The Enterprise and its Architecture: Ontology & Challenges

Abstract

Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a set of concepts and practices based on holistic systems thinking, principles of shared language, and the long-standing disciplines of engineering and architecture. EA represents a change in how we think about and manage information technologies (ITs) and the organizations they serve. Many existing organizational activities are EA-type activities, but done in isolation, by different groups, using different tools, models, and vernaculars. EA is about bridging the chasms among these activities, from strategy to operations, and better aligning, integrating, optimizing, and synergizing the whole organization. This article: (1) posits that EA is about the architecture of the entire enterprise including its ITs; (2) describes an ontology for the information needed to holistically define and represent that architecture; and (3) asserts that this raises significant challenges for information system (IS) professionals, educators, and researchers who, like those in most other disciplines and professions, tend toward reductionist specializations.