Intelligent Enterprise Architecture

Abstract:

Stakeholders in business and information technology (IT) enterprises are faced with challenges that result from technological changes occurring at accelerated paces, economic and environmental issues demanding immediate actions, and a need for more precise collaborative decision making. Consequently, chief executive officers are required to respond with solutions that can only be sustained if built upon solid foundations. This paper introduces Intelligent Enterprise Architecture (IEA) as an architectural style and technique that addresses current and future business and IT trends, along with the technological impacts of a Smarter Planet on enterprise architecture. The building of a Smarter Planet involves thinking and acting in new ways to make systems more efficient and productive. Thus, we describe an IEA and ways in which foundations can be laid for enterprises to address business complexities that demonstrate Smarter Planet characteristics, including instrumented, interconnected, and intelligent characteristics. IEA is composed of four entry points, referred to as IEA for Cloud, IEA for Social Computing, IEA for Green & Beyond, and IEA for Information Intelligence. Example applications of IEA are provided and include a utility client that reduces energy use due to data-center architecture improvements. We also discuss the potential economic benefit of IEA.

Introduction to IEA:

Chief information officers (CIOs) are responsible for enabling business and IT enterprises to seize new opportunities while managing efficient, secure, and resilient IT infrastructures [2]. To be effective, the CIO must consider challenges due to the following: 1) customer deliberations in their spending patterns; 2) the fact that citizens are taking steps to preserve the environment; 3) the impacts on IT strategy and investment decisions [3]; 4) the need for global IT systems to provide remote collaborations while ensuring consumer privacy and protection; and 5) the large volumes of data from heterogeneous sources that are available and that must be explored and converted into Breal-time insights[ [4].

While enterprise systems that may address these challenges are emerging, how are stakeholders to choose which IT systems to utilize? What strategies should they employ for short-term realization and longer term value of IT investments? How does the CIO ensure that business and IT infrastructures cohesively evolve while keeping pace with economic challenges and associated uncertain business implications?

As mentioned, IEA is an architectural style and technique that addresses current and future business and IT trends, along with the technological impacts of a Smarter Planet on Enterprise Architecture. IEA addresses each of the three questions in the previous paragraph with a definition, implementation planning, and governance of delivery models that currently exist while providing stakeholders with strategies for purchasing and transforming IT systems that are adaptable to changing business models.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce IEA and describe scenarios on how to apply IEA to address business challenges. In this paper, we refer to three termsVgreen, architecture building blocks (ABBs), and IEA entry pointsVand we provide definitions to clarify the meaning of these terms. The term green refers to utility (primarily energy) efficiency and process efficiencies that reduce waste and protect the environment. For example, workload virtualization is considered to be a Bgreen[ enabler that can optimize employee productivity, consume less energy, and reduce carbon emissions. ABBs are standard reusable elements of the business and IT enterprise architecture (EA). ABBs can be components or nodes (conceptual aggregations of component instances). IEA entry points represent both a starting point for defining an IEA and its specialized services (e.g., IEA for Social Computing).

Business Value Modeling:

Intelligent Enterprise Architecture Technology Framework (IEATF) :

IEATF for Green & Beyond:

Conclusion:

This paper has introduced IEA as an architectural style and technique that addresses current and future business and IT trends, and the technological impacts of a Smarter Planet on EA. This paper has started with background information on a Smarter Planet in an effort to set the context for the need for an IEA. The entry points were then discussed, followed by a description of how IEA augments traditional EA. The second half of this paper has provided usage scenarios of IEA and discussed in a manner in which IEA can be applied to address business challenges. The overarching intent of this paper was to provide reference material for individuals defining IEA solutions.

In summary, three value propositions for an IEA have been presented in this paper in response to three questions facing enterprise stakeholders. Let us consider the first question: How are stakeholders to choose which IT systems to utilize, given that numerous enterprise systems are evolving that may address some of the challenges presented by living in a Smarter Planet? One answer is that IEA defines the business and technology architecture that shapes and guides enterprise technology investment strategies and decision making for current and emerging business trends (e.g., IEA for Cloud).

The second question is which strategies should CIOs employ for short-term realization and longer term value of IT investments? An answer is that adoption of techniques such as business value modeling addresses business drivers, customer pain points, and various end-to-end implications at all architecture domains, including governance and management. In addition, applying an iterative approach and EA methodology for each of the IEA entry points drives business value as innovative solutions emerge from decomposition and analysis of the enterprise and its parts.

Finally, how does the CIO ensure that business and IT infrastructures cohesively evolve while keeping pace with economic challenges indicative of uncertain business implications? The intent of each entry point is to prepare the enterprise for Cloud, Social Computing, Green & Beyond, and Information Intelligence solutions, so that transformations are simplified and the solution process does not become disruptive. Each of the four entry points aligns business and IT strategy, and enables instrumentation, interconnectivity, and intelligence to monitor and maintain the business agility of an enterprise.