Enterprise Architecture 101

Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a strategic management approach that enables organizations to align their business and technology resources to achieve their goals. It involves creating a blueprint of the organization’s current and future state, including its business processes, systems, data, applications, and infrastructure. This blueprint serves as a roadmap for aligning IT and business goals, improving decision-making, and achieving better outcomes.

The Enterprise Architecture 101 category in the CIO Reference Library contains articles and documents introducing EA, its key concepts, and best practices. This category is designed for IT executives and other business leaders seeking a basic understanding of EA and its benefits.

The articles and documents in this category cover a wide range of topics related to EA, such as:

• Enterprise Architecture framework: This includes an overview of the different EA frameworks available, such as TOGAF, Zachman, and FEAF.
• Enterprise Architecture components: This includes an overview of the different components of EA, such as business architecture, data architecture, application architecture, and technology architecture.
• Benefits of Enterprise Architecture: This includes an overview of the benefits of EA, such as improved decision-making, better alignment of IT and business goals, and increased agility and flexibility.
• Enterprise Architecture implementation: This includes strategies for implementing EA within organizations, such as creating an EA roadmap, establishing governance frameworks, and engaging stakeholders.
• Enterprise Architecture tools: This includes an overview of the different EA tools available, such as modeling tools and visualization tools.

The “Enterprise Architecture 101” category is a valuable resource for any IT executive or business leader seeking a basic understanding of EA and its benefits. The resources in this category introduce EA, its key concepts, and best practices based on real-world experience and best practices from industry experts. By leveraging EA, organizations can better align IT and business goals, improve decision-making, and achieve better outcomes.

Simply put, enterprise architecture is a tool to convert the conceptual into physical – strategy into implementation. In doing so, it enables the creation on business value. We often get stuck on the cost-saving aspects of EA, forgetting that its primary purpose is realizing business value. With this in mind, please dive into the details provided in these references.