Ref: http://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Federated_Architecture#nid2VTH
Suggest changing
technical definition of Federated
Architecture
Proposed:
Federated
Enterprise Architecture: A collective set of organizational
architectures
(as defined by the enterprise scope), operating collaboratively within
the
concept of federalism,
in which
governance is divided between a central authority and constituent units
balancing organizational autonomy with enterprise needs. The central
authority’s architecture focuses on the dynamics of economies of scale,
standards, and the well being of the enterprise, while constituent
units’
architecture has the flexibility to pursue autonomous strategies and
independent processes.
Rationale:
To the point why was the
verb “federated” added
to enterprise architecture? To address a complex or multi-mission
enterprise
that has multiple enterprise architectures functioning as a
collective. A
Federated Enterprise Architecture embraces the concept of Federalism –
“A system of government in which
power
is divided between a central authority and constituent political units”
Webster
The principles of
Federalism can be gleamed from the Federalist
Papers or, for a more contemporary view, from an excellent discussion
of
Federalist concepts in business, Charles Handy’s “Balancing
Corporate Power: A New Federalist Paper”, Harvard Business Review,
Nov-Dec 1992. He proposes guiding principles that embody
Federalism. With great liberty, these principles have been interpreted
in
the context of Enterprise Architecture as -
- Heightened emphasis on
Governance – Shared Power
- Integration and
acceptance of multiple Enterprise Architectures
- Focus on cross-functional
processes and standards by the “Parent” organization
- Focus on unique or less
frequently occurring functions by supporting organizations
The key characteristic is
the balancing of control (i.e.,
power) between “Headquarters” and the quasi autonomous
organizational units with the implied goal of a flexible and adaptive
pluralistic enterprise that is sustainable. This requires an alliance
based on trust and common goals (Handy, 1992).
In the author’s opinion
there are two Federated
Enterprise Architectures that faithfully embrace the concept of
Federalism
these are:
In addition there is an
interesting discussion of Federated
Architecture in support of supply chains –
While the definition
originally proposed in the CAF does
embrace some of the key characteristics of Federalism, the focus on
LOBs is misguided.
While a LOB can have an architecture, it is not an Enterprise
Architecture. The term “Enterprise” is more expansive and is
organizationally
based (see definition for Enterprise in the glossary forum). The whole
concept of Federalism is a collection of organizational units operating
collaboratively not a line of business. Further there is insufficient
emphasis on Governance. In a separate topic, an alternative definition
is
proposed for consideration.
Edward Newman
(Matt)
Information
Resources Management
College
National
Defense University
(202) 685-2693