strategic planning’.
EA can also play an indirect role in the remaining two issues. EA is a major communication tool in the enterprise; it is especially valuable in facilitating communication between the IS function and line management. Moreover it is a joint initiative between business and IS. While this does not in itself affect the position of the IS organisation within the enterprise it will enhance the alignment between business and IS regardless of such positioning.
EA creates it’s own problems in “recruiting and developing IS human resources” in that it requires highly expert staff to create and maintain it. However having such a framework in place will help in developing IS staff in terms of understanding the business better and understanding the role of applications overall and the specific role of each application component. It could also serve to make the IS environment attractive to skilled developers and thereby ease the recruitment problem.
It is evident that the creation and maintenance of an Enterprise Architecture is of critical importance to the information systems function. IS managers should therefore make it a priority to raise awareness of the need for EA throughout the organisation. Because EA requires architects skilled in analysis, design and systematic thinking, skills typically found in IS professionals, it is likely that many of these resources will be recruited from within the ranks of the IS function. The IS manager therefore has an additional responsibility to identify, develop and allocate resources to be involved in its creation. The IS manager may also be required to act as line manager to the architecture function.
Lastly, the IS manager has a responsibility to ensure that all systems developers are aware of the importance of the architecture and that they act accordingly.
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