Know, Want to Know, Learning about EA

​Prior to this class my knowledge of enterprise architecture was incredibly minimal. I am fairly confident that I had never even heard of the term enterprise architecture (EA) before seeing it on my course list. Based on my understanding of the words enterprise and architecture, I concluded that enterprise architecture is a system that organizations use to keep technology running smoothly.

After the first week of class, I was still struggling to comprehend EA.  The acronym-filled vocabulary in our textbook, An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture and additional assigned readings are abundant in business jargon and references that are somewhat challenging to transfer to education. However, I persevered--and even took a few notes--until I finally understood that EA is the practice of intentionally and strategically integrating technology into an organization's identity, function, and goals. Once I was able to grasp this, I began to wonder about how EA applies to my school district. I'm still trying to figure this out. It seems that EA is currently not being practiced in my district. I wonder who is responsible--the county office team IT or the district directors? I am curious to learn more about who is responsible for developing and maintaining EA in districts, including those without a technology director on the leadership team, and in general.

I have a lot more to figure out, but I have learned about the types of enterprises that effectively use EA and I am beginning to understand the five main EA frameworks. The document “A Comparison of Enterprise Architecture Frameworks” by Urbaczewski and Mrdalj was the most helpful helping me to acquire a general understanding of each:

• Zachman: a 6x6 matrix with who, what, when, where, why, and how on the vertical axis and the transformational views of planner, owner, designer, builder, integrator, and user on the horizontal axis
  
• TOGAF: most widely used with eight cycles in the areas of defining, planning, implementing, and governing
  
• DoDAF: includes three views: operational, system, and technical
  
• FEAF: focuses on minimizing risk
  
• Gartner: continuous process with focus on present, future, and entire goals
  

Urbaczewski, L., & Mrdalj, S. (2006). A comparison of enterprise architecture frameworks. Issues in Information Systems, 7(2), 18-23.