What is Enterprise Architecture?
Enterprise Architecture is the process by which organizations standardize and organize IT infrastructure to align with enterprise goals.
Enterprise Architecture Standards
The ARB defines the bar for OIT work by writing and disseminating standards. Our goal is to write standards that help teams work faster by making it easier to integrate with the campus’s technology environment.
ARB Standards are currently being updated to use a uniform template. (Access requires a campus network access or VPN).
- All the updated standards can be found on ARB’s GitHub page. (Access requires a campus network access or VPN).
- The older standards are still on ARB’s wiki (requires login) and will move as they get updated
ARB Recommendations
The ARB community keeps a regularly-updated list of recommendations (login required) documenting what tools OIT is currently using. This list can be helpful if you’re looking for a software solution for a particular problem, looking to connect with other teams using a tool, or researching the pros and cons of your options.
| Domain | Definition | Last review |
|---|---|---|
| Development Language Recommendations | What people are using to talk to the computer | 2024-02 |
| Identity, Authentication, and Authorization Recommendations | What people are using to know which people should be allowed in, and what they can do when they get there | 2024-03 |
| Team Collaboration & Project Management Recommendations | What people are using to talk inside their teams | 2024-03 |
| Editor and IDE Recommendations | What people are using to get ideas into the computer | 2023-04 |
| Security Recommendations | What people are using to keep their systems safe | 2023-05 |
| Business Intelligence Recommendations | What people are using to better understand their data | 2023-09 |
| Application Infrastructure Recommendations | What people are using to let systems talk to each other | 2023-09 |
| Frontend Web Tools | What people are using client side to make their applications more responsive | 2023-09 |
| Backend Web Frameworks | What people are using server side to make services and web apps | 2023-09 |
| Operations Management Recommendations | What people are using to keep track of all this other stuff | 2023-12 |
| Web Form Recommendations | What people are using to get feedback from lots of people | 2023-11 |
| Database Recommendations | What people are using for SQL data | 2023-11 |
| Platform Recommendations | What people are using to run all this other stuff on | 2022-09 |
| JDK (Java Development Kit) Recommendations | What people are using to get Java running | 2023-09 |
The Architecture Review Board (ARB)
At UCI, Enterprise Architecture is coordinated by the Architecture Review Board (ARB), which brings together technology leaders from across the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and the campus community.
The heterogeneous technology environment at UCI has grown organically over decades, with different parts of the organization using wholly different technologies, toolsets, and development methodologies. The ARB meets monthly to bring these diverse groups together and develop an institutional perspective, identify areas of possible change, and work toward more unified practices.
The Architecture Review Board Charge
The ARB charge helps inform where we spend our time and attention. There are three pillars that define what ARB tries to accomplish, each with three supporting practices that make those goals concrete.
- Define the bar for OIT work
- Set practices as Standards and Guidelines, demarcating the hard and soft expectations of the OIT community
- Provide Recommendations and Standards of Practice to foster community and share knowledge
- Make clear when exceptions are available and how to obtain them
- Promote standards and best practices
- Host conversations that will lead to new collaborations, new solutions, and new documentation
- Bridge teams and divisions to connect people who might otherwise duplicate effort
- Champion good ideas to broaden their reach
- Explore new products, technologies, and practices
- Offer expert opinion to evaluate what’s novel
- Research and understand industry trends and work to integrate them into our environment
- Streamline adoptions that will help UCI fulfill its mission
ARB Leadership
Co-Chairs: Dana Watanabe & Seth A. Roby (email the chairs)
Executive Sponsor: Henry Jenkins
Voting members: the current voting members, as well as their responsibilities, are listed here (login required).
ARB Meetings
Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month at 2 pm. Additional meetings for subgroups and follow-ups are scheduled as needed.
The meeting agenda is posted two weeks before each call. See the meeting notes on the OIT Wiki (login required).
ARB Subgroups
Between our monthly meetings, other subgroups meet to define, promote, and explore. The following groups are currently active or being formed:
- OS Fitness Standards – Working Group
- Patching Work Group
- IIS Support Work Group
- Containerization Interest Group
- Infrastructure as Code Interest Group
Current work
- Maintaining the Recommendations Lists
- Defining and refining how OS versions are approved for use and how teams can track that process
- Updating all our standards to be more actionable, with current focus on these standards:
- System monitoring
- Authentication & Authorization
- Key management
- System logging
- Ongoing AWS Migrations
Recent Work
- Approved the Secret Storage Guidelines (2024-02)
- Updated the Inclusive Language Guideline (2023-05)
- Added a code review standard (2023-05)
- Consolidating documentation for why, how, and when systems on campus get patched (2023-03)