EAMML, SyCaTool

Enterprise architecture (EA) management is a commonly accepted means to guide the evolution of an enterprise in a holistic way, thereby targeting to increase the alignment of business and IT. Furthermore, EA management is widely alluded to as important management function to cope with the increasing complexity of the company’s structures and the challenging environmental changes [Ro06; Wa05]. The aforementioned relevance is also reflected by the plurality of approaches [Sc08] and frameworks (see e.g. [OG09]) that make prescriptions how EA management should be conducted in an enterprise. Many of these approaches nevertheless admit, that the implementation of an EA management function in an enterprise needs to account for organizational specificities of the enterprise as well as for the major EA-pain points that should be addressed by EA management.

Going beyond the notion of adapting a framework, Buckl et al. propose in [Bu07] a pattern-based approach towards EA management. With this approach it becomes possible to develop an enterprise-specific EA management function that optimally suites the enterprise environment and addresses the specific needs of the using company. The approach centers around the concept of the EAM patterns, of which a subtype called methodology pattern provides prescriptions on process and roles that can be applied during or are involved in EA management.

The EA Management Method Library (EAMML) builds on the aforementioned pattern-based approach and further details the method descriptions towards process fragments. These fragments expose configuration points that allow for the adaptation of the overall process, which can be composed from selected and configured fragments. This central idea of the EAMML thereby mirrors related configurability and adaptability means as developed in the field of software engineering, most notably the frameworks of V-model XT and SPEM.
In this guided research, the framework SPEM [OM08] should be analyzed in respect to its suitability for describing configurable building-blocks (method fragments) for an EA management method. Further, an existing eclipse-based implementation of the SPEM method is used as a platform for prototypically realizing distinct management method fragments for supporting the configuration and execution of an enterprise-specific EA management process.

• [Bu07]    Buckl, S. et al.: A pattern based Approach for constructing Enterprise Architecture Management Information Models. In Wirtschaftsinformatik 2007. Pages 145 – 162. Karlsruhe, Germany. 2007. Universitätsverlag Karlsruhe.
• [OG09]    The Open Group: TOGAF ”Enterprise Edition” Version 9. http://www. togaf.org (cited 2009-07-10). 2009.
• [OM08]    OMG: Software & Systems Process Engineering Meta-Model Specification, version 2.0 (formal/2008-04-01). 2008.
• [Ro06]    Ross, J. W.; Weill, P.; Robertson, D. C.: Enterprise Architecture as Strategy. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts, USA 2006.
• [Sc08]    Schönherr, M.: Towards a common terminology in the discipline of Enterprise Architecture. In (Aier, S.; Johnson, P.; Schelp, J., Hrsg.): Pre-Proceedings of the 3rd Workshop on Trends in Enterprise Architecture Research. Pages 107 – 123. Sydney, Australia. 2008.
• [Wa05]    Wagter, R. et al.: Dynamic Enterprise Architecture: How to Make It Work. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey 2005.