Most people still think that the way to acquire funding for new systems is “cost-justification.” I would suggest that this is a vestige of the past … the Industrial Age. The game has changed!! We are now clearly well into the Information Age and the value proposition for systems has radically changed. Now Architecture … Enterprise Architecture … plays a central role in providing value to the Enterprise. There are four reasons why you “do” Architecture including alignment, integration, change management and reduced time to market. Without Architecture, there is NO WAY you can do any of these things. This presentation begins with a brief tutorial on the Framework for Enterprise Architecture to define what Enterprise Architecture is, and then develops the logic as to its value to the Information Age Enterprise.

John A. Zachman is the originator of the “Framework for Enterprise Architecture” which has received broad acceptance around the world as an integrative framework, or "periodic table" of descriptive representations for Enterprises. This “Framework” has been adopted by the United States Federal Chief Information Officers Council as a part of the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework Standard. Mr. Zachman is not only known for this work on Enterprise Architecture, but is also known for his early contributions to IBM’s Information Strategy methodology (Business Systems Planning) as well as to their Executive team planning techniques (Intensive Planning).

Mr. Zachman retired from IBM in 1990, having served them for 26 years. He is Chief Executive Officer of the Zachman Institute for Framework Advancement (ZIFA), an organization dedicated to advancing the conceptual and implementation states of the art in Enterprise Architecture. He also operates his own education and consulting business, Zachman International. He is a Fellow for the College of Business Administration of the University of North Texas. He serves on the Advisory Board for Boston University’s Institute for Leading in a Dynamic Economy (BUILDE), the Advisory Board for the Data Resource Management Program at the University of Washington and the Advisory Board of the Data Administration Management Association International (DAMA-I) from whom he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in May of 2002.

Prior to joining IBM, he served as a line officer in the United States Navy and is a retired Commander in the U. S. Naval Reserve. He chaired a panel on "Planning, Development and Maintenance Tools and Methods Integration" for the U. S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. He holds a degree in Chemistry from Northwestern University, has taught at Tufts University, has served on the Board of Councilors for the School of Library and Information Management at the University of Southern California, as a Special Advisor to the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University, on the Advisory Council to the School of Library and Information Management at Dominican University, and as a member of the Information Resource Management Advisory Council of the Smithsonian Institution. He currently is listed in "Who's Who in the West."