Enterprise Architecture is an approach to aligning business and technology resources to achieve strategic outcomes. It creates a Roadmap for how to deliver strategic goals in the best, fastest and cheapest way. By creating this roadmap, it bridges the gap between strategy and effective delivery.

We are often asked by clients what framework they should adopt when doing Enterprise Architecture work. When answering this question, firstly it is important to understand that many frameworks exist. The following list provides an overview of the main frameworks that we encounter.

1. TOGAF’s ADM
2. Zachman
3. Gartner’s Enterprise Architecture Method
4. Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEAF)
5. Dept of Defence Architecture Framework (DoDAF)
6. Australian Government AGA
7. SABSA – Enterprise Security Architecture
8. Business Architecture Body of Knowledge (BizBoK)
9. NIST Enterprise Architecture Model
10. ISO Standard for Enterprise Modelling (ISO19439)

Each framework has it’s own strengths and shortcomings. The following table provides a summary of how we have assessed each of them.

Terra Firma has experience applying many of these frameworks. We almost always recommend our clients adopt a hybrid approach that involves leveraging the best aspects of each framework, such as TOGAF for interoperability, Gartner for business architecture and NIST for security architecture. Then tailoring the framework to get the best value for each unique client yields the best results.

If you have any questions about Enterprise Architecture frameworks feel free to contact us.