John Zachman
Encyclopedia
John A. Zachman is an American
business and IT consultant
, early pioneer of enterprise architecture
, Chief Executive Officer of Zachman International, and originator of the Zachman Framework
.
from Northwestern University
. He served for a number of years as a line officer in the United States Navy, and is a retired Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
He joined IBM
Corporation in 1964 and held various marketing
-related positions in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. He became involved with Strategic Information Planning methodologies in 1970. and in 1973 he was assigned responsibility for the Business Systems Planning (BSP) program in IBM’s Western Region. In 1984 he began to concentrate on Information Systems Architecture. In 1989 at IBM he joined the CASE
Support organization of the Application Enabling Marketing Center, where he worked as a consultant in areas of Information Systems Planning and Architecture
. He retired at IBM in 1990, having served them for 26 years. Afterwards he co-founded, with Samuel B. Holcman, the Zachman Institute for Framework Advancement, which was discontinued in December, 2008.
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).
In May 2002 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Advisory Board of the Data Administration Management Association International. He was awarded the 2004 Oakland University
, Applied Technology in Business (ATIB), Award for IS Excellence and Innovation.
a standard for classifying the descriptive representations (models) that comprise enterprise architecture.
(BSP) is a method for analyzing, defining and designing an information architecture
of organization
s. It was first issued by IBM
in 1981, though the initial work on BSP began in the early 1970s. At first, it was for IBM internal use only. Later it was made available to customer
s and this method became an important tool for many organizations. It is a very complex method dealing with data
, processes, strategies
, aims and organization
al department
s which are interconnected.
Business Systems Planning (BSP) and Business Information Control Study (BICS) according to Zachman (1982), are both "information system planning methodologies that specifically employ enterprise analysis techniques in the course of their analyses. Underlying the BSP and BICS analyses
are the data management problems that result from systems design
approaches that optimize the management of technology at the expense of managing the data". The both methodologies have similarities and differences, and strengths and weaknesses. The "choice between using one or the other methodology is strongly influenced by the immediate intent of the study sponsor, tempered by the limiting factors currently surrounding the BICS methodology".
according to Zachman (2008) is "a schema - the intersection between two historical classifications that have been in use for literally thousands of years".
More specifically, the Zachman Framework is "an ontology
- a theory of the existence of a structured set of essential components of an object for which explicit expressions is necessary and perhaps even mandatory for creating, operating, and changing the object (the object being an Enterprise, a department, a value chain, a "sliver," a solution, a project, an airplane, a building, a product, a profession of whatever of whatever)".
According to Zachman, "this ontology was derived from analogous structures that are found in the older disciplines of Architecture/Construction and Engineering/Manufacturing that classify and organize the design artifacts created in the process of designing and producing complex physical products (e.g. buildings or airplanes). It uses a two dimensional classification model based on the six basic interrogatives (What, How, Where, Who, When, and Why) intersecting six distinct perspectives, which relate to stakeholder groups (Planner, Owner, Designer, Builder, Implementer and Worker). The intersecting cells of the Framework correspond to models which, if documented, can provide a holistic view of the enterprise".
Articles:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
business and IT consultant
Information technology consulting
Information technology consulting is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives...
, early pioneer of enterprise architecture
Enterprise architecture
An enterprise architecture is a rigorous description of the structure of an enterprise, which comprises enterprise components , the externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships between them...
, Chief Executive Officer of Zachman International, and originator of the Zachman Framework
Zachman framework
The Zachman Framework is an Enterprise Architecture framework for enterprise architecture, which provides a formal and highly structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise...
.
Biography
Zachman holds a degree in ChemistryChemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. He served for a number of years as a line officer in the United States Navy, and is a retired Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
He joined IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
Corporation in 1964 and held various marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
-related positions in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. He became involved with Strategic Information Planning methodologies in 1970. and in 1973 he was assigned responsibility for the Business Systems Planning (BSP) program in IBM’s Western Region. In 1984 he began to concentrate on Information Systems Architecture. In 1989 at IBM he joined the CASE
Computer-aided software engineering
Computer-aided software engineering is the scientific application of a set of tools and methods to a software system which is meant to result in high-quality, defect-free, and maintainable software products...
Support organization of the Application Enabling Marketing Center, where he worked as a consultant in areas of Information Systems Planning and Architecture
Enterprise architecture
An enterprise architecture is a rigorous description of the structure of an enterprise, which comprises enterprise components , the externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships between them...
. He retired at IBM in 1990, having served them for 26 years. Afterwards he co-founded, with Samuel B. Holcman, the Zachman Institute for Framework Advancement, which was discontinued in December, 2008.
He is a Fellow for the College of Business Administration of the University of North Texas
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067...
. 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
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
and the Advisory Board of the Data Administration Management Association International (DAMA-I).
In May 2002 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Advisory Board of the Data Administration Management Association International. He was awarded the 2004 Oakland University
Oakland University
Oakland University is a public university co-founded by Matilda Dodge Wilson and John A. Hannah whose campus is located in central Oakland County, Michigan, United States in the cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills. It is the only major research university in Oakland County, from which OU...
, Applied Technology in Business (ATIB), Award for IS Excellence and Innovation.
Work
John Zachman is one of the founding developers of IBM's Business Systems Planning (BSP), and worked on their Executive team planning techniques (Intensive Planning). In 1987 he originated the Zachman FrameworkZachman framework
The Zachman Framework is an Enterprise Architecture framework for enterprise architecture, which provides a formal and highly structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise...
a standard for classifying the descriptive representations (models) that comprise enterprise architecture.
Business Systems Planning
Business System PlanningBusiness System Planning
Business System Planning is a method for analyzing, defining and designing an information architecture of organizations. It was first issued by IBM in 1981, though the initial work on BSP began in the early 1970s. At first, it was for IBM internal use only. Later it was made available to customers...
(BSP) is a method for analyzing, defining and designing an information architecture
Information Architecture
Information architecture is the art of expressing a model or concept of information used in activities that require explicit details of complex systems. Among these activities are library systems, Content Management Systems, web development, user interactions, database development, programming,...
of organization
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...
s. It was first issued by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
in 1981, though the initial work on BSP began in the early 1970s. At first, it was for IBM internal use only. Later it was made available to customer
Customer
A customer is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organization, called the supplier, seller, or vendor. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services...
s and this method became an important tool for many organizations. It is a very complex method dealing with data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
, processes, strategies
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
, aims and organization
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...
al department
Departmentalization
Departmentalization refers to the process of grouping activities into departments.Division of labour creates specialists who need coordination. This coordination is facilitated by grouping specialists together in departments....
s which are interconnected.
Business Systems Planning (BSP) and Business Information Control Study (BICS) according to Zachman (1982), are both "information system planning methodologies that specifically employ enterprise analysis techniques in the course of their analyses. Underlying the BSP and BICS analyses
are the data management problems that result from systems design
Systems design
Systems design is the process of defining the architecture, components, modules, interfaces, and data for a system to satisfy specified requirements. One could see it as the application of systems theory to product development...
approaches that optimize the management of technology at the expense of managing the data". The both methodologies have similarities and differences, and strengths and weaknesses. The "choice between using one or the other methodology is strongly influenced by the immediate intent of the study sponsor, tempered by the limiting factors currently surrounding the BICS methodology".
Zachman Framework
The Zachman FrameworkZachman framework
The Zachman Framework is an Enterprise Architecture framework for enterprise architecture, which provides a formal and highly structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise...
according to Zachman (2008) is "a schema - the intersection between two historical classifications that have been in use for literally thousands of years".
- "The first is the fundamentals of communication found in the primitive interrogatives: What, How, When, Who, Where, and Why. It is the integration of answers to these questions that enables the comprehensive, composite description of complex ideas".
- "The second is derived from reification, the transformation of an abstract idea into an instantiation that was initially postulated by ancient Greek philosophers and is labeled in the Framework: Identification, Definition, Representation, Specification, Configuration and Instantiation. ..."
More specifically, the Zachman Framework is "an ontology
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
- a theory of the existence of a structured set of essential components of an object for which explicit expressions is necessary and perhaps even mandatory for creating, operating, and changing the object (the object being an Enterprise, a department, a value chain, a "sliver," a solution, a project, an airplane, a building, a product, a profession of whatever of whatever)".
According to Zachman, "this ontology was derived from analogous structures that are found in the older disciplines of Architecture/Construction and Engineering/Manufacturing that classify and organize the design artifacts created in the process of designing and producing complex physical products (e.g. buildings or airplanes). It uses a two dimensional classification model based on the six basic interrogatives (What, How, Where, Who, When, and Why) intersecting six distinct perspectives, which relate to stakeholder groups (Planner, Owner, Designer, Builder, Implementer and Worker). The intersecting cells of the Framework correspond to models which, if documented, can provide a holistic view of the enterprise".
Publications
Zachman had published two books, several articles and forewords to more than a hundred books on related subjects. A selection:- 1997. Data stores, data warehousing, and the Zachman Framework : managing enterprise knowledge. With Bill InmonBill InmonWilliam Harvey Inmon is an American computer scientist, recognized by many as the father of the data warehouse. Bill Inmon wrote the first book, held the first conference , wrote the first column in a magazine and was the first to offer classes in data warehousing...
and Jonathan G. Geiger. New York : McGraw-Hill. - 2002. The Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture : A Primer on Enterprise Engineering and Manufacturing.
Articles:
- 1978. "The Information Systems Management System: A Framework for Planning". In: DATA BASE 9(3): pp. 8–13.
- 1982. "Business Systems Planning and Business Information Control Study: A comparisment. In: IBM Systems Journal, vol 21, no 3, 1982. p. 31-53.
- 1987. "A Framework for Information Systems Architecture". In: IBM Systems Journal, vol. 26, no. 3, 1987. IBM Publication G321-5298.
- 1992. "Extending and Formalizing the Framework for Information Systems Architecture" with John F. SowaJohn F. SowaJohn Florian Sowa is the computer scientist who invented conceptual graphs, a graphic notation for logic and natural language, based on the structures in semantic networks and on the existential graphs of Charles S. Peirce. He is currently developing high-level "ontologies" for artificial...
In: IBM Systems Journal, Vol 31, no.3, 1992. p. 590-616 - 2007. "Architecture Is Architecture Is Architecture". Paper Zachman International (http://zachman.com/ea-articles-reference/52-architecture-is-architecture-is-architecture-by-john-a-zachman version).
External links
- http://zachman.com/featuresinside/about-john-a-zachman at zachman.com.