1. Copyright Marina Arseniev, 2004.
Enterprise Architecture Implementation: Practical Steps Using Open Source Tools
Marina Arseniev
Enterprise Architect, Assistant Director
Administrative Computing Services, UC Irvine
Copyright Marina Arseniev, 2004.
This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the authors. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.
CUMREC, 2004

2. Agenda Challenges Enterprise Architecture - An Overview
The desired result…
Practical Steps – how we got to where we are today…
Enterprise Architecture Framework: Zachman Framework
Modeling, Knowledge Base and Ontology Tool: Protégé
And more…
Results
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

3. UC Irvine Campus Overview
Year Founded:  1965
2004 Enrollment:  24K students
Carnegie Classification:  Doctoral/Research – Extensive
Extramural Contracts & Grants Awarded:  $235M for 2002 – 2003
Significant enrollment growth expected
California State budget
Administrative systems must adapt
CUMREC, 2004

4. What is EA all about? A riddle!
Your IT organization a bowling alley?
If the bowling pins are the IT solutions you provide for your customers, what is the ball?
Hint: Objective is to knock down maximum pins with one ball...
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

5. Our Challenges Hundreds of systems - IBM Mainframe, Solaris, Windows
CICS/Cobol, Powerbuilder, Web/Java Applications, Vendor packages
VSAM, DB2, Oracle and Sybase
Lack of Real-time
Integration based on FTP = Time lags
Data inconsistency and quality issues = High technical and business labor costs for repair or reconciliation
Users use disparate systems, user interfaces = Training
New compliance regulations
Security threats
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

6. Our Challenges (cont’d)
Sophisticated business community that understands potential of technology to make serious business improvements.
Growing queue of projects.
Increasing complexity and technology choices for solutions.
Workflow, Imaging...
Complex project management became critical to mission
Project justification, selection, prioritization, sequencing
Extraction of common requirements for horizontal, reusable solutions
Enterprise Architecture (EA) Initiative identified
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

7. UC Irvine’s EA Objectives
Improve Planning
Help make more informed IT decisions
Reduce Complexity
Lifecycle management - To establish a process that is focused on building, maintaining, acquiring, and retiring technology
Improve IT to Business alignment
Facilitate the adaptation of technology to changing business needs and pressures in campus administration
Which technology solutions solve which business needs, and how?
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

8. Overview: What is EA?
A blueprint of an organization to analyze and plan changes.
The structure of (Enterprise) components, relationships, and principles and guidelines governing their evolution over time.
A strategic asset repository which defines the current and target architecture environments.
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

9. What do we have already in place?
Overview: What is EA?
New application?
What do we have already in place?
Impact?
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

10. Enterprise Architecture at UC Irvine
Desired result…
“Perfect” world...
goals articulated
roadmap, projects linked
technology linked
change strategy
Irvine’s model
Based on Zachman Framework
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

11. EA Planning Consists of
A standard methodology or framework
A model
A repository of knowledge (populated model)
A change management process
Business needs define application and required infrastructure change
Project-oriented approach to EA
Projects = Change
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

12. What is EA Planning all about?
If the bowling pins are the IT solutions you provide for your customers, what is the ball?
The ball is the project(s) that you pick strategically and organize into a roadmap for change!
Objective is to knock down maximum pins with one ball...
Before you can do that, you must understand your EA - business processes, information/data, and technology.
How?
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

13. Steps to start with EA
1: Create a list of specific questions, focusing on critical areas.
2: Identify senior technical and business people to gather knowledge from; their roles and responsibilities in the EA process.
3: Develop change impact analysis methodology
4: Choose an Enterprise Architecture Framework
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

14. Steps to start with EA
5: Choose a tool to model and populate Enterprise Architecture Asset Repository
Goal: easily accessible and maintainable repository
6: Plan communication methods
7: Document Technical Reference Architecture
Principles, standards, and governance
8: Enforce architectural control
Choose key technologies and standardize. Constrain new development.
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

15. The step that never ends…
Step 9: Incremental EA model development and population
Create and populate model as defined by questions
Define As-is:
Business model and processes.
Applications, data, components.
How IT systems support the business processes.
Project life cycle, SDLC
Identify desired enhancements to business as projects. For complex enhancements, organize projects into roadmaps.
Communicate, assess and track impact of change up, down, and across.
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

16. How were these steps handled at UC Irvine?
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

17. Step 1: Specific Questions
Our critical problems:
Life cycle management, governance
Link business goals, projects, and justification
Control proliferation and retirement of technology
Extraction of “Common Vision Requirements” across projects into patterns for reusable, horizontal components.
Application and data security for HIPAA and California State Bill 1386 compliance.
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

18. Step 1: Specific questions
How should we prioritize our projects and assign resources?
Why are we doing project X?
How can we “assemble” applications by implementing common requirements across projects into reusable, tested components?
How much reuse do we have today?
How many reporting tools do we own? What are they used for?
What technology should I use today for a web app and database? When will it be retired from our organization?
What data is subject to HIPAA or State Bill 1386 compliance?
Which applications use this data and how secure are they?
What technologies does this project use? What projects does this technology support? Touch points between components?
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

19. Step 2: Identify owners of knowledge, roles and responsibilities
Identified key IT people who also know the business.
People from business units (e.g: Human Resources)
Agreed on roles and responsibilities.
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

20. Step 3: Develop Change Impact Analysis Methodology
Need a change… How do you know which one, when, and how?
Analyze and articulate impact of change to business or technology.
Measure impact of moving from a current to targeted practice.
Freely available Sloan School of Management’s “Matrix of Change” tool. (
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

21. Example: Establish GUI Team
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

22. Step 4: Enterprise Architecture Framework
Need direction and guidance?
Many frameworks to choose from. Comparison at:
Adopted the Zachman Framework (
What is it?
A language that helps people think about complex concepts and communicate in non-technical terminology.
Planning tool
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

23. Zachman Framework Intro
Question
What How Where Who When Why
Data Function Network/ People/ Time/ Motive
Node Work Cycle
View
Planner
Owner
Designer
Builder
As built
Semantic model
System design
Business locations
Human interface
Timing definition
Business plan
Important things
Business functions
People and groups
Events and cycles
Goals and strategy
Process model
Work Flow model
Master schedule
Application arch
Distributed system
Processing structure
Business rule model
Physical data model
Tech arch
GUI arch
Control structure
Data definition
Code
Network arch
Security arch
Rule repository
Rule design
Business logistics
Logical data model
CUMREC, 2004

24. Step 5: Model and Repository Management Tool
How do I model and collect information for the EA?
Zachman Framework - powerful thinking tool
lacks technology for putting it into practice.
Storing redundant lists of “stuff” in Word, Excel, Visio was difficult.
Application lists, security information, critical business cycles
Stanford’s Protégé Knowledgebase and Ontology Tool
Auto generates forms for collecting information based on ontology and class definitions.
Generates HTML output
Open source at
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

25. Step 6: Plan Communication
Protégé minimizes redundancy, increases consistency
Meets Zachman Framework vision of storing an enterprise artifact in a single place.
Protégé and Zachman Perspectives (Rows)
Plug-in produces XML output.
XML processed using XSLT into appropriate presentations, per Zachman Perspectives (audience).
Open source XML and XSLT available as Xerxes and Xalan from
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

26. Examples:
Example of how we use Protégé to collect information for Zachman Framework.
Example of how we report from Protégé using XML/XSLT.
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

27. CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

28. CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

29. Example: Protege CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

30. Example: Protege CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

31. Step 7: Technical Reference Architecture
Documented principles, guidelines, and best practices of Architecture Domains:
Lifecycle Management
Adopt the “4 year/16 Quarter Sliding Window Methodology”
Identifies technologies that are “Approved”, “Maintained but not Upgraded”, in “Sunset”, “Retired”, or “By Approval Only”.
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

32. CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

33. Step 8: Enforce Architectural Control
Standardized on
J2EE & Expresso - an Open Source Java Application Development Framework - Apache Struts and MVC. (
LDAP Directory Services (
Open Source JA-SIG uPortal software. A Java-based portal developed by Higher-Ed for Higher-Ed. (
Single sign-on based on Web-ISO and Kerberos for campus-wide web applications.
Immediate benefits - reuse of components and metrics. Reduced skill sets and solution choices.
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

34. Step 9 – Putting it all together
Examples of how we use Protégé
Zachman Physical Perspective (Row 3) - Technology Life Cycle
Alignment of IT to Business: Link from Goal to Project to Technology, justifying investment and identifying gaps.
Tracking HIPAA and California State Bill 1386 Security Compliance
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

35. Status Use Protégé to model and collect organizational information.
Track security compliance.
Track common requirements across projects.
Justify investment decisions and vendor selection.
Create links between our goals, roadmaps, projects, and technologies.
Determine “touch points” between projects and technologies to assess impact of change.
CUMREC, 2004

36. Realized Value Technologies retired Reduced required IT skill sets
Database servers consolidated
MS IIS Web Server (except where required by vendor)
Clipper - February, 2004
Reduced required IT skill sets
Oracle DBA – due to limited resources, migrated off of Oracle
Java focus
Applications are database neutral (Expresso/JDBC)
Reduced development costs
Code reuse: Expresso objects, SSO Java lib shared between IBM, Solaris, Windows platforms, shared user objects.
Common infrastructure for development: LDAP, Workflow
CUMREC, 2004

37. Enterprise Architecture at UC Irvine
Desired result…the perfect world
Reduce IT complexity (and cost)
Reduce queue and increase timeliness of projects
Facilitate a strategic road map for change with careful project selection and planning.
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

38. What is EA Planning all about?
If the bowling pins are the IT solutions you provide for the customers, what is your ball?
The bowling ball is the project(s) that you pick strategically and organize into a roadmap for change!
Game objective: knock down maximum pins with one ball...
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

39. What is EA Planning all about?
Who (or what) makes
the bowling ball (your IT projects)
roll at precisely the right spot in the lane and
at optimal speed?
Your Enterprise Architecture!
Before you can bowl with projects, you must understand your EA - business processes, information/data, and technology.
Using the tools shown today you can start bowling tomorrow!
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004

40. Q & A UC Irvine’s EA Web Site: apps.adcom.uci.edu/EnterpriseArch
Zachman Framework:
Sloan School of Management’s “Matrix of Change”: ccs.mit.edu/MoC
Ontology and Knowledgebase: protege.stanford.edu/
UC Irvine’s Administrative Portal: snap.uci.edu uses JA-SIG uPortal software:
Reporting using XML/XSLT:
Java Application Dev. Framework:
LDAP:
Q & A
CUMREC, 2004
Presented at the CUMREC conference, May 2004