Foundation

The Foundation section of PEAF covers the artefacts that are required to instigate and gain approval for an EA programme of work.

Using these as a starting point allows a rapid definition and proposal to be formulated.

Once formulated, the board can quickly decide whether to pursue an EA initiative or not

Culture

The Culture section of PEAF covers the people aspects of Enterprise Architecture.

These products, coupled with the preparation work in the “Implementation” phase and the provision of training and education in the “Operate” phase, are the most important of all the products.

It is also the hardest to get right and the easiest to overlook, which is why so many EA initiatives fail.

Model

The Model section of PEAF covers the main artefact of an EA initiative - the EA Model. The EA Model is the bedrock of EA.

While people are the key to its success, the EA Model forms the backbone of an EA imitative as it is the main repository of information about the organisation, its objectives, Goals, Targets and Strategies.

The model is not meant to be used by an elite group of individuals. The more people use it, and the more people contribute to it the more benefit the organisation will attain.

Governance

The Governance section of PEAF covers the quality control which makes sure that either agreed principles, policies and standards are being followed, or, if not, that the impacts, risks and implications of not doing so are costed, understood, accepted and managed.

A key point regarding governance is that it should not be viewed as a policing environment where things are rejected and accepted or that penalties are incurred for breaking the rules.

The approach must be culture based, with the organisation (business and IS) understanding the reasons behind the principles, policies and standards existing and how they contribute to move the organisation from where it is to where it want s to be.

Prepare

The Prepare phase of PEAF is concerned with setting out the business case for starting an EA initiative and gaining the required remit, budget and resources.

The resulting EA Implementation Plan is born out of considering the Maturity model, deciding upon the level that an organisation currently maps to, the level that it wishes to map to, and the timescales in which it would like to make the transition.

Implement

The Implementation phase of PEAF is concerned with making the necessary identified changes and adjustments to the enterprise in preparation for it to be able to utilise Enterprise Architecture.

The work required to be undertaken is totally dependant on each enterprises specific goals and timescales identified in the Prepare phase of PEAF (which considers their current and target EA maturity levels).

Operate

The Operate Phase of PEAF is concerned with the processes of “doing” Enterprise architecture.

These processes are largely the same for all enterprises although they may change slightly depending upon the structure of specific enterprises.