Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Ministry of Higher Education

Al-Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University
College of Computer and Information Sciences

Chapter 5
EA Documentation Process

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012

Edition-Scott A. Bernard
Chapter objectives
• Learning Objectives:
• Understand how current views relate to the EA implementation
methodology.
• Understand how current views relate to the EA documentation
framework.
• See examples of current views of EA components and artifacts.
• Understand how future views relate to the EA documentation
framework.
• Understand how future views relate to the EA implementation
methodology.
• Understand how scenario planning helps the development of
future views.
• See examples of future views of EA components and artifacts.
An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 2
Introduction
• Current EA views are important to an enterprise in that
they establish or verify what resources (including IT) are
being used in lines of business to support the
achievement of strategic goals.
• This becomes a reference baseline much like an
inventory that then supports planning and decision-
making regarding the future architecture.
• Gives a view of the enterprise emerges that reveals
associations, dependencies, and performance gaps
between the enterprise’s business requirements and
current capabilities.

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 3

Introduction
• The current view of the EA is intended to show the IT
resources that are presently active in the enterprise’s IT
operating environment.
• This is also known as the “as-is” view of the EA.
• Depending on the amount of prior EA planning, these IT
resources may or may not be aligned with the enterprise’s
strategic goals and business services

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 4

Strategic Level EA Artifacts – Current View
• The current view of strategic level artifacts should be
updated only as changes to the Strategic Plan and/or E-
Commerce/E-Government Plan are formally published.
1) Strategic Level Artifact – Current Strategic
Scenario:
current view of the EA, the desired artifact related to scenario
planning is the scenario that has become the current planning
context for the enterprise and contains the current planning
assumptions.

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 5

Strategic Level EA Artifacts – Current View
2) Strategic Goals:
 IT-related goals must meet several criteria to be of strategic value:
achieve some element of the enterprise’s purpose,
result in an outcome within a scenario that is evidentable and
measurable,
not reduce the enterprise’s flexibility so much that other scenarios
cannot be pursued and/or threats to enterprise survival cannot be
addressed,
have enterprise support for implementation.
 “Improve global communications availability, quality, and
cost.” (The IT element is the voice, data, and video
infrastructure).

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 6

Strategic Level EA Artifacts – Current View
3) Strategic Initiatives
 Each strategic goal that the enterprise identifies is pursued though
strategic initiatives.
 Progress in achieving strategic initiatives must be measurable so that
the enterprise can manage the resources given to that initiative and
know whether success has been achieved.
• IT-related strategic initiatives are those which relate to strategic
goals in a way that enhances information flows, improves/integrates
supporting systems, services, and/or applications, or optimizes the
network infrastructure
• Strategic Goal #1: Improve marketing and sales information.
• Strategic Initiative #1-1: Begin sales data mart within six months
• Strategic Initiative #1-2: Consolidate marketing systems in two years.
• Strategic Initiative #1-3: Increase customers by eight percent in a
year.
An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 7
Strategic Level EA Artifacts – Current View
4) Performance Measures
• Each strategic goal should be stated in a form that
includes a measurable and meaningful outcome.
• Each supporting strategic initiative should include
measurable and meaningful outcome and output
measures. Outcome measures describe an intended
future state. Output measures describe levels of
activities/items that contribute to achieving an outcome.
 Example Outcome Measure: “Improve competitiveness by being no
lower than #3 in national market share across all product lines
within one year.”
 Example Output Measure: “Increase the availability of products in
retail outlets by ten percent within six months.”
An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 8
Business Level EA Artifacts – Current View
• Process Documentation   
• Methods for modeling business processes:
a) the Integration Definition for Function (IDEF) technique.
• IDEF-0 modeling is useful in showing linkages between steps in a
process as well as internal external influences, but does not indicate a
particular time sequence for the overall set of activities

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 9

Business Level EA Artifacts – Current View
b) “swim lane” diagram that shows activities in horizontal rows, so
as to identify areas of responsibility for those activities.

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 10

Business Level EA Artifacts – Current View
c) traditional flow diagram that includes events, decision-points,
and sequenced flows of the activities and decision points in a
business process

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 11

Information Level EA Artifacts – Current View

• Documenting information flows involves the development

of data models that show the structure and flow of data

in the enterprise’s business services and supporting IT
systems/services. 
• Data can be modeled and analyzed using “traditional”

and/or “object-oriented“ methods, depending on how the

resulting documentation is intended to be used.

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 12

Information Level EA Artifacts – Current View
1. Data Structure and Data Flow Diagrams:  
• Modeling Information Structure:
ERD

• Modeling Information Flows:  

Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs)
Uniform Modeling Language (UML):
(1) Use-Case Diagram;
(2) Class/Object Diagram;
(3) Object Sequence Diagram;
(4) Object State-Transition Diagram.

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 13

Information Level EA Artifacts – Current View
2. Data Dictionary / Object Library 
• Data Dictionaries are repositories for the data entities
and attributes that an enterprise collects and stores in
databases.
• Object Libraries are repositories for reusable objects.
From a technical perspective, it is the discrete pieces of
programming code that actually make up an object, and
that are being stored in the Object Library as a complete
reusable unit.

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 14

System & Service Level EA Artifacts – Current
View 
• The completed current view of the support

applications level of the framework may show:

(1) a lack of integration in areas with requirements for
exchanges of information,
(2) duplications of function,
(3) little or lots of vendor diversity, and/or
(4) where business requirements are not being met.

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 15

System & Service Level EA Artifacts – Current
View
1. Application Programs:
• It can show an overview of the enterprise’s current “suite” of
systems, applications, and supporting network protocols.

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 16

System & Service Level EA Artifacts – Current
View
• Technical Standards 

• IT applications should be selected based on technical

standards and protocols from industry, national, or

international bodies which have no bias toward particular
vendors or products.
• Standards for APIs, service functionality, and
software/hardware integratability should be documented to
assist in decision-making regarding the selection of new
applications and the operations and maintenance of existing
applications.
An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 17
Infrastructure Level EA Artifacts – Current View
1. Network Documentation
2. Technical Standards
3. Security Documentation 
• IT resources must be tested and certified for security
vulnerabilities.
• The related EA artifacts include:

 the development of system/network security plans,

vulnerability test reports,

disaster recovery

continuity of operations plans,

certification and accreditation review results

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 18
DEVELOPING FUTURE
ARCHITECTURE VIEWS

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 2012 Edition- 19

Introduction
• The future views of the EA are important to the enterprise
because they capture one or more possible business and
technology operating scenarios, which supports planning
and decision-making
• The creation of future view artifacts is accomplished by
using the planning assumptions in the scenarios and the
same documentation and modeling techniques as were
used to develop the current view artifacts.
• This is also known as the “to-be” view of the EA.

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 3rd Edition-Sc

Developing Future CONOPS Scenarios
• to envision several potential courses of action is key to
winning many types of recreational games.
• Developing several scenarios that capture a variety of
good and bad operating environments helps the
enterprise to think through its probable responses
(defensive moves) and initiatives (offensive moves) in
advance.
• It also helps to identify the resources and capabilities that
will be needed for those responses/initiatives.

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 3rd Edition-Sc

Updating Future EA Views – Version Control
• By ‘freezing’ the current and future views of the EA at
regular periods (e.g., twice each year).

• Without this type of version control, the EA repository

becomes a free-for-all whereby no one is sure when and
where changes will appear, and this will detract from the
perceived value of EA information

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 3rd Edition-Sc

Strategic Level EA Artifacts –Future View
• The documentation of drivers at the Strategic Level often centers
on those influencing factors that originate in the external operating
environment
• Strategic Scenarios
• Strategic scenarios can be added or deleted from the Strategic Plan’s future
view in response to changes in the internal and external operating
environment.
• Strategic Goals
• New strategic goals also serve to direct the development of future operating
scenarios, which should capture the priorities and direction of those new goals
• Strategic Initiatives
• The future view of IT-related strategic initiatives is intended to show the
changes that are being planned to existing initiatives as well as new initiatives
that will be introduced in coming years. This is valuable to enterprises that
have highly structured planning and budget processes.
• Performance Measures
An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 3rd Edition-Sc
Business Level EA Artifacts – Future View
• the documentation of Business Level drivers often
focuses on influencing factors that originate in the internal
operating environment.
• There are four general types of changes to business
services that occur:
(1) the introduction of a completely new process,
(2) elimination of an existing process,
(3) major reengineering of an existing process,
(4) minor improvement of an existing process.

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 3rd Edition-Sc

Business Level EA Artifacts – Future View
• Process Documentation
• Documenting approved changes to business services helps to
maintain “upward alignment” and “downward alignment” in the EA³
Cube Framework.
• Project Plans
• development of EA components may benefit from having a future
view of the PMP to show the implementation of system modules
that are envisioned at some future time.
• Business Cases
• The business case is unique in that it ties directly to the
enterprise’s budget and financial planning process, and as such
usually requires a review at least annually

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 3rd Edition-Sc

Information Level EA Artifacts – Future View
1. Data Models:
• Modeling Information Structure:
 ERD and Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs)
 CRUD Matrix

• Uniform Modeling Language (UML):

 future system activities (Use Cases),
 data process/structure (Class and Object Diagrams),
 data transformation (State Transition Diagrams),
 information flows (Sequence Diagrams)

• Developing future views of how information in the form of

objects will be stored differently helps analysts, programmers,
and architects to produce better logical and physical data
models, promotes application interoperability, and supports
plug-and-play EA components that are based on open
standards or a particular vendor product line.
An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 3rd Edition-Sc
Information Level EA Artifacts – Current View
2. Data Dictionary / Object Library
• Data Dictionary: The future view of a Data Dictionary
would show the changes in data standards and formats
that are anticipated to be needed as a result of
system/application/database changes.
• Object Libraries

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 3rd Edition-Sc

System & Service Level EA Artifacts – future
View
• Application Interface Descriptions
Descriptions of application software programs and their interfaces in
the future view provide an understanding of what will change from
what is currently in operation as well as what new functional
capabilities will have to be integrated.
• Application Interface Diagrams
Interface diagrams in the future view show the changes to existing
system, service, and application interface points.
• Standards
Technical standards documentation in the future view shows the
international, national, local, and industry standards that changes to
commercial and custom-developed services, systems, and
applications must meet.

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 3rd Edition-Sc

Infrastructure Level EA Artifacts – Future View
1. Network Documentation
2. Technical Standards
3. Security Documentation
4. Configuration Change Requests
5. Hardware/Software Inventories

An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture – 3rd Edition-Sc