Welcome to the Kitty Hawk Aeronautics, Incorporated Enterprise Architecture (EA) Program Plan and Communication page. This is the place to get information about our Enterprise Architecture strategy, approach, plan, and program structure and activities. Click on the graphic below to find information on the program elements listed.   Check back often because new information is added regularly. If you have any questions or comments about the EA plan or program, please contact our Chief Architect, Robert Osborn.

Enterprise architecture provides the building blocks that drive Kitty Hawk’s strategic direction and approach to planning and decision-making.  To be successful, it must be owned by all company stakeholders (executives, managers, and team members) and should be used to inform, guide, and manage the decisions of the enterprise.  More specifically, EA provides the following benefits:

• Brings together views of strategy, business and technology that allow us to see ourselves in current and future operating states.

• Supports the modeling of different future operating scenarios to help us respond to changes, both internal and external to our business.

• Establishes an integrated set of IT resource planning, decision-making, and implementation processes that help us recognize and resolve performance gaps across the company.

• Promotes enterprise-wide thinking about how we use our resources, as opposed to less effective stovepipe-centric approaches.  An enterprise-wide, common operating environment for business and technology allows Kitty Hawk to function with greater efficiency, flexibility, and capabilities, and thus enhances our competitiveness in the marketplace.

• Improves company-wide communication through regular updates to the baseline of integrated information on strategy, business, and technology.

• Provides standardized approaches for the development and management of enterprise resources.

• Contributes to our profitability and success through shortened planning and decision-making cycles (enhanced planning efficiency), improved reference information, reduced duplication of resources and re-work, improved resource integration and performance, improved communication, and reduction in production-cycle time.

Understanding the framework

The framework model below provides the overall baseline structure for modeling Kitty Hawk’s business and technology operating environment.  The EA³ framework is a cube, which represents the various levels and depth of EA documentation areas.  The multiple layers of depth are functional activity areas, which are described as lines of business.  The depicted layers are organized hierarchically from both a business and technology perspective and contain components, or working elements of the framework, at each level.  These components are documented in EA artifacts (e.g. goals, strategies, guidelines, services, diagrams, etc.) which describe the EA framework and associated EA components at each level.  Together, the framework components work together to form a holistic, integrated view of the IT operating environment that effectively supports the enterprise’s business needs.

Understanding the implementation methodology

The following phases describe the procedures being used to develop, use, and maintain the EA program and documentation approach.  This implementation methodology enables us to create the EA program in a systematic, detailed way, so as to maximize our efficiency and accuracy.

• Phase 1 – EA Program Establishment – activities within this phase help to establish the EA program, identify a Chief Architect to lead the program, create an EA governance capability to mange the EA program, and develop an EA communication plan to gain stakeholder buy-in and support.

• Phase 2 – EA Framework and Tool Selection – activities within this phase help to select an EA framework, EA components that will define the architecture within each functional area, and software applications/tools to support automated EA documentation.

• Phase 3 – Documentation of the EA – activities within this phase include documentation of current and future views of the architecture and development of the EA Management Plan to describe how the architecture will transition over time.

• Phase 4 – Use and Maintain the EA – the final phase activities are ongoing and serve to promote the use of EA information and ensure that the information is regularly updated.

The purpose of Enterprise Architecture governance is to manage, control, and monitor Enterprise Architecture activities and progress. The below figure illustrates the structure of Kitty Hawk’s Enterprise Architecture governance.  This organization structure, its processes and procedures, and its roles and responsibilities, facilitate and advance Enterprise Architecture performance.

The IT Technology Council and Strategic Management Council provide direction for the Enterprise Architecture Council, which is managed by the Chief Architect.  The EA Architecture Council also manages a series of advisory teams comprised of representatives from Kitty Hawk functional organizations, who provide input to the EA direction and evolution.  The advisory teams include a strategic planning team, process action teams, and support teams.