• Comprehensive explanation of enterprise architecture concepts and methods
• Extend the Rational Unified Process to include Enterprise Architecture
• Unified view of the various architectural disciplines to create strategic blueprints
• Perspectives on Enterprise Development and Technology

Indispensable technical, process, and business insight from leading enterprise architects

Many organizations today face the challenge of designing, building, and maintaining large-scale distributed enterprise systems that are able to adapt to changing business needs. Many repeat the mistakes of others, resulting in cost overruns, blown deadlines, and lost opportunity. Today's business climate places additional burden on IT to deliver. Ever-adapting business drivers can diverge from the capabilities of the enterprise IT systems today, especially if the systems are complex, fragile, and intolerant of change. Enterprise architecture can help future-proof IT investments made today.

A Practical Guide to Enterprise Architecture helps readers create adaptive architecture strategies for successfully implementing enterprise architectures. This classic handbook goes beyond theory and presents strategies that are based on experiences within organizations across multiple industry verticals. Behind each opinion, technique, and principle is a wealth of knowledge provided by some of the best-known industry thought leaders today.

This book's authors have architected industrial-strength software and infrastructure for many of the world's leading firms-in financial services, telecommunications, media, and e-business. They present practical guidance, candid assessments of existing practice, and detailed examples from their own experience. Coverage includes:

• Strategies for enterprise architecture-which ones work and why
• Proven "product line" practices for streamlining the design of enterprise software
• Understanding how to translate key business drivers into enterprise architecture output
• Agile architectural and modeling techniques-presented by their creator, Scott Ambler
• Architecting presentation tiers, user experience, and usability methods to create a reusable base of core assets
• Overcoming the challenges of transitioning to agile methods
• Identifying architecture enabling human resource practices

Whether you're a working architect or plan to become one, A Practical Guide to Enterprise Architecture will be your timely, trusted advisor-today and for years to come.

In A Practical Guide to Enterprise Architecture, six leading experts present indispensable technical, process, and business insight into every aspect of enterprise architecture. You'll find start-to-finish guidance for architecting effective system, software, and service-oriented architectures; using product lines to streamline enterprise software design; leveraging powerful agile modeling techniques; extending the Unified Process to the full software lifecycle; architecting presentation tiers and user experience; and driving the technical direction of the entire enterprise. For every working architect and every IT professional who wants to become one.