The Zachman Framework is an enterprise ontology and is a fundamental structure for Enterprise Architecture (EA) which provides a formal and structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise.
The Zachman Framework is a structured tool used in enterprise architecture to organize and understand complex business systems. It acts as an ontology, providing a clear and formal way to describe an enterprise through a two-dimensional grid. This grid combines two key perspectives: the basic questions of What, How, When, Who, Where, and Why, and the process of turning abstract ideas into concrete realities, known as reification. These reification stages include identification, definition, representation, specification, configuration, and instantiation. While influential in shaping enterprise architecture, the framework is often considered theoretical, with limited direct adoption in fast-paced industries like technology, where agile methods are preferred.
Unlike a methodology, the Zachman Framework does not prescribe specific steps or processes for gathering or using information. Instead, it serves as a schema to categorize architectural artifacts—such as design documents, specifications, and models—based on who they are for (e.g., business owners or builders) and what they address (e.g., data or functionality).
The framework is named after its creator John Zachman, who first developed the concept in the 1980s at IBM. It has been updated several times since, with version 3.0 being the most current.