UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Pragmatic EA (Enterprise Architecture), a company based in the United Kingdom that provides the Pragmatic EA Framework (PEAF), at no cost, to end-user organizations and government bodies all over the world, has donated PEAF materials valued at $1,181,250 to the Center for Enterprise Architecture (EA) at Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST). The donation is intended to support the center’s ongoing efforts in pursuing its educational and research objectives.
“Pragmatic EA offers a unique perspective on the practice of EA, and it’s valuable for us to have many different perspectives on the practice of EA in our curriculum,” said Brian Cameron, executive director of the Center for Enterprise Architecture.
The Center for Enterprise Architecture, which was launched in January 2011, gathers intellectual resources across Penn State and leaders in the industry to address research concerns and questions that span the design, functioning and governance of contemporary, information-driven enterprises.
In April, IST launched the first Master of Professional Studies program in EA in North America and the first online EA master’s program in the world. In addition, a supportive option for undergraduates was rolled out at the beginning of the fall 2012 semester.
EA is the process of translating business vision and strategy into effective enterprise change by creating, communicating and improving the key requirements, principles and models that describe the enterprise’s future state and enable its evolution. By integrating the various dimensions of an organization, an enterprise architect takes a company's business strategy and defines an information technology system to support that strategy.
“We are pleased to make this contribution to the Center for Enterprise Architecture because we believe the benefits of EA can only be truly realized when it is fully understood by senior management and the C-suite,” said Kevin L. Smith, founder and CEO of Pragmatic EA. “This understanding will be greatly enhanced as new industry leaders come through institutions like Penn State.”
According to Smith, PEAF’s Enterprise Architecture Framework consists of a reusable toolkit that allows individuals and organizations to immediately kick start or restart an EA initiative.
“This toolkit provides a comprehensive set of products and processes that includes everything required to hit the ground running on an EA initiative,” he said.
For more information about PEAF, visit www.PragmaticEA.com.