Zachman method can improve clarity, consistency and
communication
Organisations function in a changing environment facing demands
for higher value. The resulting drive for ever increased efficiency
is not new; most IT systems have been justified on the basis of
providing either cost reduction or improved services.
Over time simple, department-level process automation projects
have been delivered and refined, leaving little room for further
optimisation. Meanwhile, enabling integration software has become
mainstream and network and infrastructure costs have fallen.
Programmes are increasingly looking at processes and systems
across the enterprise to deliver real business benefits. But how
can today's IT directors deliver these more complex programmes and
respond to change at the pace expected? Could the Zachman Framework
provide a useful tool?
The Zachman Framework provides structure and definition of the
complete set of views which describe an enterprise, to enable
informed management and systems development. It was published in
the 1980s, having been developed from the underlying structure of
documentation found in engineering disciplines of construction and
manufacturing.
The framework is a classification of all of the elements an
enterprise architecture should contain. It consists of 30 views
arranged in a matrix. Five rows provide a perspective of the
enterprise for different roles: strategic planner, business owner,
designer, builder (analyst/developer) and subcontractor
(coder).
Six columns provide an abstraction covering IT functional and
network-oriented views of data, business and process-oriented views
of people, business motivations and business schedules.
The framework is acknowledged by industry and now, as the goals
of IT departments change, with increasing business pressures, the
need for enterprise architecture is growing. If you must deliver
systems which achieve adaptability, reduced time-to-market, reduced
cost, and better quality services, then you are not going to
achieve this by accident.
If you wish to ensure continuity of services during change, to
deliver efficiency improvements and to realise your business cases,
you cannot just hope for the best. The increased business reliance
on the interaction of multiple applications means that you will
need a complete design, or you risk exposing the organisation to
unforeseen impacts of change.
As an IT director you must recognise the need within your
organisation for enterprise architecture. Know business objectives
and challenges; know the pressures on your systems and resources.
You must gain support from the rest of the business. It is critical
to note that enterprise architecture is not a solely IT pursuit. It
can only be constructed with business input and will not yield its
full value if ignored by the business as a management tool.
You must understand and plan the work to be done. IT departments
will already have technical views such as data, application and
technical architectures of their systems. Many organisations will
have also modelled their key business processes and structures.
Mapping this against the Zachman Framework is a way to understand
the completeness and consistency of the documents you have and
understand your gaps.
As the need for enterprise architecture increases the Zachman
Framework becomes more useful to help you understand the scope and
content of the architecture you need, to articulate concepts to
others and to understand your existing models.
Mark Burnham is director, consulting practice at
Deloitte
More information at:
www.zifa.com