Enterprise Architecture and GIS

Enterprise Architecture is a continuous practice of aligning the resources of a business with the objectives of that business.  At a broad level Enterprise Architecture considers:

• Business Architecture
  Commercial model, process model, organisation mode
• Technology Architecture
  Application mode, infrastructure model
• Data Architecture
  Data models, information products
  

GIS is very much relevant to Enterprise Architecture because it can both enable and hinder each of these tiers.  Business processes have traditionally needed to work around limitations imposed by GIS technologies because the transfer of spatial data between systems, departments, and hence successive steps in a workflow have been so problematic.  This has been caused primarily by limitations within the technology and data tiers. 

The concept of a 'GIS System' is starting to evaporate as spatial facilities emerge within other components.  Databases (e.g. Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, Postgis) and data formats (e.g. GML, GeoPDF) are rapidly maturing and are available for use by a much wider community than the traditional 'hard core GISers' and thus we are starting to see components of the IT stack become spatially-aware.  This is the natural evolutionary path for GIS and is the model that we should be designing for.  As these technologies mature I think  it is important that the Enterprise Architects and IT Architects are aware of the current and emerging opportunities, and limitations, afforded by spatial technologies.