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10 CHAPTER 2 Definitions and concepts

FIGURE 2-2
The Governance V.

2. The “data” column of the Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture identifies six
different classes of design artifacts, each representing a different level of abstraction. (Note:
This is not exactly a business definition like we promised. See Chapter 1 for an explanation of
Zachman.)
3. In some common usage, the physical technology infrastructure supporting data management,
including database servers, data replication tools, and middleware.
The author would never use the preceding definition when educating management as DG is deployed.
Rather, a much simpler version would be used:

• Information architecture is the diagram or picture of the information management environment, its
components, and their interactions. This picture, or abstraction, interrelates the framework, people,
processes, projects, policies, technologies, and procedures to manage and use valuable enterprise
information assets.
The details of an information architecture would contain elements such as:
B Models, or some other visual abstraction, of how the bits of “stuff” that are used to manage
data actually fit together.
B A catalog of standards, which lists the allowable formats, presentation, and uses of data.
B Description of the organization managing data (or information).
B Value statement of the architecture that aligns business priorities and technology.
B Within the context of DG, the information architecture contains an expression of what is
actually governed.