Enterprise Architecture and the Cloud (2011)

This SNIA tutorial will explore the impact public, private, or hybrid clouds will have on existing enterprise architecture and also show ways that established enterprise architecture processes can help align Cloud deployments to business requirements. Enterprise architecture is a tool organizations leverage to ensure mapping of IT solutions to business or organizational requirements. Deployed too loosely an organization may not receive noticeable value and conversely if enterprise architecture is deployed too rigidly it can be actively avoided. If IT organizations do not alter existing enterprise architectures to allow for Cloud deployments internal users may choose to adopt services from Cloud providers independently of their internal IT and IT organizations without established enterprise architectures can receive benefits from not only exploring cloud options but also adopting established best practices. The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) and the Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) are the most popular enterprise architecture methodologies found in US IT end users and are also the basis for proprietary vendor and consultancy derivatives. Cloud deployments can specifically impact the Architecture Vision, Opportunities and Solutions, Migration Planning, and Implementation Governance phases of TOGAF’s Architecture Development Method (ADM) and the Service Component, Data, and Technical Reference Models in the FEA methodology. Enterprise architecture’s should leverage vendor neutral standards such the Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) that is designed to enable interoperable cloud storage and data management while allowing users to avoid lock-in by proprietary solutions. CDMI can specifically impact an organizations enterprise architecture strategy by: - Creating the option of federating data across multiple public Cloud providers, or a combination of public and internal/private Clouds (TOGAF Architecture Vision, Opportunities and Solutions, and Migration Planning phases & FEA Technical Reference Model phase) - Ensure data integrity so an outage at a public Cloud provider does not bring down an organization’s IT resources (TOGAF Architecture Vision and Implementation Governance phases & FEA Service Component and Data Reference Models) - Allow data to be moved into or out of a public or private Cloud seamlessly (TOGAF migration planning phase & FEA Data and Technical Reference Models)

Learning Objectives

Understand the goals of enterprise architecture, why organizations leverage established frameworks (TOGAF or FEA), and what can go wrong with enterprise architecture in practice
Attendees will walk away seeing the value in leveraging enterprise architecture best practices in any IT project but especially in Cloud deployments
Leverage established enterprise architecture frameworks to translate both the revolutionary and evolutionary impacts Cloud technologies can have on an IT organization into realizable business value to their organization