Tuesday, October 23, 2007 | 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

The CIA Case Study: Enterprise Data Architecture: It's Not Just a Data Model!

David Roberts, Chief Technical Officer, Application Services, Central Intelligence Agency

The US faces changes in the nature of our adversaries. Once there was time to find all the data relevant to a problem, now there is no time; once, topics being followed were quite separate and didn't require integration, and now integration is everything. With this backdrop, the Agency's data architecture activity has begun, with its goal of increasing the value of data to the enterprise. We've had to deliver results now, even while the enterprise data architecture is still evolving. Several strategies have been of key importance: our Enterprise Data Architecture Maturity Assessment, our Enterprise Data Model, our Master Data Management strategies and our semantics-based standardization effort.

Key Issues
• Enterprise data architecture's role in enterprise architecture
• Key strategies for enterprise data architecture success
• The role of the enterprise data model

Tuesday, October 23, 2007 | 3:15 - 4:30 PM

EA Tools: What on the Market, What Makes Sense for Your EA Program

Gene Leganza, Vice President, Research, Forrester Research, Inc.

The EA tools market continues to evolve -- acquisitions, new products, new entrants, expanding scope, and blurred lines have made a decision that has always been difficult now a dizzying consideration. EA program leaders who want to acquire a tool must understand two quite complex areas: 1) What tools, capabilities, and vendors are currently on the market? and 2) What does my organization actually need from an EA tool? As EA matures, the answer to the second question is becoming more complex as the EA program broadens scope and adds stakeholders with different needs, which makes tool choices all the more difficult. This session will lay out the vendors, tools, and capabilities available and propose an approach to determining how to match capabilities to the needs of your organization.

Key Issues
• What are the capabilities of the various EA tools on the market?
• Do the different tools target different overall approaches to EA programs? Do they target different organizational roles?
• How can I be sure the tool I select will be right for my stakeholders and my specific EA goals?

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | 11:15 AM -12:30 PM

Do Frameworks Really Matter?

Tim Westbrock, Managing Director, EAdirections

An EA Framework can be a powerful aid to launching and running an EA program but only if used properly in the context of a repeatable process. There are many frameworks available, so which should an enterprise architect choose? While there are many acceptable answers, some are more appropriate in a given situation, and none are perfect. Even the word "framework" is inconsistently applied, meaning governance, structure, methods, processes, examples and classification schemes in varying degrees. The path to an acceptable choice begins by understanding the answers to critical questions such as: what are the team's goals, how quickly are they moving, what cultural barriers exist, and most importantly, what is the evolutionary plan for the EA program? This session will provide an overview of some of the most useful frameworks, with recommendations on adapting these resources to define a practical and useable EA program.

Key Issues
• Clarifying the meaning of Framework: Taxonomies, Models, Methodologies, Process
• Strengths and weaknesses of major EA frameworks such as Zachman, TOGAF, and others
• Considerations when choosing a framework for your EA program

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | 2:15 - 3:30 PM

Architecting Federated Businesses

Stan Locke, Zachman Framework Associates

Businesses united by purpose or common objectives often have complicated organizational structures, critical integration deliverables, alliance specifications or detailed partnership operations, with no apparent central point of control, and need a form of Enterprise Architecture which addresses this "federated integration". Examples of these kinds of organisms are common in our society: Educational Institutions; Government geopolitical subdivisions such as provinces, states, departments, etc.; or Enterprises with dealer operations or virtual companies with specialized partners or continental expertise. Much of the architecture for these types of enterprises is currently based on technology and component integration, as evidenced by the high interest in provisioning of common technology services in Service Oriented Architectures (SOA). This session will illustrate how the emphasis on different aspects of Zachman's framework can extend this to a set of common federated business architecture services.

Key Issues
• Dealing with interdependent or other related organizations
• Who owns integration and interdependency concerns – business or technologists?
• How can organizational entities co-operate in the integration of the ideas governing the overall objectives?

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | 3:45 - 5:00 PM

Getting There and Enjoying the Trip: Using Roadmaps to Turn EA into Results

David Baker, Partner & Chief Architect, Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, Inc.

You've recently completed an Enterprise Architecture plan and have proudly displayed all your beautiful Future State diagrams. What do you do next? How do you plan to get from your Current State to that Future State? The answer is Transition Planning, sometimes referred to as Road Mapping. Roadmaps provide a high level, prioritized approach to realizing your EA objectives. They are crucial for ensuring that both business and technology stakeholders are on board, engaged, and part of the transformational team. They are a key input into your annual budgeting and portfolio management processes. Without roadmaps, your EA diagrams might just be the most expensive wallpaper you ever purchased…

Key Issues
• Learn the process steps to create a roadmap
• Discuss how transition plans mitigate risks in your architecture plans
• Learn how a transition plan is different from an implementation plan
• Why roadmaps should not be concerned about costs or resources
• Explore several risk mitigation strategies that should be built into your transition plan
• How to integrate roadmaps into your Portfolio Management process

Thursday, October 25, 2007 | 11:15 AM - 12:30 PM

Business-Relevant EA Models – Real Value, Real Opportunities

Sri Navalpakkam, President & Principal, Enterprise Architects Inc.

Have you ever wondered the value of traditional EA models and its business relevance? Is the EA knowledge repository flooded with an information glut and you are not able to make practical use of it? Many companies have mapped their IT and business processes into models and/or struggling to understand the real value of modeling the as-is and to-be state. In this breakout you will explore the process for creating tangible EA models with artifacts that help in formulating the future state and creating an actionable roadmap. This modeling exercise will articulate the linkage between business strategies and IT assets, at increasing levels of detail and will explain a proven ‘real-world' tested process to implement the roadmap.

Key Issues
• How to "Unlock" and/or create EA knowledge buried in existing knowledge repositories
• Extract the business and technology Models to drive future state formulation, execution and launch-sequencing roadmap
• How these models and its related artifacts influence the SDLC and project delivery process

Thursday, October 25, 2007 | 1:30 - 2:45 PM

Allstate Case Study: Enterprise Reference Architecture from Concept to Execution

William Beshilas, Chief Enterprise Architect, Allstate Insurance

As the Insurance industry evolves to keep up with ever-changing consumer and agent demands, Allstate found itself looking for ways to enhance it's core insurance platforms. Moving from legacy systems into the world of web and mobile based applications has forced technologists to look for new and innovative ways to integrate the old world with the new. The Enterprise Technology Strategy and Planning group created and has been executing a holistic enterprise technology strategy to change process, technology and culture to support the future state of it's insurance platform. The enterprise architecture group has adapted to the new landscape and provides reference architecture, shared services and advisory services to all of the major business units within Allstate.

Key Issues
• Discuss the challenges of blueprinting an organization as large and complex as Allstate
• Review the strategies for building and gaining adoption of an enterprise reference architecture
• Learn the techniques of keeping reference architecture "fresh" and relevant