ArchiMate® 1.0 Specification
ArchiMate is a registered trademark of The Open Group
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2 Enterprise Architecture
2.1 Why Enterprise Architecture?
The primary reason for developing an enterprise architecture is to support the business by providing the fundamental technology and process structure for an IT strategy. Further, it details the structure and relationships of the enterprise, its business models, the way an organization will work, and how and in what way information, information systems, and technology will support the organization’s business objectives and goals. This makes IT a responsive asset for a successful modern business strategy.
Today’s CEOs know that the effective management and exploitation of information through IT is the key to business success, and the indispensable means to achieving competitive advantage. An enterprise architecture addresses this need, by providing a strategic context for the evolution of the IT system in response to the constantly changing needs of the business environment.
Furthermore, a good enterprise architecture enables you to achieve the right balance between IT efficiency and business innovation; in essence, it aligns IT with the business. It allows individual business units to innovate safely in their pursuit of competitive advantage. At the same time, it assures the needs of the organization for an integrated IT strategy, permitting the closest possible synergy across the extended enterprise.
The technical advantages that result from a good enterprise architecture bring important business benefits, which are clearly visible in the bottom line:
A more efficient IT operation:
– Lower software development, support, and maintenance costs
– Increased portability of applications
– Improved interoperability
and easier system and network management
– Improved ability to address critical enterprise-wide issues like security
– Easier upgrade and exchange of system components
Better return on existing investment, reduced risk for future investment:
– Reduced complexity in IT infrastructure
– Maximum return on investment in existing IT infrastructure
– The flexibility to make, buy, or outsource IT solutions
– Reduced risk overall in new investment, and the cost of IT ownership
Faster, simpler, and cheaper procurement:
– Buying decisions are simpler, because the information governing procurement is readily available in a coherent plan
– The procurement process is faster – maximizing procurement speed and flexibility without sacrificing architectural coherence
Using an architecture framework will speed up and simplify architecture development, and communication with non-architects, ensuring more complete coverage and understanding of the designed solution. The additional understanding across the enterprise enables faster response to changing business needs.
2.2 Definitions
A good definition of enterprise in the context of this Technical Standard is any collection of organizations that has a common set of goals and/or a single bottom line. In that sense, an enterprise can be a government agency, a whole corporation, a division of a corporation, a single department, or a chain of geographically distant organizations linked together by common ownership.
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