Enterprise Architecture
Enterprise Architecture covers Customer, Business and Information Technology perspectives:
• Customer Architecture from external and internal customer perspectives,
• Business Architecture and
• Information Technology Architecture (IT Architecture)
IMPORTANT! Please pay attention at “Information” word/term here because many people skip/miss it often, but it is one of the most important concepts from Domain Model(ing) perspective and Business (Information) Architecture - Information Technology (Information Systems) Architecture alignment.
There are different views in industry on how Enterprise Architecture is sliced and diced inside - we prefer and recommend using the following view:
1. Customer Architecture
- - Experience Architecture
2. Business Architecture
- - Product and Service Architecture
- + Capability Architecture
- People Architecture
- Process Architecture
- Functional Architecture
- Information Architecture
3. Information Technology Architecture (IT Architecture)
- + Information Systems Architecture
- - Data Architecture
- - Application Architecture
- - Technical Architecture
IMPORTANT! Quite often people do not highlight Functional Architecture, but it is also one of the most important areas together with Information Architecture.
NOTE! We highlighted only those Enterprise Architecture building blocks that are necessary to explain the overall idea – as you know there are much more building blocks such as Organisational Architecture, Security Architecture, and others.
Capability Architecture
Capabilities: Capability is the most well-known and well-described building block of Business Architecture that is also based on Domain Model usually described from people and process, information, and technology perspectives
Functions: And quite often Function is missing there but Function realizes Capability.
That is why we include Function(s) into Capability as well.
Functional Architecture
Functional Model describes functionality and consists of Functional hierarchy.
NOTE! The hierarchy on the diagram has 3 Levels only but it is just as an example and a real hierarchy may have much more levels.
Information Architecture
Information Model: First, we take a Domain, figure out Domain Model: Domain Entities, their Attributes and Relationships between them. For example, there are 3 Domain Entities: Product, Location and Market where we sell Product(s).
DEAD™
Concept
IMPORTANT! Second, there are 3 different types of Functions:
- Entity Function creates or deletes Domain Entity itself – Entity Lifecycle,
- Attribute Function sets or updates Entity Attribute(s),
- Relationship Function creates or deletes Relationship between Entities.
These types of functions are the essence of the concept. And when we talk about functionality, we talk about one or many Functions: Entity Function(s) or Attribute Function(s) or Relationship Function(s).
Example
For example, we create a new Product – it is an Entity Function. When we set a Product Color is Attribute Function. When we publish the Product to the Market - we create a Relationship between the specific Product and the specific Market – it is “Publish Product to Market” Relationship Function.
A Function can be performed by external or internal Customer in scope of a Product or Service or by Workforce in scope of a Process.
NOTE! It is a simple diagram for demonstrating the overall concept – a real example can be much more complex.
- People/Organization(al) Architecture: Describes actors (their Org Structure, People Skills, etc.), who play different Roles in Process Architecture and who create Product(s) and provide Service(s) for Customers?
- Process Architecture: Third, a Process describes a Sequence of Functions - WHO (Role / Unit) DOES WHAT (Responsibility / Function) and WHEN (Sequence / Step).
- Product & Service Architectures: Forth, a Product or Service is a set of Functions grouped together for providing business functionality to Customer(s).