Enterprise Cartography: From Theory to Practice

We refer to Enterprise Cartography (EC ) as the process of representing an Enterprise observed directly from reality. It differentiates from Enterprise Architecture (EA) because it focuses on producing representations based on observations, and therefore, does not include the purposeful design, as one expects in EA. To abstract and represent the enterprise, one requires a full set of familiar concepts from the EA discipline, such a model, views, viewpoints, representation rules, etc. However, to abstract and represent the enterprise reality, one also needs principles and instruments to deal with the continuous and fast transformations going on in the enterprise. Without them, enterprises will likely change faster than one can represent them, and representations become obsolete long before they are completed. We have been working on this issue over a decade and have come up with a set principles and instruments to enable effective EC in continuously changing enterprises. We have applied and improved our methods in several enterprises of different sizes, sectors, and countries, and have had our share of successes, failures, and lessons learned.