Enterprise architecture (EA) is an emerging field that has the potential to transform the way businesses and organizations are run. The Center for Enterprise Architecture at Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), according to Executive Director Brian Cameron, is at the forefront of that movement.
“The center is becoming a hub for driving the profession forward and helping it to become a more established and mainstream discipline,” he said.
The future of the enterprise architecture profession was discussed at length at the Center for EA members meeting. The event, which was hosted by MITRE, a not-for-profit organization that operates research and development centers sponsored by the federal government, was held March 4-5, in McLean, Va.
Enterprise architecture is the process of translating business vision and strategy into effective enterprise change by creating, communicating and improving the key requirements, principles and models that describe the enterprise’s future state and enable its evolution. By integrating the various dimensions of an organization, an enterprise architect takes a company's business strategy and defines an information technology system to support that strategy.
The purpose of the Center for Enterprise Architecture, which was established in 2011, is to gather intellectual resources across Penn State to address open important research concerns and questions that span the design, functioning and governance of contemporary information-driven enterprises.
At the EA members meeting, Cameron said, the attendees discussed potential areas of research, education and professionalism in the enterprise architecture field. They also talked about an initiative to come to an agreement on a common EA career path, as well as an agreement on “what needs to be in a useful body of knowledge for the profession.”
“Enterprise architecture has come a long way in the past couple of years,” Cameron said. “The next several years are going to be crucial for the development of the profession.”