Enterprise Architecture [EA]

Across-government Enterprise Architecture [EA] is being developed to support the implementation of the Government’s ICT Strategy, Ask Just Once.

The value of EA stems from its ability to guide the transition of an enterprise from its current configuration to an envisaged future state. It does this by assembling a unified view of the enterprise’s business functions (current and future) together with their supporting ICT systems (applications, data sets and infrastructure). The current state representation is analogous to an annotated city map, identifying the location and characteristics of the shops and factories (the distinct lines of business), the electricity, water and phone utilities (the common or shared services), the road and rail infrastructure (the inter-connecting linkages), and the governing laws and regulations (policies, standards, guidelines). When augmented to represent the future state, it is analogous to a city planning proposal, identifying the need for new and enhanced service facilities.

The EA is used to orchestrate the transition process, identifying and prioritising business ‘pain points’ (micro level) while aligning agency architectures (macro level). Importantly, the EA helps clarify the complex web of dependencies and interrelationships that might otherwise obscure the transition path. This contributes to informed analysis and decision-making regarding future service enhancement. It also highlights the collaborative business-ICT relationships needed to optimise both customer satisfaction and technical efficiency.

In December 2007, the ICT Board approved development of the South Australian Government Enterprise Architecture [SAGEA] as a collaborative undertaking involving the OCIO (as lead agency), Shared Services SA and the ICT Clusters. It also mandated the Australian Government Architecture Reference Models (adapted from the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework by the Australian Government Information Management Office) as the default framework for the South Australian Government Enterprise Architecture.

Implementation of the EA frameworks is to be completed by December 2008.