ZACHMAN FRAMEWORK
The Zachman Framework was created in 1987 with a publication in the IBM Systems Journal discussing the challenge/vision of architectures that would guide the field for the next 20 years and manage complexity of distributed systems. Mr. Zachman thought success of business would depend on information systems as a disciplined approach to managing the enterprise. The idea of Zachmans’ vision was for business value to increase with use of a holistic approach to systems architecture that addresses every perspective of the enterprise. Zachman was instrumental in the Department of Defense creating enterprise architecture (Sessions, 2007). The methodology seems to be more of an architectural taxonomy that is a method of organizing and categorizing artifacts instead of a framework. The word” framework” does not adequately describe the Zachman Framework. The Zachman Framework method describes the relationships between charts and models design of a business system. “The primary strength of the Zachman Framework is that it explicitly shows the many views that need to be addressed by architecture” (Inmon, Zachman, & Geiger, 1997). The views are conceptionally designed for the users to understand. The ideas follow a concise roadmap for the enterprise to use as a guideline for business processes. John Zachman describes his framework as a logical structure for classifying descriptive representations of an Organization that contribute concepts to management of the Enterprise and development of its business systems. The framework can be used not only for IT but also for Enterprise engineering and manufacturing. John Zachman originally expressed his IT taxonomy relating to the building industry as an analogy. He used architectural artifacts with a two-dimensional organization, the multiple players in the game were one dimension, the (physical building) where the players are the owner (payer of project), and the builder (coordination of construction) are some aspects of the framework.
Zachman used different views in a six by six matrix. They address the what, how, when, who, where, and why? The framework creates a structure where organization can plug in more specific architectures that allow methodologies to work together and create a comprehensive technology solution. The cells may be expressed by themselves and reflected by a different design model and modified to fit the scope of a project.
Zachman gives an adequate description of the Zachman Framework methodology and concepts. He describes the Zachman framework as the following concepts that include:
Strategy - .The organization systems development effort.
Analysis - The requirements of specific detailed definitions for certain areas
Design - The requirements for specific application technology to defined analysis
Construction – The actual construction
Documentation -The preparation of user manuals used to describe the system
Transition - The implementation of system as part of the infrastructure of the organization
Product The monitoring to ensure continuation of business needs relating to organization. The product follows the aforementioned concepts in a unique manner that can increase value in the Enterprise. The concepts allow organizations a path to follow for architectural design from start to implementation of the product.
The rows represent points of view of different players in the systems development process and columns represent different facets of the process. The players are Scope (Ballpark view) that relate to nature and purpose of the business to establish context of system development. The Model of the business (Owner's view) is the business structure and functions/processes. The Model of the information system (Architect's view) will define the business described in step 2, in information terms. The area where row two describes business functions is perceived by the users, row three describes them specifically as transformations of data. The row two describes all things of interest to the enterprise, row three describes things in which the organization wants to collect and maintain information, and begins a description of that information. The Technology model (Designer's view) is a Description of how technology is use to address information processing needs. The Detailed representations (Builder’s view) are a view of the program listings, database specifications, networks constitute a particular system. These are all expressed in a particular language. The basic model of each column is defined uniquely, but related across, and down the matrix. The six categories of enterprise architecture components, and the underlying interrogatives that they answer, form the columns of the Zachman Framework. The Zachman Framework addresses what, how, where, who, when and why. The data description asks what and the function description asks how. The Network description addresses the Where. The people description address who and the time description ask when. The motivation description addresses the why (Zachman, 1987). From an article on www.sybase.com; the enterprise that has used framework successfully is Sybase. Sybase is an industrial leader who delivers enterprise and mobile software. Power Designer tool is produced by Sybase Company. Power Designer runs under Windows as a native application and. supports model driven architecture software design. This is how the Zachman Framework was used as concept for the model driven architecture. The Power Designer for enterprise architecture gives a model driver approach that aids in implementation of effective information and enterprise architecture. The Power Designer uses modeling to support enterprise architecture from business goods through implementation and use of link and sync technology that removes silos, increase alignment, and improve business agility. The Power Designer automatically captures the intersection between architectural layers/perspectives of the enterprise, where users from all groups can visualize and implement quick, reliable, and predictable change (Sybase, 2009).
The Malaysian education community also employed EA in response to the need to improve their information storage method. They decided that a digital library would improve their information flow, allowing individuals to work from their own separate terminals. They chose to employ the Zachman Framework since it was holistic in nature, involved all stakeholders in the development process, considered all aspects of the digital library design, and due to the fact that it could be applied to all domains. Data was collected in order to populate the digital library framework, in the form of individual interviews with the students, surveys, on-site inspections and analysis of student report quality. The outcome of this EA initiative was that the company was able to use the Zachman framework to help create an environment that supported the building of a remote access system to the digital library from home. This had the effect of optimizing the learning environment and allowed students to produce reports of much higher quality as information was available anytime at anyplace (Abdullah & Zainab, 2008). The risk reported are related to Cloud computing and the unpredictability of technology and the fast trends that relate to information systems. The cloud can present risks due to breaches within cloud and how hackers work hard to attacks in cyberspace. According to Session’s Zachman Framework is ineffective in addressing reduction of expenses or how to decrease business costs. Sessions says Zachman Framework is ineffective in creating effective governance. He feels the Zachman Framework does not address effective creation of the enterprise architecture. Another major challenge of the Zachman framework is its lack of depth/instructional processes, lack of a repository storing the framework in accordance with the integrity rules and lack of a popular modelling notation for all of its columns (Fatolahi & Shams, 2006). It is also not scalable as it generates large amounts of data. The good points are the completeness of the taxonomy method of classification of various architectural artifacts. This use of taxonomy sets Zachman Framework apart from the other architect designs. The Zachman Framework provides a holistic view and aids in identity of the gaps within the business processes. It is useful in commercial packages for various enterprises. Zachman Framework allows definition of artifact delivery by projects requirements of the architectural governance. The successful enterprise methodology will give improved focus and organizational goals and decrease number of failed systems within the enterprise. The improvement of agility of new systems and close alignment of IT deliverables and business processes allow Zachman Framework to be recognized as a leader in the architectural community. The Zachman Framework appears to be excellent as a starting point for the enterprise but can be difficult to follow for long-term usage.
REFERENCES
Abdullah, A., & Zainab, A. N. (2008). The digital library as an enterprise: the Zachman approach. Electronic Library, 446-467. doi:10.1108/02640470810893729
Fatolahi, A., & Shams, F. (2006, May). An investigation into applying UML to the Zachman framework. Information Systems Frontiers, 8(2), 133-143. doi:10.1007/s10796-006-7977-8
Inmon, W. H., Zachman, J. A., & Geiger, J. G. (1997). Data Stores DataWarehousing and the Zachman Framework: Managing Enterprise Knowledge. New York: McGraw-Hill. Retrieved Feb 23, 2014
Sessions, R. (2007, May). A Comparison of the Top Four Enterprise Architecture Methodologies. 1- 35. Retrieved Feb 23, 2014, from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb466232.aspx
Sybase. (2009, Sep 23). Retrieved Feb 23, 2014, from www.sybase.com: http://www.sybase.com/files/Product_Overviews/Sybase-PD-Zachman-Overview-072209-OV.pdf
Zachman, J. A. (1987). A framework for information. IBM System Journal, 26(3). Retrieved Feb 23, 2014, from http://www.zachmanframework.com/images/ZI_PIcs/ibmsj2603e.pdf