Enterprise Architecture Framework - Non-Functional Attributes

Non-Functional Attributes (NFAs) always exist though their signficance and priority differs when considered with certain other functional or non-functional attribute. It’s particularly important to pay attention and consider them in the inital phase of the EA framework development, as these attributes may have direct or indirect impact on some of the functional attribute of the framework. Considering Non Functional attributes early in the lifecycle is important because NFAs tend to be cross-cutting, and because they tend to drive important aspects of your architecture, they do cause considerable impact on certain important aspects of your test strategy. For example, security requirements will drive the need to support security testing, performance requirements will drive the need for stress and load testing, and so on. These testing needs in turn may drive aspects of your test environments and your testing tool choices.

The Enterprise Architecture team will interact closely with all the other management processes in an organisation, especially the IT management processes. When all these processes work together effectively, an enterprise will be able to successfully manage strategic changes and drive business transformation effectively and efficiently. Often in organisations little thought has been given to the integration of the EA processes to the other management processes. Identifying and considering NFAs early on will certainly of help in proactively address such issues. Having a clear picture of the NFAs help the EAs in taking into account innovative alternatives or trade-off before presenting decision-ready options. 

NFAs play a vital role in defining certain atomic properties of each enterprise architecture framework. The challenge with NFAs is that it is difficult to trace and identify the same. It is also difficult to define metrics to measure its performance. Described below in this blog are the typical NFAs that need to be considered while developing the EA Framework:

• Adaptability – Be it people, process or technology, Adaptability as an attribute has never been more needed in the enterprise workplace. With the change happening at a faster pace than ever before, Adaptability is becoming a key attribute of every resource, including the human resouces apart from the systems. The resources identified as part of the EA Framework should have the the ability to accept and acquire the changes that is coming along. This way, the longivity of the EA Framework can be furthered with fewer or least changes to the framework itself.
• Compatibility – EA Framework will have many artificacts which are not only interfaced with the other internal artifacts, but also with the external actors. Making this work seamlessly requires that the interfaces shall be compatible with each other at all times. The EA Framework shall be developed considering this important aspect of compatibility in mind and any incremental changes should not lead to break the compatibility, so that functional performance of the same is not impacted. Considering the compatibility of the artificats in the initial phase of the development of the EA Framework will save considerable efforts than fixing it when a compatibility issue surface later in the lifecycle.
• Cohesiveness – Cohesion is the uniqueness in purpose of the system elements. A certain amount of formality is essential in providing uniformity and forming a coherent aggregate. This is critical when the components of EA Framework are developed by people both from a centralized EA team and from projects and programs. Obviously, lower level architectures should conform to the upper level architectures and unnecessary duplication should be avoided. Cohesion has to be considered in developing components or models describing a certain target area from different viewpoints. Utilizing a formal EA framework in an appropriate way is critical in achieving uniformity and cohesion in EA products.
• Conceptuality – The benefit of enterprise architecture (EA) management is directly coupled to the underlying conceptualization of the enterprise. This conceptualization should reflect the goals pursued by the EA management endeavor and focus on the areas of interest of the involved stakeholders. A conceptual model captures the essential concepts that are present or should be present in the specific artifiact or entity and thus makes the understanding or visualization of such entity easier and unambiguous.
• Coupling – It describes the level of dependencies between modules and components of the system. Loosely coupled systems minimize the assumptions they make about one another while still providing a meaningful interchange. Conversely, Tightly coupled systems have restrictive effect on the variability and evolution of the connected components or systems. The level of coupling that is appropriate for the particular system component shall be ascertained and considered while developing the EA Framework.
• Diversity – Diversity is the difference between the systems or components of the EA Framework in terms of technology, methodology, principles, process, environment, etc. Diversity shall be at the manageable level, so as to minimise the cost of maintaining expertise in and connectivity between multiple processing environments. The advantages of minimum diversity include: standard packaging of components; predictable implementation impact; predictable valuations and returns; redefined testing; and increased flexibility to accommodate future changes. 
• Dependability – As system operations become more pervasive, the enterprise become more dependent on them. Dependable systems are characterized by a number of attributes including: reliability, availability, safety and security. For some attributes, there exist probability-based theoretic foundations, enabling the application of dependability analysis techniques.  To ensure that all stakeholders at different level get the same understanding, considering the level of dependability expected out of the systems and components becomes critical. This will also ensure that the systems and components are developed and implemented as expected. 
• Extensibility – One of the capabilities of the enterprise architecture is to allow for various artifacts of prebuilt integrations to be extended without or with least efforts. Extensibility also ensures that such system or component extensions are protected during implementing changes or revisions later on.  It is essential to evaluate and consider the appropriate level of extensibility of each system or component that is part of the EA Framework in the initial phase. 
• Flexibility – It is a quality attribute of business information systems that contributes to the prevention of aging. It may also be considered as the capability of the enterprise to connect people, process and information in way that allows enterprise to become more flexible and responsive to the dynamics of its ever changing environment, stakeholders and competitors. This requires simplification of underlying technology and related infrastructure and creation of a consolidated view of and access to, all available resources in the enterprise.  
• Interoperability – It is the ability of systems (including organizations) to exchange and use exchanged information without knowledge of the characteristics or inner workings of the collaborating systems (or organizations). Clearly, making systems interoperable can mean many things. The strongest drive for interoperability is technical interoperability—the technical problem of sharing information that already exists in different systems from different times and places by enabling sharing, or at least providing connected technical services. Therefore, it is imperative to develop the big picture of what data the enterprise needs to share, to receive as incoming data and to send to other systems. Both end points may reside within the enterprise, or some may reside in external enterprises..
• Maintainability – Maintainability is defined as the ease with which a system or component can be modified to correct faults, improve performance or other attributes, or adapt to a changed environment. A fast and continuously changing business environment demands flexible systems easy to modify and maintain. Maintainability is said to be affected by; the maturity of the human resources involved, the maturity of the process governing change management, the quality of the systems' supporting documentation, the systems' architectural quality and the quality of the enterprise ecosystem on which the system executes. Thus, identifying and appropriately documenting the expectations around this attribute will certainly help implementing a better EA Framework.
• Portability – It is the ability of the system to run under a different environment without any disruptions. Portability depends on the symmetry of conformance of both applications and the platform to the architected API. That is, the platform must support the API as specified, and the application must use no more than the specified API. Documenting the level of portability expected early on would contribute considerably in designing and developing the systems in line with the target platforms or ecosystems.
• Robustness – It is the ability of a system to recover elegantly after failure or restart. Clearly, robust and easily modifiable automation is fundamental to achieving an enterprise’s vision for the future. However, such benefits don’t come without their price. Hard work and management commitment, both from IT and from the highest levels of the business are needed to build the kind of integrated IT architecture plans that will make the difference between success and failure in today’s highly competitive business climate.  
• Scalability – It is the capability of a system, network, or process to handle a growing amount of work, or its potential to be enlarged to accommodate that growth. Scalability, as a property of systems, is generally difficult to define and in any particular case it is necessary to define the specific requirements for scalability on those dimensions that are deemed important. The concept of scalability is desirable in technology as well as business settings.
• Security – With the ever evolving cyber threats both on the IT and as well as OT, security has become a very important NFA to be considered in the development of EA Framework. Considering its significance, the Security requirements ideally should be intertwined with EA Framework. Security must be designed into data elements from the beginning; it cannot be added later. Systems, data, and technologies must be protected from unauthorized access and manipulation. Headquarters information must be safeguarded against inadvertent or unauthorized alteration, sabotage, disaster, or disclosure.

Most of the attributes mentioned above are easily reckoned as Non Functional Requirements with respect to a Software System. Though Enterprise Architecture by itself may not be 'software system', it is a 'System' which depicts the blueprint of the enterprise's overall business activities with answers to the basic questions like What, Who, When, Where and How. Enterprise Architecture has multiple layers and implementation of software and IT systems is one such layer. To ensure that the stakeholders involved in different layers get the accurate view of the principles, strategies and guidlines, it is important to identify, analyze and consider these NFAs early on in the EA Framework development lifecycle.

Perspectives of Business Reference Model

We are all witnessing the steady progress of the Enterprise Architecture(EA) discipline and it is now well understood that the EA is not just about IT infrastructure and the Business Architecture(BA) forms an integral part of EA. Unlike in the past, when Business Architecture was used for the purpose of eliciting the requirements for the IT systems, BA is used to develop and describe the targe business model and work on a road map that will get the business towards the target. The Open Group, as part of its "World Class EA" series, has published a White Paper on the Buiness Reference with an objective of providing the need help to organizations in developing BA assets and plan for the future.


The Open Group has developed the Business Reference Model to facilitate description of a business model through the five perspectives. The following diagram provides an overview of the structure and content of the BRM:

Image Source: The Open Group's World Class EA: Business Reference Model white paper.

Environment Perspective:

The Environment perspective addresses the context within which an organization must operate. It describes the external factors, such as the competitors and customers for an organization, in addition to the pre-established strategy defined by the organization for market positioning. This perspective is intended to describe why an organization is motivated to undertake particular courses of action.

The goal of understanding the business environment is to provide a good contextual knowledge base that informs the creation of effective architectures in the Value Proposition, Operating Model, and Risk perspectives.

The business challenge is to gain and exploit insights into the market, competition, and customer base that allow the organization to position itself optimally (described through strategy).


Value Proposition Perspective:

The Value Proposition perspective describes the offering produced by the organization in terms of products, services, brand, and shareholder value. It creates a belief from the existing customer, prospective costumer, stakeholder, or other constituent groups within or outside the organization where the value will be experienced – usually in exchange for economic value or some form of compensation.

The goal of understanding the value proposition is that it defines the customer experience and sets shareholder expectations. The value proposition also provides a baseline set of needs that need to be fulfilled by the Operating Model perspective. 

The business challenge is to develop a value proposition that is able to attract a suitable customer base, fulfil the needs of the customer base effectively, and generate sufficient benefit to satisfy shareholder expectations. All this needs to be achieved in a way that is consistent with, and reinforces, brand image and brand values.


The Operating Model Perspective:

The Operating Model perspective describes the resources at the disposal of the organization that will be deployed to generate the value proposition. This perspective is intended to describe how an organization will be able to deliver on its value proposition. Capabilities are the core enablers to operate the business from the perspectives of people, process, technology, and information.

The goal of operating model design is to allow executives and planners to evaluate the business through a wide variety of lenses and viewpoints in order to identify desired and enhanced states of the organization.

The business challenge is to identify the correct alignment of resources that will deliver the necessary customer and shareholder experience. Typical trade-offs to evaluate when structuring capabilities include centralization versus federation, matrix organization structures versus vertical integration, core versus context analysis, and process alignment versus competency alignment. The results of these trade-offs will produce different levels of efficiency versus agility versus stakeholder experience across different areas of the business.

The Risk Perspective

The Risk perspective identifies the uncertainties that may surround an organization in its delivery of the value proposition. This perspective is intended to describe the threats that face an organization from within and without. Typically, organizations model their architecture around the known, repeatable aspects of business operations. However, within a complex and volatile environment, unforeseen circumstances frequently occur in ways that may be extremely damaging to the business.

The goal of risk analysis is to gain a full understanding of potential scenarios that may adversely impact the business and then to prepare appropriately to address those risks in the event that they occur.

The business challenge of risk modelling is to ensure that risks are adequately understood (it is a great challenge to test for completeness in an exercise of identifying unlikely or unforeseeable scenarios), the impact of risk is appropriately quantified (again, challenging to accurately determine when there is limited precedent), and the mitigation steps for risks are appropriate to the risk level (in many organizations, over-compensation for risk can be as damaging as under-compensation, as valuable business activities are curtailed due to risk concerns).

The Compliance Perspective

The Compliance perspective represents activities that the organization must carry out in order to assure that the value proposition is delivered using an acceptable standard of business practice. This perspective is intended to describe the constraints that prevent an organization from acting in negative, destructive, or inappropriate ways. In many cases, compliance can offer opportunities for organizations to differentiate, by being first to access new markets by being compliant with new legislation.

The Compliance perspective acts in a similar manner to the Environment perspective in that it influences across value proposition, operating model, and risk, constraining all activities of the business to be in compliance with standards of acceptability.

The goal of the compliance architecture is to adequately understand the compliance requirements that exist and to ensure that appropriate mechanisms are in place to ensure they are met.

The business challenge of compliance is to appropriately translate commercial, quality, ethical, legal, and regulatory constraints (which tend to be complex and open to interpretation) into a set of clear, unambiguous operational policies that can be followed consistently and at scale within a large organization. Interpretations that are too risk-seeking in nature will tend to generate compliance breaches, with associated financial and reputational penalties. Interpretations that are too risk-averse will tend to stifle business activities and reduce the ability of the business to change quickly to meet new environmental circumstances.

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This blogs contains excerpts from the white paper "World Class EA: Business Reference Model" published by The Open Group and this white paper is available for download.