Zachman Framework

The Zachman Framework is an enterprise ontology and is a fundamental structure for Enterprise Architecture which provides a formal and structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise. The ontology is a two dimensional classification schema that reflects the intersection between two historical classifications. The first are primitive interrogatives: What, How, When, Who, Where, and Why. The second is derived from the philosophical concept of reification, the transformation of an abstract idea into an instantiation. The Zachman Framework reification transformations are: Identification, Definition, Representation, Specification, Configuration and Instantiation.John Zachman’s co-author John Sowa proposed the additions of the Scope perspective of the ‘planner’ (bounding lists common to the enterprise and its environment) and the Detailed Representation perspective of the ‘sub-contractor’ (being the out of context vendor solution components). The Who, When and Why columns were brought into public view, the notion of the four levels of metaframeworks and a depiction of integration associations across the perspectives were all outlined in the paper. Keri Anderson Healey assisted by creating a model of the models (the framework metamodel) which was also included in the article.TEAF Matrix of Views and Perspectives.Framework for EA Direction, Description, and Accomplishment Overview.TEAF Products.TEAF Work Products for EA Direction, Description, and Accomplishment.EAP mapped to the Zachman Framework, 1999Mapping the C4ISR, 1999DoD Products Map to the Zachman Framework Cells, 2003.Mapping a part of the DoDAF, 2007.NIST Enterprise Architecture Model.C4ISR AE, 1997.DOE AE, 1998.DODAF, 2003.Integrated Process Flow for VA IT Projects (2001)VA Zachman Framework PortalVA EA Repository Introduction (2008)A Tutorial on the Zachman Architecture Framework The Zachman Framework is an enterprise ontology and is a fundamental structure for Enterprise Architecture which provides a formal and structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise. The ontology is a two dimensional classification schema that reflects the intersection between two historical classifications. The first are primitive interrogatives: What, How, When, Who, Where, and Why. The second is derived from the philosophical concept of reification, the transformation of an abstract idea into an instantiation. The Zachman Framework reification transformations are: Identification, Definition, Representation, Specification, Configuration and Instantiation. The Zachman Framework is not a methodology in that it does not imply any specific method or process for collecting, managing, or using the information that it describes.; rather, it is an ontology whereby a schema for organizing architectural artifacts (in other words, design documents, specifications, and models) is used to take into account both who the artifact targets (for example, business owner and builder) and what particular issue (for example, data and functionality) is being addressed. The framework is named after its creator John Zachman, who first developed the concept in the 1980s at IBM. It has been updated several times since.