DNC's Enterprise Architecture practice depicts EA as the organizing logic for core processes and infrastructures, reflecting the enterprises' desired level of integration and standardization. Building IT in line with the EA then meets the immediate needs in a way that addresses the enterprises' strategic needs. The Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 mandated that every government agency have an IT architecture, defined as an integrated framework for evolving or maintaining existing information technology and acquiring new information technology to achieve the agency’s strategic goals and information management goals.
Data Networks Corporation takes an integrated approach to both the business or mission of the organization and IT so that the enterprise architecture we develop provides a holistic view of the enterprise and captures the essentials of the business, IT, and its evolution. The underlying idea is that the essentials of the business are much more stable than specific solutions that are employed for the problems at hand. Thus, the enterprise architecture is helpful in safeguarding the essentials of the business, while allowing the maximum flexibility and agility in the selection of IT solutions and adoption of technologies.
Regardless of the framework prescribed and used, our approach effectively distinguishes between what is part of the enterprise architecture (an essential) and what is merely an implementation within that architecture. By separating what can be changed and what can be filled in more freely, we can guarantee that the architecture actually helps in achieving essential business objectives. Since architectures need to accommodate changes (e.g., operating environment changes, new technologies, or new insights as to what is essential to the business), our approach includes proven techniques for describing, analyzing, and communicating what fulfills the needs of the different types of stakeholders in the architecture.
Our Company's offerings in this practice include:
- EA Program Development and Management
- Modeling and Artifact Development
- Transition Plan Development
- Segment Architecture Development/FSAM
- Architecture Repository and Website Development & Maintenance
- EA Maturity Assessments (OMB, GAO)
- Selection and Application of Architecture Frameworks (FEAF, DODAF, TOGAF, Zachman)
- EA Tool Expertise (Troux, IBM Systems Architect, SPARC) and others
