Rick Sweeney describes the needs for a dedicated Service Oriented Enterprise Architecture Framework:
“In other words, Architects need a new framework and metadata model to support the SOA asset portfolio as it grows and evolves. Architects need to respond rapidly to the business and be capable of relaying exactly where their SOA capabilities are, how they are evolving and where the opportunities lay.
They also need a new methodology for capturing business needs that map to the SOA model and the relationships from strategy to plan to project and leverage this mapping through the ongoing portfolio management process.”
He also gives an insight into his book “Achieving Service Oriented Architecture – Applying an Enterprise Architecture Approach” (Wiley Company 2010), where he describes his developed “Service Oriented Architecture Enterprise Architecture Framework” (or “SOA~EAF” for short).
Read the article at http://www.soainstitute.org/articles/article/article/the-service-oriented-architecture-enterprise-architecture-framework-soa-eaf.html
What do you think, is it applicable or tradtional EA frameworks like TOGAF or Zachman still fit, because they are abstract enough?
I don’t have any difficulty modeling our SOA efforts. Including services and other capabilites. We use an Archimate based tool called Architect from BizzDesign. But we’ve made up our own guidelines on how to model within the tools, its flexible.
I think Mr. Sweeny’s arguments are a bit weak, you don’t really need another framework. As with all frameworks: they are guidelines. You can work them any way you see fit, it’s important that you can do the stuff you need to do. You pick and choose the things you can use form any framework. Anything goes as long as it gets your message across to your stakeholders.