Essential Version 3.0 - Redefining Enterprise Architecture Management - May 2012
EAS, sponsors of The Essential Project, have released Essential Architecture Manager Version 3, a step-change for the world's leading, free-of-charge, open source enterprise architecture (EA) toolset. An extended Essential Meta-Model, a completely overhauled Viewer, and an improved platform provide an activity-focused, easy to use toolset that allows all stakeholders to realise the true value of EA.
Essential Viewer3 provides an EA management hub, delivering a wealth of dynamically produced views to support key business and IT management activities such as Strategy, Information/Data Management and Security Management. Focused activity packs ease the burden of information capture and deliver interactive views that ensure successful engagement with key stakeholders - providing the insights they need to define and manage business/IT transformation.
Founded in 2009, The Essential Project Community now has over 4000 registered members including representatives of many Fortune500 and FTSE100 companies. Reflecting feedback from real world projects and the Essential Community, this latest release provides a new and flexible way for organisations to manage, explore and analyse their enterprise architecture.
For full information on the features of Essential Architecture Manager Version 3.0, please visit www.enterprise-architecture.org
Essential Training Course details updated - February 2012
The next web-based, open training course for the Essential Project has been scheduled for April 2012. Delivered by founder memebers of the Essential Project, this training for Essential Architecture Manager is open to anyone wishing to gain a deep understanding of the toolset. The next Affiliate training session is scheduled for May 2012.
Run as an interactive webinar, this 5-day course will be split over 3 weeks; 2 days in week 1, 2 days in week 2 and 1 day in week 3. Details of the timezone(s) for the training sessions will be confirmed shortly. More information about Essential Training services can be found on the EAS website.
The EA Way To ERP - November 2011
 We are pleased to announce that our latest article, 'The EA Way To ERP' is published in this month's Conspectus magazine and via the Evaluation Centre. In this article Sarah Smith examines the structures needed for a successful ERP project and how, by adopting EA practices supported by appropriate tooling, you can significantly improve the chance of delivering your ERP project on time and on budget.
You can download the paper from our whitepapers section and if you have any queries or wish to discuss this or any of our other articles, please do not hesitate to contact us.
This article was published on the ERP Software Evaluation Centre in September 2011.
New Range of Courses for Essential Training - November 2011
In response to demand, EAS - as the sponsors of The Essential Project - have created a new range of training courses. Three options for taking training are available to provide the best match to your Essential training requirements:
- Open courses - for individuals from end user client organisations or consultancies
- Client courses - standard or tailored training dedicated to an end user client
- Affiliate courses - for independent consultants who will then be affiliated to EAS
Find out more about Essential Training and the course schedule.
 Enterprise Architecture Solutions Ltd (EAS), the sponsors of The Essential Project, are currently experiencing a high level of demand for consultancy and training in The Essential Project. To meet this demand we are looking to expand the EAS affiliate network with people who are skilled in the use of Essential, as well as in various aspects of Enterprise Architecture.
The demand we are experiencing is from a diverse set of organisations across the globe, each with differing requirements. To meet this need we require people of differing levels of skill and ability who would be interested in expanding their skill set to include Essential, and then working with EAS to provide consultancy services to various organisations.
The type of services we provide include EA consultancy, EA modelling support, gathering of EA information for input/integration into Essential, Essential view development and Essential training.
If you are already an experienced Enterprise or Domain layer (business, information, application or technology) Architect, a junior architect looking to gain experience in the EA field or a business or systems analyst looking to move into the EA arena, then this opportunity may be of interest to you.
To become an affiliate of EAS, recognised as an Essential specialist, you will need to:-
- Complete a short online application form.
- Undertake a pre-qualification telephone interview.
- Successfully complete a five day training course that will cover the use of Essential in all layers of enterprise architecture, as well as new report/view generation.
- Successfully complete an online test to confirm your understanding of the Essential tool.
Following successful completion we will match client engagements to the most appropriate affiliate consultant.
The five day training course will be web based and will be run over a three week period. Depending on the location of the trainees we may be flexible with regard to start and end times. There will be no charge for this course. We are giving our time free, as will you be, in the hope of building a long lasting and successful partnership with you.
The next course will be held in November 2011, dates TBC. If you are interested in registering for this course, please complete the application form and, if your background and experience is suitable, a member of EAS will contact you to arrange an interview.
For more information about the affiliate training and to complete the application form, go to the EAS Affiliates page.
We are currently experiencing a high level of demand for skills in using the Essential toolset. To meet this demand, we are looking to expand our affiliate network with experienced architects who are skilled in the use of Essential, as well as in Enterprise Architecture.
If you are already an experienced Enterprise or Domain layer (business, information, application or technology) Architect who would be interested in expanding your skill set to include Essential and then working with EAS to provide Essential support, training and consultancy to our clients this opportunity may be of interest to you.
To become an affiliate of EAS, recognised as an Essential specialist, you will need to:-
- Complete a short online application form.
- Undertake a pre-qualification telephone interview.
- Successfully complete a five-day onsite training course that will cover the use of Essential in all layers of enterprise architecture, as well as new report/view generation.
- Successfully complete an online test to confirm your understanding of the Essential tool.
Following successful completion we will match client engagements to the most appropriate affiliate consultant.
The five day training course will be held early in the New Year (date TBC, shortly) at a venue in Central London. The charge will simply cover our expenses and is likely to be in the region of £250 per delegate.
For more information about the affiliate training and to complete the application form, go to the EAS Affiliates page.
 Alex Mayall will be presenting a discussion about the development of an open-source, multi-user Enterprise Architecture toolkit at the BCS Enterprise Architecture SG on Tuesday 21st September.
In addition to explaining the motivations behind the development of the Essential Project, his presentation explores the open source EA tools market and the impact that they have had on the overall EA tools market.
For more information about this presentation and the BCS Enterprise Architecture SG see, Open Source Enterprise Architecture Toolkits - preceded by BCS EA SG AGM
 EAS are pleased to announce that their latest article, 'Calling All SME's Who Need Help Understanding their Business Assets' is published in this week's issue of IT Business Edge. In this article Sarah Smith discusses the issues faced by many CIO's in SME's; namely that they are unable to easily and effectively understand and use the information that exists in disparate systems in their organisation as they often don't have the tools and processes in place, due to the prohibitive cost, and options for addressing these issues.
Read 'Calling All SME's Who Need Help Understanding their Business Assets' by Sarah Smith at IT Business Edge Guest Opinions
 Jonathan Carter and Jason Powell will be speaking at this year's Integrated EA Conference on 9th and 10th March. The Integrated EA Conference is aimed at professional Enterprise Architects, Systems Engineers, CTO's and CIO's with specialist interest in Enterprise Architecture in Government and private sector industry.
Jonathan and Jason will be explaining how ontologies can be exploited with enterprise architecture in their session entitled, 'Exploiting EA Ontologies and Tools to Support Bid Processes'.
Jonathan will also be a panelist for the Panel Session on day 2 of the conference.
Find out more about the Integrated EA 2010 conference.
 EAS are pleased to announce that their latest article, 'Coming out of the Recession: The Role of Enterprise Architecture', is published in the October 2009 issue of the online Architecture and Governance magazine. In this article Alex Mayall discusses the importance of the Enterprise Architecture function to an organisation through the recovery period.
Read 'Coming out of the Recession: The Role of Enterprise Architecture' by Alex Mayall at Architecture and Governance Magazine.
As the sponsor of the Essential Project, we have talked to a number of analysts over the past couple of months, and OVUM Butler Group have recently released a Technology Audit of the Essential Project. We had a very interesting session with their EA analyst, Mark Blowers, discussing both the tool and the open source approach.
 Mark states that OVUM Butler Group 'particularly likes the way the main meta-model is not over complicated by the use a Support Meta-Model, where concepts and relationships are created, exploiting knowledge captured in the Core Meta-Model, to assist management and governance capabilities, such as Strategy Management, Change Management, and Service Delivery. Additional support concepts are planned, including Security and Information Lifecycle Management.'
And that in OVUM Butler Group's view 'An open source alternative is something that organisations should consider if lack of financial resources is preventing the use of a tool, as Butler Group believes it would be unwise to embark on Enterprise Architecture, and impossible to fully realise the benefits, without assistance from a tool specifically designed to support such an approach.'
OVUM Butler Group customers and subscribers can view a full copy of the report at the OVUM Butler Group website. To find about more about The Essential Project visit the website at www.enterprise-architecture.org.
 
The Executive Summary of
the LEF's research study, "Enterprise
Architecture in the Real World" has been
published, available publically for
download from the LEF
website. (PDF 774.6KB)
EAS's Jonathan Carter
and Jason Powell contributed as part of
the core research team to this research
study, which reviews how enterprise
architecture is being - and should be -
applied in real-world scenarios.
Launching The Essential Project -
March 2009
EAS is delighted to
announce the launch of
The Essential
Project.
The goal of the
Essential Project is to promote the value
that enterprise architecture can bring to
organisations of all sizes and experience
by lowering barriers to entry with a free,
simple, productive and, most importantly,
effective set of supporting tools.
The Essential Project is
the collective name for a set of free, open-source, enterprise architecture support
tools that have been developed for use in
conjunction with a variety of Enterprise
Architecture approaches and frameworks
(e.g. TOGAF, DoDAF, Zachman).
The Essential Project is
not only about the tools. It provides a
useful, active forum for sharing ideas and
experiences of applying Enterprise
Architecture practices to real world
business problems; what works and what
doesn't, best practices, hints and tips
etc. Our aim is to move Enterprise
Architecture away from its often-perceived
ivory tower - of benefit only to large,
complex organisations - to a necessary and
valuable capability in any organisation.
For more information about The Essential
Project, please visit www.enterprise-architecture.org.
 EAS work with LEF to study The Role of
Architecture in the Co-evolution of Business
and IT - February 2008
EAS are delighted to
announce that they are working with The
Leading Edge Forum to study 'The Role of
Architecture in the Co-evolution of
Business and IT'. This study seeks to
determine the extent to which
organisations today are making use of
Business and IT Architectures to guide
their operational, tactical and strategic
decision-making and will make
recommendations on good practice in this
increasing critical area. The report is
due August 2008. For more information
about this project or to participate in
the research, see the LEF website at
http://lef.csc.com/architecture/
"Architecture Planning" article
published by Architecture & Governance
Magazine - February 2008
  EAS are pleased to
announce that our latest article,
"Architecture Planning", has been
published in Volume 4, Issue 1 of
Architecture & Governance
Magazine.
John Mayall explains
what an Architecture Plan is and its
importance in ensuring that Enterprise
Architecture adds value to your
organisation.
Architecture&Governance
magazine:
"Finding Balance and Adding
Value to Projects with Enterprise
Architecture"
"Best Way to SOA" article published by
Conspectus - September 2007
  EAS have an article
published in the September 2007 edition of
Conspectus magazine - Enterprise
Integration, SOA and Web Services.
In this, Jason Powell
looks at what the right approach should be
for introducing SOA into an
organisation.
Conspectus:
"If SOA benefits are to be
achieved, organisations must view it as a
strategic, enterprise-wide initiative, says
Jason Powell of Enterprise Architecture
Solutions."
EAS at the Enterprise Architecture
Conference - Europe June 2007
 In conjunction with
Schroders, EAS will be presenting the
‘Effective use of EA in Project
Delivery’. EAS are providing
Enterprise Architecture (EA) support to
Schroders, who are in the process of
delivering one of the major projects
currently under way in the City -
replacing a legacy portfolio accounting
system. The EA effort is a core element of
Schroders’ overall change programme
but is also seen as a vital support
capability for the successful delivery of
this business-critical project. As such,
EAS and Schroders have adopted a very
dynamic approach, with the focus on
supporting projects whilst also meeting
the wider strategic EA needs of the
organisation.
 - Go to more details about
this case study
presentation.
- Further
details about Enterprise
Architecture Conference Europe
2007 are available on the
conference
website.
Article published by the Evaluation
Centre - Jan '06
 EAS's Jason Powell
explains how Enterprise Architecture
(EA) can play a key role in the adoption
of SOA. Similarly, if an EA
capability doesn't already exist, an SOA
initiative is the ideal opportunity to
build one.
 Go to the evaluation centre website
and view the article*
View the EAS whitepaper upon which
the Evaluation Centre article was
based (PDF, 1MB)
* To view the article you will
need to register for free with the
Evaluation Centre and then visit the
"EAI, Web Services & Software
Development" area.
Evaluation
Centre Abstract:
"Organisations must view SOA as a
strategic, enterprise-wide, joint initiative
between business and IT if they want to
achieve benefits, says Jason Powell of
Enterprise Architecture Solutions, in our EAI
Centre."
EAS present the role of SOA in
Enterprise Data Integration – Nov
'05
 EAS's Jonathan Carter
presented 'The Role of SOA in Enterprise
Data Integration' at the DAMA conference
in London on 8th November; part of the
Data Management and Information Quality
Conferences.
Printer friendly PDF version
(PDF, 2MB)
 PowerPoint
version with animation
(PPS, 2MB)*
* To view the Speaker Notes,
open the presentation, right-click
anywhere on the first slide and
choose Screen -> Speaker
Notes.
Conference
Abstract:
"For any large organization a 'top-down',
enterprise view of information is essential
for managing the data that is inevitably
shared across diverse systems. However, in
practice this has proved difficult as the
multiple views of data are often specific to
the technology with which the data is
managed, e.g. RDBMS, XML Schema. The concept
of the Service provides an approach to regain
a single view by separating the 'what'
(Information) from the “how”
(Technology)."
EAS open new office – Sep
'05
With the business growing strongly, EAS
are pleased to announce the opening of a new
Head Office in Harley Street, London.
More details on our Contact Us page
EAS present architecture management
– April '05
EAS presented at the European Business
Process Management Conference.
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