The Integrated Architecture Framework (IAF) is an
enterprise architecture framework
An enterprise architecture framework (EA framework) defines how to create and use an enterprise architecture. An architecture framework provides principles and practices for creating and using the architecture description of a system. It structu ...
that covers
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...
,
information
Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...
,
information system
An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, Information Processing and Management, store, and information distribution, distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, info ...
and technology infrastructure. This
framework has been developed by
Capgemini
Capgemini SE is a French Multinational corporation, multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company, headquartered in Paris, France.
History
Capgemini was founded by Serge Kampf in 1967 as an enterprise management and d ...
since the 1990s, from the experience of practicing architects on projects for clients across the group. The first version was released in 1996 and was based on the
Zachman Framework
The Zachman Framework is a structured tool used in enterprise architecture to organize and understand complex business systems. It acts as an Ontology (information science), ontology, providing a clear and formal way to describe an enterprise th ...
and
Spewak's ideas about
Enterprise Architecture Planning.
Capgemini - Architecture for the Information Age
/ref> Since Version 1.0 released in 1996 IAF has been developed by Capgemini's internal global architecture community drawing from the experience of practising architects. Now in its 6th edition, IAF provides alignment considering all relevant artefacts.
It's domains are:
*Business Architecture
In the business sector, business architecture is a discipline that "represents holistic, multidimensional business views of: capabilities, end-to-end value delivery, information, and organizational structure; and the relationships among these ...
- people, process and organisation
*Information Architecture
Information architecture (IA) is the structural design of shared information environments; the art and science of organizing and labelling websites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability; and an emerging ...
*Information Systems
An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems comprise four components: task, people, structu ...
- applications
* Technology Infrastructure - infrastructure
*Governance
Governance is the overall complex system or framework of Process, processes, functions, structures, Social norm, rules, Law, laws and Norms (sociology), norms born out of the Interpersonal relationship, relationships, Social interaction, intera ...
*Security
Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...
*Sustainability
Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...
It has four levels of abstraction:
*Why - Contextual
*What - Conceptual
*How - Logical
*With What - Physical
References
{{reflist
Enterprise architecture frameworks