A Framework for Assessing Enterprise Architecture (Version 2.0)


 A Framework for Assessing and Improving Enterprise Architecture Management - Version 2.0.


 Framework for Assessing and Improving Enterprise Architecture Management Version 2.0 builds on the prior version by introducing considerably more scope and content to accommodate the evolving and complex nature of EA as one of many enterprise management disciplines and the practical realities surrounding actual EA development and use. As such, this version of the framework provides a more current and pragmatic construct for viewing EA development and use. In this regard, it provides a flexible benchmark against which to plan for and measure EA program management maturity that permits thoughtful and reasonable discretion to be applied in using it. Restated, the framework is not intended to be a rigidly applied “one size fits all” checklist, but rather a flexible frame of reference that should be applied in a manner that makes sense for each organization’s unique facts and circumstances. Moreover, the framework is not intended to be viewed as the sole benchmarking tool for informing and understanding an organization’s journey toward EA maturity.
The framework consists of three interrelated components: (1) seven hierarchical stages of management maturity; (2) four representations of management attributes that are critical to the success of any program or organizational endeavor; and (3) 59 elements, or building blocks, of EA management that are at the core of an EA program. (See the figure below for a conceptual view of the framework’s components.)
Each of the seven maturity stages reflects those EA management conditions that an enterprise should meet to logically build on the capability established at the preceding stage. As such, the stages provide a road map for systematically maturing or evolving an organization’s capacity to manage an EA. The stages are: Stage 0: Creating EA Awareness; Stage 1: Establishing EA Institutional Commitment and Direction; Stage 2: Creating the Management Foundation for EA Development and Use; Stage 3: Developing Initial EA Versions; Stage 4: Completing and Using an Initial EA Version for Targeted Results; Stage 5: Expanding and Evolving the EA and Its Use for Institutional Transformation; Stage 6: Continuously Improving the EA and Its Use to Achieve Corporate Optimization.
The four critical success attribute representations provide different and complementary ways to view and thus understand the 59 core elements. The four are referred to as the (1) EA Management Action Representation, (2) EA Functional Area Representation, (3) Office of Management and Budget Capability Area Representation, and (4) EA Enabler Representation. Each provides a unique perspective on the focus and nature of the framework’s core elements.
The 59 core elements are collectively the EA practices, structures, activities, and conditions that, when properly employed based on the unique facts and circumstances of each organization and the stated purpose of its EA program, can permit that organization to progress to increasingly higher states of EA management maturity and thereby maximize its chances of realizing an EA’s institutional value.




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