Enterprise Architecture Best Practices

Abstract

Enterprise Architecture is a unique discipline whose origins are still a matter of debate. Many authors routinely bestow that honor on John Zachman’s “Zachman Framework” and believe it laid the foundation for EA as a discipline. However, researchers like Svyatoslav Kotusev claim that the origins of EA precede the Zachman Framework and that EA is a product of IBM’s Business Systems Planning (BSP) (Kotusev, 1986). If the origins of a discipline are not clear, there may be a lack of consensus on what it actually is. This has plagued EA over the years. There isn’t a universal definition for it. This being the case, one can easily argue that there is consequently no basis for determining how best to practice said discipline.