An analysis of enterprise architectures using general systems theory

After repeated attempts to improve methods for developing the enterprise architectures used during complex Department of Defense (DoD) projects, consensus from project managers still indicates the architecture modeling process is costly and returns less that cost-effective benefits. A recent proposal from within the DoD to incorporate Semantic Web techniques into the process promises to resolve identified EA issues. The purpose of this study is to examine the proposed improvements using the Zachman Framework, regarded as a lexicon for understanding architectures; and systems principles as a qualitative predictor of the effectiveness of this approach. General systems theory is concerned with the wholeness of systems order not understandable by investigation of their respective parts in isolation. Conclusions of this analysis show that proposed changes should yield some improvement in the area of EA reusability, however, the methods fall short of incorporating major system principle aspects of hierarchy, and holism.