Alexander M. Ernst

Enterprise architecture management patterns

This article introduces the concept of enterprise architecture management (EAM) patterns, a pattern based approach for EA management. Three different types of patterns are presented. M-Patterns document proven-practice methodologies to address typical problems in EA management. V-Patterns represent best-practice visualizations, whereas I-Patterns indicate information requirements for EA management. These patterns build up a pattern language for EA management, with an excerpt given in this article.

Using Enterprise Architecture Management Patterns to Complement TOGAF

The design of an Enterprise Architecture (EA) management function for an enterprise is no easy task. Various frameworks exist as well as EA management tools, which promise to deliver guidance for performing EA management. Nevertheless, the approaches presented by them stay either on a level too abstract to provide realization support or are far too generic, neglecting enterprise-specific EA related concerns. In this article, we discuss the architecture framework of The Open Group (TOGAF) and detail on its promising but nevertheless highly generic architecture development method (ADM). This article shows how the generic development steps can be complemented by a pattern based approach to EA management providing guidance for addressing specific EA related concerns with step-by-step methodologies as well as with corresponding viewpointsand information models.

Generating Visualizations of Enterprise Architectures using Model Transformations

Giving account to the importance of enterprise architecture (EA) modeling, we identify issues in visualization handling that we came across during an extensive survey of existing tools for EA management. We then point to the fundamental principles of software cartography, an approach for EA modeling, including a method for the automatic creation of visualizations based on EA models. This approach is based on model transformations, which link the data to be visualized and their graphical representation, thereby circumventing the error-prone and time-consuming task of manual creation of the visual models. A brief overview of a prototypic implementation of this approach illustrates the practical applicability for visual modeling and documenting EA.

An Information Model for Landscape Management --- Discussing Temporality Aspects

Planning, managing, and maintaining the evolution of the application landscape is a focal point of enterprise architecture (EA) management. Whereas, planning the evolution of business support provided by the business applications is understood as one challenge to be addressed in landscape management, another challenge arises in the context of traceability of management decisions. This paper discusses the requirements regarding support for landscape management as risen by practitioners from industry, gathered in an extensive survey during which the tool support for EA management was analyzed. Thereby, a lack of support for this management discipline was discovered, which is caused by the way, application landscapes are modeled in tools. We subsequently discuss how to incorporate these requirements into an information model.

Enterprise Architecture Management Patterns -- Exemplifying the Approach

Enterprise Architecture (EA) management has been gaining importance in organizations, and while EA management frameworks provide a holistic and generic view on the subject, organizations introducing EA management are often left alone regarding the details of the approach. The EAM Pattern Catalog, presented in this article, is a collection of best practices for addressing specific concerns in EA management related to e.g. architectural standardization, application landscape planning, or interface, business object, and service management. It provides methodologies for addressing these concerns, together with information models defining the relevant concepts, and viewpoints for visualizing them. This article describes the structure and extent of the EAM Pattern Catalog, and exemplifies its approach by outlining EAM patterns for addressing architectural standardization. Architectural standardization tries to tackle the complexity of the EA created by historically grown structures. These structures lead to disadvantages as low maintainability, low bargaining power at IT suppliers, or the need of largely diverse skills in the IT workforce.

How to make your enterprise architecture management endeavor fail

Enterprise architecture (EA) management is one of the major challenges of modern enterprises. It aims at aligning business and IT in order to optimize their interaction. In contrast to other EAM patterns, which document proven-practices concerning methodologies (M-Pattern), viewpoints (V-Pattern), or information models (I-Pattern), this article includes two anti patterns for EA management. Anti patterns detail on typical mistakes in EA management, and present revised solutions, which help pattern users to prevent these pitfalls. While the first anti pattern Oversized Information Model deals with problems arising from the usage of a giant information model, the second anti pattern Missing Legend shows why every visualization should provide a legend.

An Information Model Capturing the Managed Evolution of Application Landscapes

Projects are the executors of organizational change and hence in charge of the managed evolution of the application landscape in the context of enterprise architecture (EA) management. Although the aforementioned fact is widely agreed upon, no generally accepted information model addressing the challenges arising in the context of future planning and historization of management decisions concerning projects yet exists. This paper addresses this challenge by identifying requirements regarding an information model for linking projects and application landscape management concepts from an extensive survey, during which the demands from practitioners and the existing tool support for EA management were analyzed. Furthermore, we discuss the shortcomings of existing approaches to temporal landscape management in literature and propose an information model capable of addressing the identified requirements by taking related modeling techniques from nearby disciplines into account.