Enterprise Reference Architectures

What is a Reference Architecture?
A Reference Architecture is a document that outlines an organization’s technology architecture and how it should be implemented. The document can be used as a guide for architects and developers when creating new systems or improving existing ones. Enterprise reference architectures are standardized architectures that provide frames of reference for different domains.

A reference architecture is a conceptual framework that provides a high-level view of the key components and their relationships in a system. It can be used as a tool for understanding the system, designing new systems, or documenting existing systems. Reference architectures are becoming increasingly popular in the business world, as they provide a way to simplify and communicate complex systems. However, there is no clear consensus on what constitutes a reference architecture or how they should be used. It is important to note that there is no one-size-fits-all definition for a reference architecture model, as it can vary depending on the organization or company.

Reference architectures are not limited to enterprise solutions. They can also be used to create a reference architecture for an application or even a single component of the solution. Reference architectures are created by experts in their field and provide guidance on how to create a solution that is repeatable, scalable and maintainable.

Reference architectures should be created by people who have hands-on experience of building solutions and the skills to create a repeatable solution that can be used by others in the organization. Reference architectures are not a complete solution. They should be used as the starting point for your project or solution. Most domains have their own reference architecture definitions, which include common business building blocks, capabilities, and processes.

Features of Reference Architecture

• Benchmarking: Reference architectures can help companies compare their performance against industry best practices.
• Modularity: A well-designed reference architecture should be modular so that different parts of the system can be modified independently without affecting other parts.
• Ease of Use: Reference architectures should be easy to use and understand, facilitating rapid adoption by your team members.
• Visibility: Reference architectures should be easily visible to all stakeholders, making it easy to track progress and make adjustments as needed.
• Robustness: A reference architecture should be robust enough to handle unexpected changes in your company’s business processes without requiring invasive rework or major redesigns

Drivers for reference architecture and its frameworks

• Frame of reference: The framework must be in line with the company’s overall strategy.
• Interoperability: The framework must be able to work with other parts of the company.
• Mergers, acquisitions and outsourcing: Reference Architecture should facilitate these events without causing disruptions.
• Benchmarking: Reference Architecture can help companies compare their performance against others in their industry or sector.
• Regulatory compliance: Reference Architecture can help companies meet government regulations without sacrificing efficiency or accuracy

Frame of Reference

Reference architectures provide a frame of reference that helps one get an overview of a domain while they provide a starting point for your own enterprise architecture effort. Reference architectures are most valuable for those aspects and elements of your organization on which you do not compete with others. A reference model or architecture provides a common vocabulary, reusable designs, and industry best practices.

Adopting a reference architecture within an organization accelerates delivery through the re-use of an effective solution and provides a basis for governance to ensure the consistency and applicability of technology use within an organization

Interoperability

Standards improve flexibility and interoperability. The reference architecture template aids in the development of reference architecture artifacts. The RA template includes an overview of the interoperability goals and objectives for each CA domain The RA template is integrated with the Architecture Framework Alignment Grid. The mnemonic mapping facilitates easy navigation between the items in both templates

• To help organizations meet their business and technology goals
• To improve agency capability to fulfill strategic priorities
• To understand the progress of individual agencies towards integrating interoperability requirements into their architectures
• To measure an agency’s maturity in terms of their ability to integrate interoperability requirements into their architecture
• To support decision making about architecture frameworks

Mergers, acquisitions, and outsourcing

If two companies want to merge, it is important that they are able to speak the same language and have the same understanding of what their business processes and systems are. If not, it can be difficult to recombine their elements in a way that makes sense for both parties.

• The need for a common language
• The need for standardization
• The need for recognition of boundaries between functions, processes, and/or systems
• The ability to recombine elements in new ways

Benchmarking

Benchmarking is the process of comparing your company against others in order to identify areas where you may be weak or strong. This can be done internally, using reference architectures that are specific to your industry, or externally, by looking at companies in other industries. Either way, using a reference design makes the comparison process much easier and more accurate.

Regulatory Compliance

Businesses are often required to adhere to specific regulations and standards when it comes to their accounting, financial reporting, and other operational processes. This can be in the form of reference architectures or best practices that are prescribed by regulators, or even through the use of standardized formats for exchanging information (such as XBRL). Frameworks can also provide guidance on how to manage change within an organization while meeting compliance requirements.

The Value of Reference Architectures

• Reference architectures provide a frame of reference that help you to get an overview of a particular domain.
• Reference architectures can also be used as a starting point for your own enterprise architecture effort.
• Reusing industry best practices provided by reference architectures ensures that you are not behind the curve on non-competitive aspects.
• Reference architectures are only of value if people are actually using them as intended and actually follow their guidance, otherwise the whole idea of reusing industry best practices breaks down
• A reference architecture is a valuable resource for developing or refining an organization’s architecture.
• A reference architecture can provide organizations with a more comprehensive understanding of their current and future architectures.
• Reference architectures can be used to guide the development of new architectures and to improve the performance of existing ones.
• Reference architectures can provide a structure for managing and understanding the dependencies between systems.
• Reference architectures can be used to manage risk and optimize design decisions.
• A well-defined reference architecture can help ensure that systems are properly integrated and tested.
• A reference architecture should be updated as new information is gathered or changes are made to the system under consideration.
• It is important to document the reference architecture in a clear, concise, and consistent manner.

Reference architectures can aid in the development of better designs by providing guidance on how to integrate systems into an overall solution

What is a reference architecture diagram?

A reference architecture diagram is a diagram that shows the high-level or core components of a system and how they interact with one another. The diagram is used to help explain the system to others and to provide a blueprint for building the system.

What is a reference architecture model?

A reference architecture model (RAM) is a tool that can be used to organize and structure an organization’s information technology (IT) resources. A reference architecture model is a pre-determined and agreed-upon set of standards that guide the design and development of an information system. Reference architectures are typically used in large and complex systems where it is important to maintain a consistent and unified look and feel across all of the system’s components. A reference architecture model provides a frame of reference for a vertical domain or sector.

A RAM is a comprehensive blueprint for the organization’s IT systems, which can be used to make informed decisions about where to allocate resources and how best to deploy them.

A RAM provides a means of coordinating the different elements of an enterprise’s IT system, including business processes, data stores, applications, networks, and support services.

The aim of using a RAM is not only to improve IT efficiency but also to enable better communication between various parts of the organization and with external partners or customers.

Adopting a reference architecture within an organization accelerates delivery through the re-use of an effective solution and provides a basis for governance to ensure the consistency and applicability of technology use within an organization.

What is a reference model?

Reference models are often used by companies to assess the quality of their products. They can also be used to compare the products of different companies.

A reference model is a template that includes common architecture principles, patterns, building blocks, and standards. Reference models are often based on generalizations of solutions. A reference model can be used as a constraint for more concrete architectures.

Why is reference architecture important?

Reference architecture is important in order to understand how a system works and to improve the system.

Reference architecture provides a blueprint for how a particular system should be designed in order to achieve specific goals. Reference architecture can help to speed up the design process, ensure that all systems are aligned with company goals, and improve the overall quality of the system.

A reference architecture is important because it provides a framework for designing and developing systems in a consistent way. Whenever new features or changes are made to the system, the reference architecture can be used as a guide to ensure that all proposals are measured against the same set of standards. This enables decisions about proposed changes to be made more efficiently and objectively.

An essential part of any reference architecture is the creation of architectural artefacts, such as information models, state machines, process diagrams and so on. The use of standard modelling notation such as UML and BPMN can help reduce ambiguity and make knowledge sharing that much easier.

Reference architecture provides a common vocabulary, reusable designs, and industry best practices that can be used as constraints for more concrete architectures.

Adopting a reference architecture within an organization accelerates delivery by re-using effective solutions and provides a basis for governance to ensure the consistency and applicability of technology use throughout the organization.

When transitioning from early stage to late stage Transformation, methodology changes are necessary in order to maintain fidelity with the reference architecture while meeting business goals.

Why is the cloud computing reference architecture important?

A reference architecture is a blueprint for designing and implementing a cloud computing solution. It provides a framework for organizing the different components of the solution and helps to ensure that all aspects of the solution are considered. A sound reference architecture is important in any cloud project, regardless of whether it is a private, public or hybrid cloud. Large IT vendors and other types of organizations have proposed reference architectures for cloud computing.

A well-defined and comprehensive cloud computing reference architecture is important for two primary reasons: designing and implementing a sound cloud solution, and being able to build on the experiences of others. In addition, while it may be initially created for cloud projects, the reference architecture should be usable not only in all IT projects but also projects that are non-IT.

How do you create a reference architecture?

Creating a reference architecture can be a daunting task, but it is important to have one in order to ensure that your system is well organized and efficient. There are a few key steps you need to take in order to create a successful reference architecture. The first step is to identify the domain boundaries- what is in scope and what is out of scope? Next, identify sources of relevant data and collect all of the necessary information. Finally, organize all of the collected data into an easily accessible format.

A reference architecture is a living document which outlines the high-level components of the system and their interactions. It’s important to remember that a reference architecture is not a design, but it can be used to create one. Typically, a reference architecture will take the form of an MS Word document.

Purpose: You need to first identify the goals and objectives of the RA, as well as the specific purpose and problem(s) it will address. Additionally, you’ll need to define any constraints and assumptions of the domain environment, as well as any timeframe for the execution of the solutions.

Principles: You must adhere to certain principles. These principles are your guiding light and will never change. They are enduring statements of organizational culture and values that will dictate how the organization functions technically.

Technical Positions/Rules: You need to establish your organization’s technical positions. Technical positions are statements of what you will do in the form of guidance, rules, policies, agreements, protocols, and standards. They are based on principles that should be applied uniformly across all solutions within an organization. Once your technical positions are in place, you can then use them as the foundation for creating a reference architecture.

Patterns: A pattern is a general architectural representation that can be used in any number of implementations. It can be expressed in tabular, textual, behavioral, or graphical form. Additionally, it should be at a level of generality that is unconstrained by implementation details.

Vocabulary: Develop a vocabulary that is relevant to the solutions you are trying to create. This glossary of terms and definitions will help you communicate with other stakeholders and ensure everyone is on the same page.

Reference Architectures vs. Architecture Frameworks

Reference architectures and architecture frameworks provide best practices that help architects identify which architectural approaches will satisfy particular requirements.

Reference architectures are prescriptive, in that they mandate a specific architecture type. In contrast, architecture frameworks give enterprise architects the tools they need to adequately describe and collect requirements, without mandating any specific architecture type. Architecture frameworks describe an example taxonomy of the kinds of architectural “views” that an architect might consider developing and provides guidelines for making the choice for developing particular views.

Architecture frameworks are characterized by their template component, while reference architectures emphasize the “template” part of the definition.

Reference Architectures (RAs) and Architecture Frameworks (AFs) are both popular approaches to providing best practices for designing and developing systems. However, there is some debate as to whether RAs provide more of a methodology than AFs do. Most RAs can be characterized by their template component, while AFs are more well-known for their guidelines and principles.

Benefits of a Reference Architecture

Benefits include improved interoperability, reduced development costs, and influencing the learning curve of developers.

• Reference architecture accelerates delivery through the re-use of an effective solution.
• Reference architecture provides a basis for governance to ensure the consistency and applicability of technology use within an organization.
• A reference architecture can provide a blueprint for designing successful software systems.
• Reference architectures can help system architects identify and document all of the interactions between the various components of a system.
• A reference architecture can also help to optimize the design and deployment of software systems.

Challenges of Reference Architecture

• High or medium learning curve for using the RA features.
• Limited innovation by giving prescriptive guidelines for applications.
• Applications’ dependency over the RA. When applications have requirements that the RA does not offer yet, applications development is stopped.
• Complexity: use of the RA is complex.
• Wrong decisions about the technologies to be used in all the applications.