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Contents: - What is EA? - Architecture curriculum - History of EA - EA now - What's the value of EA? - EA and business - EA and applications - EA and data - EA and technology | 
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What is EA?
Enterprise architecture (EA) is:
- A way to understand what the DOI does and how
- Models of how things work at the DOI
- Information in a form that helps managers make decisions
- A way to prevent reinventing the wheel
EA is not:
- Optional--it is tied to OMB funding
- Related to Star Trek--as this cartoon shows
- A flash in the pan--it has been developing for years
- A simplistic, touchy-feely solution--it is built on a lot of data, some of which has already been collected by DOI Bureaus.
Enterprise: Your business; whatever it is you're doing
Architecture: The structure or structural description of your business
Enterprise Architecture (EA): Can be in the form of models, diagrams, or text. It is a description of how the business operates. It describes how business processes and rules relate, how information flows, where work happens, who the users are, and what hardware, software, data, and security is used for the business.
"Doing" an enterprise architecture: The two-step process of evaluating the existing EA, then deciding how to change it to meet future needs.
EA is not an all-or-nothing program; you can streamline one area now, that you have funding for, and work on an unfunded area later, perhaps with the savings from previous EA efforts. EA only analyzes and recommends; decision-makers don't have to follow the recommendations.
EA is being driven from both inside and outside the department. We have spent millions to collect data that we aren't using effectively; by analyzing this data, EA makes the investment worthwhile. EA shows whether our investments are really supporting our mission, so there is accountability for time and money. The OMB is of course interested in that accountability, so the OMB has tied funding to EA efforts.
Read the E-Gov Institute's explanation of Reasons
to Do Enterprise Architecture 
. For a thorough overview of EA, see the "courses"
in our "Architecture Curriculum".
Architecture curriculum
In its 2002 report to Congressional committees 
, one problem the GAO had with EA efforts was that "…agency executives have historically not understood the purpose, content, and value of these architectures…"
The basic ideas of EA aren't hard to understand. The following "curriculum" explains some basic EA concepts in layman's terms, with color and pictures. As in college, you don't have to go through all these courses at once--you can build your education over time. It is on-the-job learning, so the only test is whether you can apply EA principles, such as efficiency and wise management, to your job! There's no requirement to "graduate", but going through all the courses will help you understand new EA developments, and it's a good start to becoming the local enterprise architect.
Course |
Prerequisite |
Description |
None |
Basic course, for a general audience. Explains what EA is, why we are doing it, and what projects it involves. |
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Architecture 100 |
Introduction to the DOI Enterprise Architecture Repository (DEAR), the data store for department-level data. For the manager who needs to know what DEAR is, but doesn't need to know the details |
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Architecture 100 |
Advanced course on architecture. Goes into detail on what EA is, why we are doing it, and what projects it involves. |
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Architecture 200 |
Advanced study of DEAR. (Does not substitute for DEAR training, but does put it in context.) For those who will be using DEAR or the reports it generates. |