Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
that will form the basis for the network architecture, along with standards
and frameworks that will be used to guide its creation.
The next few chapters will examine these overarching details, before we
dig more deeply into individual technological elements in the remainder
of the topic. This chapter focuses on the function and traits of an enter-
prise architect, information technology governance principles, and several
architectural frameworks that can be used as templates for developing an
enterprise network architectural plan.
Beyond Platform Selection
Many attempts at enterprise architectural planning revolve around selec-
tion of a particular technology as the standard that will be applied to
future purchasing choices. Such a “platform architecture” might include
listings of approved hardware platforms, operating systems, desktop con-
figurations, office productivity suites, content management and database
management systems, programming languages and development tool
suites, collaboration platforms, directory and identity management solu-
tions, and even mobile technology solutions approved for staff use or pur-
chase reimbursement.
Architects of commercial platforms may select a particular vendor
stack, such as Microsoft or IBM, for enterprise-wide standardization in
order to ease integration and planning. Open-systems architects may
select only a set of standards around which all purchases must be made,
with minor platform or application variation allowed at the user or facility
level if deemed worth the added complexity. Regardless of the particular
approach chosen, selecting standardized platform architectures can pro-
vide direct benefits that are easily conveyed to stakeholders:
• Economies of scale can be gained through aggregated purchasing
mechanisms spanning multiple business units that formerly pur-
chased technologies in an ad-hoc manner using locally directed fund-
ing. Enterprise-wide licensing and per-processor licensing models can
often save tremendous amounts of money compared to individual
per-user licensing throughout a medium-to-large organization.
• Applications are more easily integrated and tested, depending on the
level of commonality provided through platform specification. The
more elements of the platform architecture are shared, the greater is
