Frameworks and Methods
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How to Use TOGAF Without Becoming the Archetype of Its Adherents
I recently came across a post on LinkedIn about Enterprise Architecture. It started by listing all the major frameworks just to posit that a real practitioner must master all of them. This résumé disguised as scholarship never mentioned outcomes, results, or delivering value. It presumed the frameworks’ intrinsic value was what mattered, along with knowing… Continue reading
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The Latin of Enterprise Architecture: The Zachman Framework Is Historically Significant but Rarely Used
There’s a faint echo of Max Horkheimer in the Zachman Framework: that if we categorize reality with enough intellectual discipline, the world will finally make sense. The Zachman Framework asserts that the totality of an enterprise can be rigorously divided and expressed through distinct architectural classifications. It asks you to take an unwise intellectual leap,… Continue reading
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The Structure Behind the Practice: Enterprise Architecture Frameworks and Methods
In Defining Enterprise Architecture: A Practical Approach, we identified three essential responsibilities of Enterprise Architecture: Enterprise Architecture Requires Structure, Not Just Intent It’s a straightforward list—useful and accurate. But it’s also incomplete. That’s because doing these things requires more than just intent. It requires a structure and an approach. Enterprise Architecture as an Organizational Function… Continue reading
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A Brief History of Architecture Frameworks, Methods, and Methodologies
Enterprise Architecture, like any maturing discipline, is the product of evolving ideas—each a step toward translating strategy into technology execution. Since it is still an evolving discipline, it’s a good idea to know how we got to where we are. So before defining frameworks, methods, and methodologies in the next article, let’s look at their… Continue reading
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Enterprise Architecture, ITIL, and the Architectural Role of Asset Management
ITIL, the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, is a framework built on best practices for managing IT service delivery. It defines three types of practices: None of this obviously points to Enterprise Architecture. So why start here? Why Talk About ITIL in a Discussion of Enterprise Architecture? One possible answer is that ITIL includes something called… Continue reading
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Learning to Think About Systems Through Frameworks and Methodologies
I became interested in frameworks and methodologies early in my career, starting with a systems development methodology called Structured Analysis and Design (SA/SD). Ed Yourdon, a pioneer in the field of computer science, led the development of SA/SD at a time when managing large systems was becoming increasingly problematic. In earlier times, computational resources were… Continue reading