Propositions that Describe the Intended Meaning of Enterprise Architecture

Abstract

In scientific inquiry definitions serves the purpose of describing what something is in terms that are concise, precise and allows for clear communication. Since the start of the enterprise architecture (EA) research field the issue of the definition of terms and fundamental concepts has been continually debated. The ongoing debate is indicative of a lack of universal agreement on EA fundamentals amongst EA researchers and practitioners which, in turn, manifests as a gap in the literature with regard to the underlying fundamental concepts of EA. This paper reports on the results of an investigation into the description of EA's fundamental concepts. During the investigation a structured interpretation method was applied to two prominent enterprise architecture frameworks in order to produce a set of EA propositions that captured the fundamental meaning of EA as a concept. The investigation resulted in the 'EA claim' that EA is similar, in intent, to the enterprise as a worldview is to the world. The 'EA claim' and its supportive six EA propositions provide and explicit description of the foundational understanding of what EA is.

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