MEGA & the Zachman Framework - Positioning MEGA Suite™ against the very famous Zachman Framework

MEGA & the Zachman Framework Positioning MEGA Suite™ against the very famous Zachman Framework MEGA & the Zachman Framework MEGA & the Zachman Framework 1 Positioning MEGA Suite™ against the very famous Zachman Framework 1 Introduction 2 What is the Zachman Framework? 3 What does the Zachman Framework look like? 4 Zachman Framework benefits 6 Project scope definition 7 Checking project completeness 7 A learning tool 8 Zachman Framework & MEGA 9 MEGA Zachman Portal 11 MEGA Concepts mapping 12 Annexes 22 Annex A -Customization samples 22 Annex B - Usual definition of the Zachman Framework cells 24 Introduction This document positions MEGA Suite™ against the very famous Zachman Framework™. It provides a summary of what the Zachman Framework™ is and how the MEGA Suite is related to this framework. This document includes information from Internet sources, including John Zachman website. MEGA & Zachman page 2 What is the Zachman Framework? The Enterprise Architecture Framework (EA) frequently called the Zachman Framework, introduced in 1987 by John Zachman and extended by Sowa in 1992 (Sowa and Zachman 1992), as it applies to enterprises is a logical structure for classifying and organizing the descriptive representations of an enterprise that are significant to the management of the enterprise as well as to the development of the enterprise’s systems. It was derived from analogous structures that are found in the older disciplines of Architecture/Construction and Engineering/Manufacturing that classify and organize the design artifacts created over the process of designing and producing complex physical products (e.g., buildings or airplanes.) The units of the Framework can also be understood as organization scheme for all kinds of metadata involved in building and using an information system and have therefore become widely rec ognized during the last years. This Framework is intended being neutral in the sense that it’s defined totally independents from tools or methodologies and therefore any tool or any methodology can be mapped against it to understand what they are doing, and what they are NOT doing. The Zachman Framework cannot be considered as either a modeling language, or a methodology, or a modeling notation. MEGA & Zachman page 3 What does the Zachman Framework look like? The Zachman Framework appears as a matrix containing 30 cells, each of them focusing on one dimension or perspective of the enterprise. Rows are often presented as levels of abstraction involved in the systems development process, while columns represent different perspectives also involved in the cycle. However, these rows, really, are different dimensions, each one being candidate to some decomposition and realization layers, handling various levels of abstraction. Zachman and his followers established a set of rules for interpreting and using the original framework (see Bruce, 1992). These may be summarized as follows. • Rule 1: The columns have no ordering. No one is more important than another but focusing on one may have significant practical implications. • Rule 2: Each column represents a unique model. MEGA & Zachman page 4 • Rule 3: Each column is unique although they are interconnected. • Rule 4: Each row represents a unique perspective. • Rule 5: Therefore, each cell is unique (no item should show up in more than one cell). • Rule 6: Each row is a complete model from the row's perspective. • Rule 7: The logic is recursive and generic. MEGA & Zachman page 5 Zachman Framework benefits “There are four reasons why you do Architecture: "Alignment," "Integration," "Change," and "Reduced Time-to-Market." • Do you care that the systems I/S is producing actually are aligned with Management's requirements and warrant the expenditure of funds allocated to I/S? • Do you care whether the data in the Enterprise means the same thing to anyone who uses it, that messages can be cost-effectively transmitted and received whatever time of day or night or day of the year, and that business rules can be uniformly enforced throughout the Enterprise? • Do you care whether changes to the Enterprise can be made with minimum time, disruption, and cost? • Do you care whether I/S can produce "custom" implementations on demand, reducing their time-to-market to virtually zero? If you care about any or all of these things, YOU ARE GOING TO DO ARCHITECTURE, because without Architecture, you cannot do ANY of these things.” Architecture is an asset. You can save orders of magnitude more money and time, but you have to invest in Architecture to enable you to do something you otherwise are unable to do, namely: "Alignment," "Integration," "Change," and "Mass Customization." John Zachman Modeling techniques are the best way to efficiently manage enterprise assets. Powerful modeling approaches require a large range of modeling artifacts to be able to cover the entire scope of enterprise architecture. But, it is not always easy to know which modeling technique to use. The most common question asked by Business and IT architects when using modeling is: “where should I start from?”. And the usual answer is that there is no one starting point; it has to be defined on a project basis. This statement usually adds more confusion than it really brings any helps to modelers. The Zachman Framework is a powerful answer to these questions: by providing a global view of the multiple aspects of enterprise architecture, it offers a navigation tool that acts both as starter and a compass for enterprise modelers. It provides a context in which Business and IT architects can build a flexible, consistent information system, according to the strategy of their enterprise. MEGA & Zachman page 6 The Zachman framework can successfully be used as a tool for defining project scope, for checking project completeness, and as a learning tool for enterprise architecture. Project scope definition Most projects do not need to cover all enterprise analysis dimensions. The Zachman framework helps business analysts and system architects organize their thoughts about architecture and guides them to narrow the scope of the modeling artifacts required to carry out their projects. It is then easier to tackle the “where to start” question and to define a methodology path tailored to the project needs. For instance, rows in the framework identify types of stakeholders and the associated detail of information they require. Detailed SQL data types are not the right modeling artifact if the objectives is to build a map of core business objects. Checking project completeness Another difficult question to answer is whether any significant element was left out of the project scope. The Zachman Framework ensures all appropriate aspects are addressed or used as a discussion support tool. For instance, geographical location issues might be crucial for the project and must be analyzed at all levels of the abstraction stack: business process, IT systems, distributed objects. MEGA & Zachman page 7 A learning tool As enterprise architects get more familiar with enterprise modeling, they discover the benefits of having multiple dimensions for enterprise projects and how methodology steps can used to move from one cell to another. Model driven approach can be better enforced within project and increase their success factors. MEGA & Zachman page 8 Zachman Framework & MEGA MEGA Suite™ is a comprehensive suite of modeling products covering the entire scope of enterprise architecture. All products are natively integrated and operate with MEGA Repository. MEGA Repository is the heart of MEGA software providing share, storage, administration, reporting and security functions. MEGA Process provides capability to capture, optimize and document business processes. Mega Architecture enables users to produce functional views of their IT architecture in alignment with business process definitions. MEGA Integration, .Mega Development and Mega Database are used to produce IT system specifications for systems, workflows, components and databases in order to efficiently drive project development. Thanks to MEGA Repository all products automate accurate documentation and web site publishing to share information inside and outside project teams and provide the backbone for enterprise architecture frameworks. MEGA & Zachman page 9 MEGA Suite™ provides, out of the box, a complete answer for 24 cells out of 30 listed in the Zachman Framework.