Basics About Zachman framework

With inspirations from traditional architectural and engineering discipline, John Zachman started the Zachman framework with its first publication in 1987. Zachman framework provides a simple (at least it looks simple) but well-structured approach that supports many ways of architectural presentation using a common vocabulary and viewpoints.

To be more specific, Zachman framework describes a model of an enterprise system from six perspectives, Planner, Owner, Designer, Builder, Subcontractor and the working system.  The major feature in Zachman framework is this matrix with 36 cells (example picture from Wikipedia) indicating all "possible" aspects to an enterprise system.

Here are the rows of the matrix:
Scope, Business Model, System Model, Technology Model, Components, Working system

Here are the columns of the matrix:
Who, when, why, what, how, where

As indicated in the publications about Zachman framework The major principles behind Zachman framework are:

1. "A complete system can be modeled by depicting answers to the following questions: why,
who, what, how, where, and when."
2. "The six perspectives capture all the critical models required for system development."
3. "The constraints for each perspective are additive; those of a lower row are added to those of
the rows above to provide a growing number of restrictions."
4. "The columns represent different abstractions in an effort to reduce the complexity of any
single model that is built."
5. "The columns have no order."
6. "The model in each column must be unique."
7. "Each row represents a unique perspective."
8. "Each cell is unique."
9. "The inherent logic is recursive."

This framework with 36 cells can be used recursively to management the overall enterprise systems and each components inside it. One can build the 36 cells in different levels to keep views of an enterprise system at different levels.  Implementing Zachman framework must recognize two critical challenges in current enterprises.

1. One must beginning making the descriptive representation of enterprise more explicit.  This means to populate the various cells of Zachman framework
2. Formalize a system to keep populate the different cells in a disciplined way.

There can be two different approaches to get a company a quick-start on using the Zachman framework.

1. Start developing the cells with the purpose of developing an enterprise architecture strategy
2. Start developing row 1 of the matrix in order to establish an implementation road map.

As claimed by different parties, one drawback of this framework is that it does not have so much public, open documentation as compared to TOGAF. However, from my own experience, this is also a good part of a framework where certain spaces are left for the enterprise itself to find out and define the discipline.   To many enterprise architects, working by using everything available makes their life easier and simple. While to some other enterprise architects, having more space to dig out valuable works for the enterprise is of more fun and self-satisfying.