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Title: Building Enterprise Information Architecture: Reengineering Information Systems by Melissa A. Cook ISBN: 0-13-440256-1 Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR Pub. Date: 22 January, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $34.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.36 (11 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Very good introduction to what an EA is all about
Comment: Definitely a book to read to understand what an Enterprise architecture is and how to develop one. The book provides a step-based approach to get you to the point where a company can define its EA and how to evolve it. If you are looking for technical details you are in the wrong place. But if rather you want to understand the business benefits, then I doubt you'll find something easier to read on this subject.
Rating: 3
Summary: A Good Overview for the Uninitiated
Comment: Melissa Cook's work is best suited for the reader possessing little exposure to the overarching concepts concerning the use of modern information systems to support enterprise environments. Viewed from this perspective the book appears to be successful. The text covers several EA topics and issues in a simple, relatively non-technical manner. It also devotes, where possible, a portion of its space to the historical background concerning a particular topic.
For the contemporary CIO or VP of information systems/technology who needs to wrestle with the demands of actually building an enterprise information architecture, the prospects for Cook's book may be different. Such readers may well want to search for texts that drill deeper into the issues and challenges to be faced when building or reengineering application architectures.
Rating: 4
Summary: Focusing on the Business Layers of Enterprise Architecture
Comment: Melissa has produced an excellent, non technical book which outlines:
- the reasons for taking a business led approach to the development of Enterprise Architecture
- the potential benefits to business of investing in an Enterprise Architecture approach
- practical steps for doing it and overcoming common roadblocks
Some readers will no doubt have wanted Melissa to move on to discussing the technical layers, but I feel this would have diluted one of the key messages of her book - that Enterprise Architecture is primarily a business issue focused on the company's core data and fundamental processes. Technology comes a distant second.
If I have any criticisms, it would be on the suggested representations of the data and process models in the business layers of the architecture framework. My experience working with CEO's and business executives is that they automatically associate the look of these models as being "IT" and mentally switch off.
In order to effectively market Enterprise Architecture and obtain the executive sponsorship necessary to drive it forward, some other ways of representing this information must be found. Representations that the executive team automatically regard as being in the business domain rather than in IT's. This varies from industry to industry and between organisations, but one example that has wide acceptance is the value chain model. Portraying the ballpark view process classes as a value chain does not corrupt the message and can help achieve the buy-in that is so essential.
As Melissa rightfully stresses, a successful Architecture strategy requires the business executive taking ownership and ongoing control of these layers of the architecture framework.
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Title: Enterprise Architecture Planning : Developing a Blueprint for Data, Applications, and Technology by Steven H. Spewak ISBN: 0471599859 Publisher: Wiley Pub. Date: September, 1993 List Price(USD): $85.00 |
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Title: The Practical Guide to Enterprise Architecture by James McGovern, Scott W. Ambler, Michael E. Stevens, James Linn, Elias K. Jo, Vikas Sharan ISBN: 0131412752 Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR Pub. Date: 15 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.99 |
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Title: Enterprise Architecture Using the Zachman Framework by Carol O'Rourke, Neal Fishman, Warren Selkow ISBN: 0619064463 Publisher: Course Technology Pub. Date: 24 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $61.95 |
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Title: A Practical Guide to Information Systems Strategic Planning by Anita Cassidy ISBN: 1574441337 Publisher: St. Lucie Press Pub. Date: 29 May, 1998 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
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Title: Guide to Enterprise IT Architecture by Tony Beveridge, Col Perks ISBN: 0387951326 Publisher: Springer-Verlag Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $54.95 |
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