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INFORMATION SYSTEMS
ARCHITECTURE - ISA by John Zachman |
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Zachman's framework for information systems architecture - first proposed in 1987 and later extended in 1992 - is a widely used approach for developing and/or documenting an enterprise-wide information systems architecture. Zachman based his framework on practices in traditional architecture and engineering. This resulted in an approach which on the vertical axis provides multiple perspectives of the overall architecture and on the horizontal axis a classification of the various artifacts of the architecture.
The purpose of the framework is to provide a basic structure which supports the organization, access, integration, interpretation, development, management, and changing of a set of architectural representations of the organizations information systems. Such objects or descriptions of architectural representations are usually referred to as Artifacts.
The framework, then, can contain global plans as well as technical details, lists and charts as well as natural language statements. Any appropriate approach, standard, role, method, technique, or tool may be placed in it. In fact, the framework can be viewed as a tool to organize any form of meta-data for the enterprise.
The diagram below represents the entire Zachman framework. The original dimensions - Data, Function, and Network - are labeled in blue. The dimensions added in 1992 - People, Time, and Motivation - are labeled in red. You'll find that the newly added dimensions are far less developed than the original three. This may be because these dimensions have not traditionally been part of the systems development discipline. However, they are not new to business managers and will likely become more specific in the near future.
Each cell in the framework, as well as the labels on the top and left side, can be selected for more information.
DATA | FUNCTION | NETWORK | PEOPLE | TIME | MOTIVATION | |
SCOPE | ![]() |
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ENTERPRISE MODEL |
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SYSTEM MODEL |
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TECHNOLOGY MODEL |
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COMPONENTS | ![]() |
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FUNCTIONING SYSTEM |
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IS&T@UNO | PAUL J.A. VAN VLIET / INFORMATION SYSTEMS &
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS INFORMATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA |