Comparison between the top enterprise architecture frameworks

 

The discussion above presented a realistic view and analysis of the four most prominent EA frameworks from a pragmatic, practical standpoint. A comparison of the top four EA frameworks is briefly summarised in Figure 1

So, which one of them is worse? As it is evident from the comparison provided in Figure 1, none of the top four EA frameworks is substantiated by anyone’s genuine best practices; all of them represent merely renovated replicas of some earlier architecture planning methodologies that were once advertised by consultancies but proved impractical and vanished, except for the Zachman Framework, which represents a superficial attempt to improve on one of those methodologies. All these frameworks also advocate simplistic ideas inspired by classic engineering-style thinking manifested in formalised documentation or step-by-step processes unsuitable for real organisations with their dynamism, social nature and enormous complexity. Each of the famous EA frameworks also caused noticeable damage to organisations trying to use them in the form of wasted money and efforts, even when these frameworks were tailored specifically for concrete organisations, as in the case of FEAF and DoDAF. Needless to say, each of them promised infinitely more than it has actually delivered, if anything at all. For this reason, it would be fair to conclude that these EA frameworks are all worse.

Even though none of the top four EA frameworks proved useful, each of them is still actively advertised as some form of ‘best practice’ by its salesmen: the Zachman Framework has ‘profound significance in putting definition around enterprise architecture’, FEAF and DoDAF have ‘proven to have immediate applicability’ and ‘are very powerful frameworks’, while TOGAF is ‘a proven enterprise architecture methodology’ and ‘the most prominent and reliable enterprise architecture standard’. Generally, the entire stream of EA frameworks is driven by commercial interests, rather than common sense. Numerous consultancies, vendors and gurus tout EA frameworks for their own pecuniary purposes, regardless of their detrimental effects on the EA discipline.

Overall, the phenomenon of EA frameworks most certainly is a grand management fad that was shamefully swallowed by the EA community. Moreover, it arguably represents one of the most ridiculous fads in the history of management, or ‘the fad of the century’, which proposed so few new ideas relative to the previously existing approaches, wasted so much money in organisations globally, brought so little value to practice and, taking all that into account, is still not unanimously acknowledged as a fad. Even worse, instead of being rejected outright as impractical and forgotten, EA frameworks slowly get institutionalised into the fabric of society in the form of university courses and prerequisite certifications for architects, perpetuating themselves and causing permanent cognitive dissonance between rhetoric and reality throughout the EA community.

As it requires a rich imagination, unshakeable faith or strong commercial motivation to find any resemblance between how successful EA practices actually work and what popular EA frameworks prescribe, these frameworks do not deserve to be discussed seriously, but only to be derided and thrown out. Do not try to implement EA frameworks and, please, beware of the next fads!